Yes, baking soda does eliminate cockroaches, but it's pretty challenging to make these bugs eat it. That's mainly due to the robust smell and flavor of the baking soda that cockroaches dislike. However, when they do consume baking soda, it bursts roaches' bodies with extreme pressure and kills them.
No, cockroaches don't eat baking soda by itself. To these creatures, the taste of it is disgusting. The smell is also repugnant to them. Baking soda is harmful to their bodies both inside and out.
The sugar attracts the cockroaches while baking soda will kill them. Once they eat it, baking soda will react badly by creating gas inside of the stomach and cause its stomach to burst. All you have to do afterwards is just clean up the dead roaches.
When ingested by a cockroach, baking soda forms gas in its stomach that it can't get rid of. Once pressure from the gas reaches a point that it's body can't handle, the cockroach dies.
The strong smell of baking soda is known to drive away cockroaches. Here's what you can do: Dissolve 2 teaspoons of baking soda in one cup of lukewarm water and then pour this mixture into all the outlets and waterways in your home. Like baking soda, boric acid is also an excellent way to get rid of cockroaches.
Vinegar is a natural household ingredient that can repel and kill cockroaches. Fill a spray bottle with equal parts vinegar and water, and then spray it directly onto the roaches when spotted. The strong odour and acidity of vinegar can be effective in eliminating them instantly.
White vinegar is often recommended as a natural way to get rid of roaches. Unfortunately, it doesn't actually kill these problem insects.
Create a soapy water solution that you can spray with a bottle. It will only take about 2 – 3 sprays to kill any roaches, as the soapy solution will cover their breathing pores and suffocate them.
In that scenario, you can buy what are called desiccant dusts—like diatomaceous earth, a non-toxic substance you can find on Amazon—and that will dehydrate the eggs, thereby killing them.
Bugs, however, are a different story…they hate the stuff. There are many types of bugs that baking soda works on but two main culprits… ants and roaches. Both ants and roaches are controlled quite well through the use of baking soda.
Citronella
Citronella not only works great for repelling mosquitos but also cockroaches. While the candles don't work well against roaches, you can use citronella oil as a deterrent. You can mix it with water and use it as a spray or simply wipe down areas with the diluted mixture.
Peppermint oil, cedarwood oil, and cypress oil are essential oils that effectively keep cockroaches at bay. Additionally, these insects hate the smell of crushed bay leaves and steer clear of coffee grounds. If you want to try a natural way to kill them, combine powdered sugar and boric acid.
Mix equal parts baking soda and sugar in a small dish and apply it to kitchen cabinets, baseboards, crevices, water sources, and other places roaches like to hide.
Windex is toxic to most pests, especially spiders. Spraying window cleaner directly onto small insects like ants or mosquitoes will kill them within a few moments. For cockroaches, window cleaner can make them temporarily unconscious so that you can squash them.
How Does Windex Kill Cockroaches? Windex doesn't have enough insecticide properties to physically kill the roaches via chemicals. Instead what happens is that when a cockroach if properly covered in Windex, the Windex covers their back, which they breath out of and ends up suffocating them.
Yes, Lysol does kill roaches! It does this by suffocating them. Roaches breathe through openings on their back called spiracles. The Lysol penetrates the spiracles, causing them to choke and die.
This one's a myth. Salt doesn't kill cockroaches. However, epsom salt (a.k.a. magnesium sulfate) is toxic to roaches. Use it just like baking soda.
Boric Acid
It's extremely toxic and can kill multiple generations of roaches. Mix a combination of equal parts of boric acid, sugar and water to make a dough.
Insects don't enjoy baby powder nearly as much as your baby does. Sprinkle a line across areas where common household pests like ants, flies, roaches, and other unwelcome visitors tend to roam. They will relocate themselves promptly.
Sprinkle the diatomaceous earth around areas where roaches travel and frequent. The sharp particles of diatomaceous earth damage the waxy, protective exoskeleton of the roach, causing it to dehydrate and die, typically within 48 hours of contact.