How to get rid of cockroaches at home, and keep them from coming back

If you switch on the kitchen light at night and something darts under the fridge, you are not seeing the whole problem. Cockroaches hide in the daytime, so for every one you see there are usually many more behind the cupboards, inside the cooker and down the drains. The good news is that most home infestations can be brought under control without soaking the house in chemicals. It takes a plan and a few weeks of consistency.

Want the short answer on what to buy? Chat with us on WhatsApp and we will tell you which DIY products are working best for our customers right now.

Why cockroaches are more than a nuisance

Cockroaches walk through drains, soakaways and refuse, then across your plates and worktops. They can carry bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli on their bodies and in their droppings. Their droppings and shed skins are also a common trigger for allergies and asthma, especially in children. Getting rid of them is a health matter, not only a matter of embarrassment when visitors come.

Know which cockroach you have

• The small, light-brown one (the German cockroach, about the length of a fingernail) lives and breeds indoors, mostly in kitchens. It multiplies fast: a single egg case can hold 30 or more young. This is the one behind most serious kitchen infestations.
• The big, reddish-brown one that sometimes flies (the American cockroach) lives mainly in drains, soakaways, gutters and stores, and walks in from outside. A few of these usually means an entry point needs blocking.

Step 1: Cut off the food

• Wash plates and pots before bed. Do not leave them soaking overnight.
• Wipe worktops, the cooker top and the floor under the cooker. Grease is food.
• Keep garri, rice, beans, flour, sugar and pet food in containers with tight lids.
• Use a bin with a cover and empty it every evening.

Step 2: Cut off the water

A cockroach can go weeks without food but only days without water. Fix dripping taps and leaking pipes under the sink, dry the sink and bathroom floor at night, and do not leave water standing in buckets or under the fridge.

Step 3: Remove hiding places and block the way in

• Throw away old cartons, newspapers and nylon bags stacked in the kitchen or store. Cockroaches love cardboard.
• Seal cracks around pipes, tiles, door frames and cupboards with filler or silicone.
• Fit covers on floor drains and keep them closed. Fit a strip under doors that have a gap.
• Check cartons, crates and second-hand appliances before bringing them inside. That is how many infestations start.

Step 4: Bait, do not spray

This is where most people go wrong. Spraying kills the few cockroaches you can see and pushes the rest deeper into the walls. Baits work the other way: cockroaches eat the bait, go back to the hiding place and die there, and others that feed on them die too.

• Gel bait: put small dots, about the size of a grain of rice, in the places they hide: cupboard hinges, behind the fridge and cooker, under the sink, around pipe entries. Many small dots work better than a few big ones.
• Bait stations: useful where children or pets could reach an open gel.
• Do not spray insecticide near your bait. It puts cockroaches off eating it.
• Sticky traps: place a few along the walls to see where the activity is and whether numbers are falling.

Which gel bait should you buy? Not every product on the shelf works equally well. Cockroaches build up resistance to insecticides they are exposed to often, and quality varies from one batch and seller to the next. Send us a WhatsApp message and we will tell you the gel baits and traps that are giving our customers the best results, and how much of each you need for your home.

Whatever product you use, read the label, keep it away from food, children and pets, and wash your hands afterwards.

What not to do

• Do not use Sniper (DDVP) inside your home. It is an agricultural pesticide, not a household insecticide. NAFDAC has banned the sale of the small bottles since 2019 because of poisonings, and warns that exposure can cause dizziness, vomiting, breathing difficulty and convulsions.
• Do not rely on "bug bombs" or foggers. Researchers at North Carolina State University who tested them in infested homes found they did not reduce the cockroach population, while leaving pesticide residue on floors and worktops. Gel baits in the same study cleared the problem.
• Do not mix chemicals or spray surfaces where food is prepared.

How long does it take?

With cleaning and baiting together, you should see far fewer cockroaches within one to two weeks. Egg cases keep hatching after the adults die, so top up the bait and keep the kitchen dry and clean for at least four to six weeks. Stopping early is the commonest reason they come back.

When to call a professional

• You see cockroaches in the daytime, or in several rooms.
• You have done the steps above for three to four weeks and numbers are not dropping.
• You live in a block of flats or a compound where they keep coming from next door. The whole building needs treating together.
• You run a restaurant, shop, school, clinic or any place that handles food.
• Someone at home has asthma, or there is a baby in the house, and you want it handled safely.

A professional treatment targets the hiding places with products approved for indoor use. Ask for a follow-up visit, because newly hatched cockroaches appear a few weeks after the first treatment. If you are wondering how often that is needed, see how often you should fumigate your home in Nigeria.

A simple weekly routine that keeps them away

1. No dirty plates or uncovered food overnight.
2. Bin emptied every evening.
3. Sink, worktops and bathroom floor dry before bed.
4. Once a week: pull out the cooker and fridge, sweep and mop behind them.
5. Once a month: check under the sink for leaks and check your sticky traps.

Ask us before you buy

Before you spend money on sprays and powders that will not solve the problem, ask us. Tell us how many rooms are affected and where you see the cockroaches, and we will recommend the DIY products to use and how to apply them. It costs you nothing to ask.

Chat with us on WhatsApp: 0803 919 7208

If the infestation is already heavy, or you would rather not handle chemicals yourself, Omo-Emwiokpa Enterprise carries out fumigation and pest control for homes, offices and food businesses in Benin City and beyond. We inspect first, tell you what we found and recommend the right treatment. Request a free assessment.