Getting rid of a cockroach infestation is not easy. Crushing every single one may seem like an insurmountable or even a very cruel undertaking. You should therefore look for a method to handle the problem without getting your hands dirty. A trap is a great alternative to insecticide sprays and definitely costs less than getting a professional to kill the bugs for you.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: With Masking Tape
Step 1. Try making a trap with duct tape
The logic behind this strategy is simple: you need a trap to attract the cockroaches and duct tape to block them. This type of trap is difficult to move once it is fixed in one place, but it is a simple trick that allows you to achieve great results with relatively little effort.
If you prefer, you can also find these sticky traps on the market. Look for them in garden stores or contact companies that perform pest control services for advice
Step 2. Get the duct tape
Make sure it's not old and still has excellent adhesive power, otherwise the cockroaches may resist and escape. You can also find alternatives if you wish, but the important thing is that it is a solution that has an equally strong bond. Painter's masking tape is not effective in this respect and neither are the rather bland tapes. Your trap must be able to hold back the cockroaches until you take them out.
Step 3. Choose your trap
Any product with a strong sweet or greasy smell is fine. Onion is a fairly typical choice, but you can use any type of fragrance. Try adding a strip of fresh banana peel or some very ripe sweet fruit. A piece of bread is fine too. If you've found that cockroaches in your home are particularly attracted to a particular type of food, use it as bait.
- If you want the insects to die, you can buy a gel bait enriched with a poisonous active ingredient for cockroaches. Keep in mind, however, that these products don't always really attract bugs and aren't always as effective as they claim. Check with a garden center or pest control company for more details.
- Use only a small dose of the bait of your choice. If it comes off the edge of the tape, cockroaches have no more reason to climb on it. Cut the onion, fruit, or other food of your choice into small but consistent slices.
Step 4. Put the bait
Place the fruit, onion, bread, and so on, in the center of the piece of masking tape you made. Make sure the bait is stable and doesn't fall off the tape.
Step 5. Place the trap
Place the piece of duct tape in an area frequented by cockroaches. it could be the kitchen, a dark corner of the house or near a hole in the wall. Keep in mind that you will have to decide what to do next with the captured insects; they will stick to the tape, helpless, and you will have to find a way to detach or throw them away without releasing them.
You can place the trap in an elevated position, such as on kitchen cabinets or the refrigerator. Cockroaches like to move frantically in raised places
Step 6. Wait
Cockroaches like dark places and tend to hunt for food at night. Leave the trap in place overnight and don't get close until the next morning. When you check it out, after the night, you will hopefully find many captured cockroaches. At that point you have to get rid of it; you can kill them or release them in a non-cruel way.
- If you want to release the cockroaches without using cruel methods, take the duct tape and take it outdoors. Move at least 30 meters away from the house and shake the tape to detach the bugs. If you don't want to catch the trap with your bare hands, wear gloves or use a dustbin. Alternatively, place a box on the tape to close the trap and place a sheet of paper underneath to restrain the roaches as you take them outside.
- If you want to kill them instead, you can just throw away the duct tape with the stuck cockroaches. Make sure you close the garbage bag tightly, otherwise the bugs could come out, nullifying all your work.
Method 2 of 3: In a Jar
Step 1. Try to trap cockroaches by placing them in a jar
This type of trap is also safe for children and pets and is much easier to move and transfer than duct tape. Get a one-liter jar that has a very thin neck, like some models for sauces or mayonnaise.
Step 2. Set up a structure for the cockroaches to climb onto the pot
Wrap the entire container in masking tape (painter's paper is fine too) with the sticky side facing the jar, so the roaches have enough grip to climb. Alternatively, place the pot near a small ramp or plank so the insects can climb easily.
Step 3. Make the inside walls of the pot slippery
Line the inside with a layer of petroleum jelly at least 10cm from the top edge. This way the cockroaches will not be able to maintain their grip on the walls when they try to get out of the container. You can also decide to mix petroleum jelly with a gel bait that kills cockroaches on simple contact; keep in mind, however, that this type of bait tends to dry out. An adequate amount of petroleum jelly allows the oily moisture to be retained for as long as it takes to capture them.
Step 4. Insert the bait into the trap
Put something particularly strong smelling in the bottom of the pot to attract insects. A piece of banana peel or a very ripe fragrant fruit is fine, but some people say a few slices of onion also work. Make sure the bait is not too big for cockroaches to use it as a "scaffold" to get out of the jar.
Try pouring some beer or red wine into the bottom of the jar - just a small amount is enough to drown the cockroaches. Fruit juices, soft drinks or sugary water are good alternatives. These sweet tasting drinks attract insects, which will remain trapped forever
Step 5. Place the trap
Place the pot in an area where the infestation problem is greatest and make sure there is enough space on the sides of the container for cockroaches to climb into it. The purpose of this trap is to make the insects climb onto the jar so that they fall inside, from where they can no longer get out.
Leave the jar indoors, such as a closet, garage, or warm corner of the house. The intense smell of the bait will attract hungry cockroaches into the trap
Step 6. Empty the trap
Leave the jar in place overnight or even for several days, until you have caught a good amount of cockroaches. Finally pour boiling water into the jar to kill the surviving insects. Finally, throw them down the toilet or put them in the compost bin.
Set the trap again to make sure the cockroach problem is resolved once and for all. Refill it with petroleum jelly and insert a new piece of bait. Repeat the process if necessary
Method 3 of 3: In a Bottle
Step 1. Try attracting cockroaches with a bottle of red wine
First you need to find an almost empty bottle. However, it is important that the container has the right shape (it must be tall, cylindrical with a narrow neck, and so on), because it must prevent the cockroaches from climbing up and out. Any type of tall bottle with a narrow neck is fine. The important thing is that there are at least a few teaspoons of wine on the bottom.
- If the wine is dry red, add a quarter of a teaspoon of sugar and stir to dissolve it.
- If you don't want to use an alcoholic substance, try adding some water, sugar and some fruit, or experiment. First you need to boil the water and allow it to cool, to prevent the mixture from molding before it acts as a bait for cockroaches.
Step 2. Smear cooking oil along the inside walls of the top of the bottle
This will make them slippery and the insects will fall to the bottom of the container.
Alternatively, use a bottlebrush or other similar long-handled tool to distribute the oily substance inside the bottle, just below the neck. This way the caught cockroaches won't be able to get out because they won't have enough grip
Step 3. Place the trap
Place the wine bottle in a spot where you have noticed cockroaches - it could be near the compost heap, for example, or in a dark corner of the kitchen. Leave it in place for at least one night. Be aware that it may take up to a couple of nights for the solution to ferment and become a suitable mixture for attracting insects.
- Cockroaches are attracted to the sweet smell of wine or beer. They rise to the top of the bottle, slide over the oil, fall to the bottom and are no longer able to rise.
- You can evaluate the possibility of creating a "trail" of wine to be poured on the outside of the bottle. This makes it easier for you to lure the roaches into the trap with the promise of finding sweet things.
Step 4. Dispose of the bugs
The next morning, when you find several bugs in the bottle, very carefully pour some really hot water to kill them. Leave the boiling water inside the container for a minute or two to make sure it does its job completely, as cockroaches are hardy creatures. When finished, dispose of the dead insects by pouring hot water in the garden, on the compost heap, or down the toilet.
- If one bottle isn't enough to solve your infestation problem, keep trying. You can decide to make another trap by putting the bottle again every 2 or 3 days. Over time, the number of captured cockroaches should start to decrease and you should notice fewer and fewer bugs ending up in the bottle.
- Try combining this method with a sticky trap and the jar technique. Place several traps in different areas of the house and see if this allows you to get better results. Keep in mind that a trap may catch more cockroaches than others due to its location or the type of bait; not necessarily because of its capture mechanism.
Advice
- You don't necessarily have to use onion as bait, but you can also use peanut butter or something sweet.
- Once the roaches are trapped, you can use the vacuum cleaner to peel them off the duct tape or, alternatively, discard the tape.
- Consider making your home less attractive to cockroaches. If you don't try to make the environment less hospitable for these insects, the death of some specimens will not solve the problem, as they will soon be replaced by other cockroaches.
Warnings
- The adhesive tape may dry out.
- Keep the duct tape away from pets or children.
