Many homeowners’ worst nightmare is seeing a cockroach crawl across the bed as they are sound asleep. Even though they don’t bite, roaches frequently cause feelings of dread and disgust. You must act quickly to stop an infestation once you spot a cockroach in your home. Read this article carefully if you want to learn how to keep cockroaches out at night.
Signs You May Have A Roach Problem
What are some signs that there may be a larger issue? Look out for some of the following in your home.
Cockroach Odor
Cockroaches emit a distinct oily, musky odor when there are many of them. Your home most likely has an infestation if you can smell them.
Cockroach Egg Casings
The brown, long casings of roaches. Each casing contains numerous eggs—up to 50—so removing and discarding any will help control the roach population.
Cockroach Feces
These waste products resemble ground coffee or black pepper. To see if you can catch any, set sticky traps up where you are finding roach droppings.
Roaches During The Day
Roaches are more active at night, as was previously stated. In other words, if you see these insects scurrying about in the sunlight, it means that their population has likely grown to the point where some of them are being forced out of their nests.
Why Do Roaches Infest Clean Homes?
The Presence Of Food
Cockroaches enter our homes for one main reason: there is food available. These insects don’t have particular food preferences; they’ll be attracted to almost anything left out on your kitchen counters.
As a result, locking away all food in locations where roaches can’t access it or smell it is one of the most effective defenses against roaches in your home.
Of course, even doing this won’t guarantee that cockroaches won’t come because their diet differs greatly from ours. In addition to eating regular food, roaches frequently consume paper, books, cardboard, and even some types of wood from everyday household items.
As a result, clearing out clutter is essential to making your home less inviting to cockroaches.
Darkness And Dampness
You might believe that your home is finally free of cockroach infestations after storing all food in the refrigerator or in sealed containers and cleaning all kitchen countertops and floors and that any roaches that may still be hiding out will soon die out or leave.
That is regrettably not the case.
Without food, cockroaches can live for days or even weeks. They spend this time hiding out in well-protected, dark, damp, dingy areas of your home. In other words, even if food is out of their reach, you might still find roaches scurrying around in the garage, basement, garbage bin areas, and generally any other hidden areas of the house.
Roaches are more dependent on water than they are on food, which may surprise you. Because they require water to survive, cockroaches frequently enter our homes and are frequently found in bathrooms. In fact, they can only survive for one week without it.
Roach-infested Items You Bring Into Your Home
Cockroaches rarely travel in clothing or furniture, unlike bed bugs. That said, if cockroaches are found to be living in cardboard boxes or appliances like toasters, microwaves, computers, and video game consoles, a homeowner may unintentionally bring them inside.
This is especially true if the contested items were used or were kept in a location like a garage or a basement.
An Attractive Outdoor Environment
Many homeowners who have roach problems inside don’t think to look outside for roaches to enter. These creatures can find the perfect breeding ground in your yard’s shady, warm spots.
Heavy vegetation patches, a compost bin, and areas close to leaky outdoor faucets can all draw roaches to your yard, making it easier for them to get inside your house.
Do Roaches Activity Increase At Night?
The cockroaches only get to work when they are sound asleep and there is little light available because they are nocturnal insects and are very active at night.
They frequently leave their nests to find food or to eat for themselves, trying to eat everything that is put out for them. In addition to the kitchen, you would frequently discover them in your bedrooms, hiding under any dresser or closet.
How To Keep Cockroaches Away At Night?
Keep Lights On
Even though sleeping with the lights on doesn’t really change much, it does help to lessen cockroach activity. With lights on, you will frequently see fewer roaches crawling around your home because these tiny creatures are drawn to dark, damp, and moist areas where they would hope to find any food leftovers. Being in the dark makes it easier to see cockroaches.
Use Smell-Based Repellents
These are bursting with essence, and the roaches can smell them from a distance and turn around when they inhale them. These oils include:
- Rosemary
- Peppermint
- Oregano
- Eucalyptus
- Lavender
- Citrus
By combining one of the aforementioned oils with some water in a spray bottle, you can use it to spray around your bed and other areas where you don’t want cockroaches to congregate. You can spritz it on the bed linens and in any corners you find.
You can use specific herbs and spices in addition to essential oils to deter cockroaches at night.
Remove Water Sources
Moisture attracts cockroaches, and they will gather there. Cockroaches are drawn to bedrooms that contain evaporative coolers, juice glasses, or tabletop fountains.
Devoid of water sources, your bedroom should never be used. Close the bathroom door and apply a seal to the bottom of the entrance.
Remove Food
Some of life’s little pleasures include eating breakfast in bed or snacking on popcorn while watching a late-night movie. Sadly, cockroaches share this sentiment. In the late hours of the night, cockroaches will invade your bedroom too.
- Scattered crumbs
- Food containers with trace sauce or leftovers
- Dropped or discarded food in or around your bed
- Food at the corners of your mouth or on your hands
Don’t allow food in your bedroom. Eat only in the dining room, especially if you are using pest control techniques.
Check For Eggs
The best places for ootheca (egg cases) to be hidden are in your clothing, closet, bedding, and wardrobe. Cockroaches are reproducing if your home is so badly infested that they choose your bedroom as a breeding ground.
The subsequent generation will hatch, grow, and infest your home once you’ve eliminated the primary colony. Therefore, it’s imperative to look for unhatched eggs. These egg cases are available:
- Underneath furniture, such as wardrobes or beds
- Inside of fabric, such as with clothing or sheets
- Near sources of heat, such as electronics or mattresses
- Inside storage boxes or drawers, especially toward the back
Remove and destroy the egg casings when you’ve located them. This might entail using the highest heat setting on your washer and dryer for the clothing.
Vacuuming Thoroughly
Even if it isn’t typical food, cockroaches will seek out any source of food that is available. This may include:
- Dead skin cells
- Strands of hair
- Traces of poop from a pet
- Cigarette butts
- Cardboard
Your bedroom might seem clean if you only vacuum once every two weeks, but cockroaches will still have food. To find tiny scraps that will keep them from starving, they can search through your carpets, rugs, and hardwood floors.
Pesticides In Every Room
Cockroaches are intelligent enough to leave areas where pesticides have been applied. Once the coast is clear, they’ll look for safer hiding places and emerge. Apartments are particularly prone to this.
If you use pesticides in your kitchen, cockroaches may run to your bedroom. Consequently, you require a more comprehensive strategy. You must, of course, exercise the appropriate caution.
Sleep Higher Up
Cockroaches are adept at climbing up furniture and walls. Their legs have tiny hooks that give them traction on flat surfaces. This implies that you are not always shielded from cockroaches by your bed frame.
The entire colony uses these pathways to move around the house and find food. Cockroaches will climb over anything that is placed in their path. Cockroaches are more likely to enter your bed, for instance, if your bed is flush with the floor or the mattress is placed on the floor.
Cockroaches are less likely to scale up if your bed frame is elevated off the ground and easily accessible by foot traffic. Naturally, this doesn’t solve your cockroach problem.
Close All Openings In To Your Bedroom
Cockroaches typically emerge from a single crack, big or small, that you might not even notice. The same thing happened to me up until a few years later; I was able to identify the entry point where the roaches used to enter and immediately sealed it.
Although you should be aware that closing the opening might be the best option for permanently keeping cockroaches out, it’s still crucial to identify their exact source.
Even though it might take some time, you can arrive there without incident after conducting a thorough inspection. Be sure to keep an eye out for these on your doors, ceiling, or any furniture that may be hidden.
Conclusion
In addition to spreading diseases, cockroaches are generally unpleasant to see in your home. Even though there are some do-it-yourself solutions that could keep some roaches out of your space, putting them into practice requires a lot of time and effort. The majority of these methods also won’t be able to stop an established infestation. It’s best to call a professional when you can’t sleep at night due to cockroaches.