There are more than 5,000 species of roaches around the world. Most of them live in the tropics, but you can find them all over the place. And, unfortunately, the colder your climate is, the more likely they are to move in with you to stay warm!

If you’re dealing with a roach problem in your home, you don’t have to call a professional. Just follow these 5 roach control tips.

1. Be thorough

There are a variety of good roach control products on the market, but no matter which one you choose, you have to be thorough. With their tough shells, their wings, their fast-moving legs, and their tiny claws, roaches are built to fight off a bunch of threats.

Adding to the problem – roaches live in colonies. So, stomping on the one roach you see isn’t good enough. There are plenty more of them where that one came from! You’ll need a roach control plan that attacks the entire colony.

2. Roach bait

Designed to look appetizing, each bait contains a little bit of roach food and a whole lot of poison. That way, when a roach eats it, he heads back to his colony and dies.

How does this kill off the colony?

Roaches will feast on dead members of their group. When they do, they will all ingest the fatal poison that was in your bait.

3. Borate powder

This is one of the most effective roach control tools because roaches can’t run away from it! All you have to do is sprinkle the powder wherever roaches are hanging out – like under your refrigerator, behind your stairs, or in your garage. When roaches walk through it, the powder will stick to them – and that’s when it starts to work its magic.

Borate powder makes its way into roaches’ exoskeletons and vital organs and kills them a short time later. They don’t need to eat or ingest the powder in any way; simply walking through it is good enough!

And, once you’ve applied Borate powder, you can see results from it for months.

4. Roach control spray

This may be the most common roach control tool out there, and it’s probably the first thing you think of when you think of killing roaches.

While most sprays come with strong fumes, they’re also great for working their way into even the tiniest of hiding spots – places where bigger baits won’t fit.

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5. Roach bombs

This hard-core roach control treatment is only for the most severe infestations. These bombs release a continual spray of toxic fumes for several minutes. Since bombs can shoot poison straight into the air, they are great for flying roaches.

Be warned, though – your family and your pets cannot be inside the house while a roach bomb is going off. In fact, you’ll have to leave for awhile if you want to be safe.

But what if you don’t have a major roach problem yet? Is there still some kind of preventative roach control plan that you can adopt!

Yes!

There are a few simple things that you can do to keep roaches at bay, like:

- Vacuuming on a regular basis

While the vacuum won’t kill roaches, it will get rid of them. Plus, your vacuum will suck up tiny little roach eggs before they have a chance to hatch. And, it will get rid of all the roach feces that can be damaging to you – and attractive to new roaches.

- Taking the garbage out every day

The remnants of last night’s dinner might not smell good to you, but to roaches, it smells like paradise! Roaches will head straight for your garbage to find their next meal – then decide to stick around.

- Getting rid of standing water

Even a tiny puddle from a leaky faucet can attract roaches. They’re always looking for a good water source, and if you give it to them, you’ll wind up with some unwanted roommates!

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