I have small children in my home so I must be careful about what I use. I would like to find a way to kill roaches, especially german roaches quickly and permently without costing me an arm and a leg. Any suggestions?
dave, where are you?
Do you share walls with any neighbors, i.e., live in a townhome, apartment, duplex, etc.?
And on that note, I’ll shoot this puppy over to Comments on Cecil’s Columns for further, uh, comment.
I live in the woods on my own land in a manufactued home. I have small children in the home, so I can not use Cecil’s method of 4 parts borax, 2 parts flour, and 1 part cocoa powder, for it would not be safe around children.
We use the nearest shoe. Sorry that’s not more helpful, we’re in GA and the GIANT roaches (“Palmetto Bugs”) come in from the outside constantly. They’ve owned the earth for 300 million years. It’s MY turn, dammit!
Freakshow. As I hit “submit,” I see one crawling up the bookcase. I shot HIM with some icy cold keyboard cleaner (the closest weapon) and chased him back into the darkness. Didn’t kill the little SOB, though…
You’re in for a lot of trouble if you’ve got the little skinny German roaches. I live in Miami and the bugs here are pretty bad. I have Orkin come out and spray every month just to prevent those buggers from coming around.
I’d recommend hiring a professional. Those roaches are living in places of your home that you didn’t even know existed.
All roach removal is temporay, except one way.
The Master told you—Arson!
<sings>
Burn, Baby, Burn!
Disco Inferno!
Burn Baby, Burn!* </sings>
Well, a nuclear holocaust might do the trick, if it’s pretty thorough. But don’t count on it. 
The problem is even if you kill off all the ones there now and the ones to hatch later, they can still be smuggled back inside the next time you bring home a cardboard box.
Try the borax method, but don’t put it in places accessible to the kids. Like, fill the cracks under the cabinets that are locked with the child-proof locks.
I used combat roach baits, but the apartment complex sprays regularly.
Try a mixture of baking soda and powdered sugar. Non-toxic.
Or set the thermostat to over 130 or turn off all the heat and open the windows in the dead of winter, to make the temperature under 23. Leave the house for a few hours, and flush all the bodies when you get back.