The most unexpected cockroach hotspots in your home

You might know what attracts cockroaches to your home. You are confident and ready to get rid of them by setting up baits and traps or spraying pesticide in the right places. But, you may start to ask yourself, exactly where are the ‘right places’?

Why does detecting cockroach hotspots matter?

Sure, you could place roach baits and traps anywhere; spray pesticide aimlessly, but you should know that doing so could render them useless. It is because the ‘right places’ generally refer to hotspots where there is high cockroach traffic; where they hide, crawl, and seek shelter.

If you spray pesticide in an area where there are barely any cockroaches moving through, obviously, you would not expect to eliminate as many cockroaches—and the same goes for baits.

Imagine this: if you place a trap or bait in a place far away from their hiding place, do you think they will risk going all the way over to it?

Setting up cockroach control measures in the right places can make a difference between success and failure. Before we reveal the unexpected cockroach hotspots in your home, let us first take look at the most common places to find the pest in your home.

Where Do You Find Cockroaches in Your Home?

Kitchen

Your kitchen is probably the one place in your home where you can find food, water, warmth, and shelter altogether thus, providing the perfect hideout for cockroaches. Meanwhile, the dishes in the sink—not to mention, the food scraps and standing water in it—could be giving a luxury dining experience for cockroaches.

Bathroom

Your bathroom is another favourite location among cockroaches, thanks to the moisture, clutter, and dark spaces for them to thrive. They can easily hide in the toilet, sink, shower, and cabinets and could eat pretty much anything including soap, dead skin, hair and even faeces.

Attic, Basement, and/or Garage

Often used for storage, they are often being neglected compared to other parts of your home. They can be full of clutter, providing cockroaches with a shelter to hide in and lay their eggs. It can be anything from stacks of paper, cardboard boxes, old clothes, toys, and broken furniture items.

Unexpected Cockroach Hotspots in Your Home

Aside from food, cockroaches are also not particular about the place they hide. They can practically live anywhere they can fit and find their food sources. Here are some other places you may not expect to find cockroaches:

• Telephone receivers, wall sockets, and refrigerator door seals. In a 2018 report, The Straits Times said these items are also a hotspot for cockroaches as they are dark and humid, and have access to food and moisture.
• Furniture. Aside from the furniture in the basement, cockroaches can also sneak into the hidden areas of your furniture at home. These include your couches, tables, chairs, drawers, rugs, and even the carpeting.
• Ceiling. On top of that, cockroaches lounge on the ceiling. This can be particularly troublesome to address, as there is the tendency for the cockroaches to fall or fly on to you.

How to Get Rid of Cockroaches

1. Identify Signs of Infestation

Cockroaches could be hiding many areas in your home. One way to detect them is by looking for cockroach infestation signs. These could be anything from the following:

• Cockroach droppings
• Cockroach eggs
• Cockroach smell
• Cockroach sightings (dead or alive)

2. Remove What Attracts Cockroaches in the Home

As the age-old mantra says, prevention is better than cure. So, as much as possible, get rid of what attracts cockroaches into your home in the first place. In other words, make it less appealing to them:

• Eliminate food and water sources
• Store food in airtight containers
• Empty bins regularly
• Clean up spills and crumbs
• Seal up potential entryways such as gaps, crack, and holes

3. Try Home Remedies

On top of a DIY approach to pest control for cockroaches, such as setting up baits and traps, and spraying pesticide, you can also try using the following home remedies to keep roaches away:

• Cucumber
• Petroleum Jelly
• Silica Gels
• Bay Leaf
• Essential Oils
• Pandan Leaf

However, keep in mind that these solutions may not always be effective and may even worsen the pest problem. Read this guide on how to use them: How to Prevent Cockroaches from Entering Your Home Naturally.

4. Engage the Help of a Professional

As mentioned above, cockroaches can be quite difficult to get rid of. They can retreat deep into their hiding areas and could be anywhere, even in the least places you expect them to be. Not forgetting, they are fast runners as well.

Therefore, to address the pest problem successfully, professional pest control is key. Here at Rentokil Singapore, we offer a complete solution to manage your cockroach infestation problem. This includes residual spray, cockroach gel, and baits. We also offer cockroach prevention advice for a holistic approach to controlling the problem.

For professional pest control for cockroach, get in touch with us today at (65) 6347 8138.