# Homemade Roach Powder: Do you know its secrets? Can you share them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 2, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homemade-roach-powder-do-you-know-its-secrets-can-you-share-them/466126 "2008-10-02T03:48:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homemade-roach-powder-do-you-know-its-secrets-can-you-share-them/466126/21 "2008-10-05T16:52:25Z")
I’ve tried Borax in two apartments (one of them mine) and one office with roaches, and it never did a gosh darned thing. I heart [Maxforce roach bait](http://doyourownpestcontrol.com/roachkit.htm). The first time I tried it, my neighbor - who worked for Orkin - gave it to me and showed me how to use it. You don’t need the fancy caulk-gun like applicator, just a tube of the stuff and a magic marker to push the inner plunger in. Then I found out you can buy it as a private citizen and I did a happy dance at work (or maybe I was twitching away from the roaches crawling across my desk, I’m not sure.) This stuff works. Period, end of roaches. Less than a week. ---
**Author:** ![Arglefraster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@Arglefraster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arglefraster)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homemade-roach-powder-do-you-know-its-secrets-can-you-share-them/466126/22 "2008-10-06T22:04:44Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > In my experience and the experience of the contractor currently working on our new house, there’s nothing to get rid of bugs like the plaster dust produced by a total gutting of the interior. It may be a little more drastic than you were planning, but it’s effective. I’m not sure about its effect on roaches, but we had a serious ant problem until we cut a hole in the wall between the kitchen and dining room to make a window/countertop thing. The wall is drywall, and we got drywall dust absolutely everywhere. Never saw another ant in the house after that. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homemade-roach-powder-do-you-know-its-secrets-can-you-share-them/466126/23 "2008-10-08T08:47:27Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > And then poison monkeys to get rid of the centipedes. And then wolves to get rid of the poison monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![Pentimental](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Pentimental](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pentimental)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homemade-roach-powder-do-you-know-its-secrets-can-you-share-them/466126/24 "2008-10-08T14:23:17Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > And then wolves to get rid of the poison monkeys. But then you will be burdened with the inexorable buzzing of dimwitted Governesses in helicopters, which are naturally attracted to wolves. The Secret Service would not look kindly at any attempts to rid the enviorment of this pestilence. Hopefully the natural election cycle will send this gnat to the obscurity from whence it came. Wink, wink. ---
**Author:** ![NtropiK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/858c86/32.png) [@NtropiK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NtropiK)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homemade-roach-powder-do-you-know-its-secrets-can-you-share-them/466126/25 "2008-10-15T17:49:10Z")
If you have fleas, and carpeting, boric acid will kill them, too. Just sprinkle generously into the carpet (it’s in a powdered form), and don’t vacuum for a few weeks. The boric acid dissolves any eggs deposited in the carpet, thus ending the cycle. ---
**Author:** ![Lucylling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Lucylling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucylling)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homemade-roach-powder-do-you-know-its-secrets-can-you-share-them/466126/28 "2023-08-09T00:51:08Z")
Ive made what are called cockroach cookes 1/2 cup crisco 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup flour 1/2 cup boric acid Mix together add a tbls water roll in to balls and put out through out your house. It works real good you notice a difference in a few days [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homemade-roach-powder-do-you-know-its-secrets-can-you-share-them/466126.md?page=1)