"If you're looking to avoid insects this summer, scents are a no-no," she said. "Make sure not to wear any heavily scented soaps, perfumes, hair care products or lotions because the smells attract the bugs to you."
Strong Odors
Roaches will eat almost anything, but they love sweets most. The apple pie scented potpourri you put out might be interpreted as an open invitation to a free buffet. An unsealed bowl of sugar or open box of sweet cereal can also seduce their senses. Nice smells aren't the only ones they love.
Cockroaches are attracted to your home by the smell of food. They are most attracted to starch, sugar, grease, meat, and cheese. Rotting fruits and vegetables can also give off a very pungent smell that will definitely attract these pests.
Cockroaches hate perfumes. Strong fragrances can suffocate them, so they will always try to stay away from perfumes. On the other hand, it is not advised to put perfume in roach-infested areas to beat the infestation.
Boric acid Some people find this to be the best option to kill roaches. Boric acid can work too, the only downside is that sometimes roaches will go away as soon as they smell boric acid.
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.
Many perfumes have sweet or floral notes that attract them and other bugs, but that is not the only factor. The olfactory receptors in their antennae enable mosquitoes to smell deodorants, colognes, scented lotions, and other fragrances, such as body wash.
Keep a Cold Home
Turning up the AC may not look good on your energy bill but at least your house will be cockroach-free. There's a reason why we see roaches in the summer, and they vanish during the winter – cockroaches hate the cold. Always turn up the AC.
Left out food, waste, garbage, clutter, moisture, heat, and darkness are all things that attract roaches. As you might expect, this means they're most likely to be found in areas like kitchens, basements, and cluttered or dirty areas.
Cockroaches hate red light and will always move away when they are in its presence. In contrast, they are actually attracted to the yellow color and will gravitate towards the yellow light but always run away from the red light.
Placing pandan leaves and moth balls around the house
There are smells to keep roaches away. E.g. pandan leaves, moth balls, peppermint oil, baking soda or even bay leaf.
Cockroaches are attracted to food and water sources. Dirty dishes, crumbs, food spills, leftovers, garbage, and pet food will all draw cockroaches in. Roaches are excellent at scuttling into and over tiny spaces, especially holes in pipes, cracks and crevices in your home, and tears in screens.
Cockroaches seek places where they can find ample food. Food crumbs, spills, leftovers, and pet food are the most common food sources. Kitchen trash and grease on stovetops and countertops can be inviting for roaches, and they may also get into stored food items.
Breadcrumbs or baby food can be effective lures to draw cockroaches out of their nests and into your traps. You can also use peanut butter – and dipping pieces of bread in beer has also been shown to be an especially enticing lure for cockroaches.
By keeping a clean dwelling, you'll give roaches less of a reason to intrude upon your happy home. There is more to keeping roaches at bay than just having spotless floors, however. Let's look at potential trouble spots that you may have overlooked during your most recent cleaning spree or inspection.
There are a lot of people dropping air fresheners in their trash cans under the belief that the smell will offend roaches and send them running. Not only does it almost never work, but some scents may attract cockroaches and other pests.
Surprisingly, mosquitoes are not the only dangerous insects that gravitate toward perfumes and cologne. The well known arachnid pests that spread lyme disease, ticks, have been known to move toward people wearing artificial scents. Fleas and chiggers also fancy people's attractive scents.
You can use your favorite fragrance as a room spray, though fragrance mist is cheaper. Spritz the scent in the air—not on furniture or textiles—a good 2-3 times, then let it settle in the room for a few minutes. Don't be surprised if the fragrance smells differently in the air than it does on your skin.
Eyes. Perhaps one of the most obvious spots to avoid spraying perfume is near your eyes. Alcohol-based perfumes contain ethyl—some even consist of up to 95 percent, which can cause irritation and stinging if it comes into contact with sensitive areas, like your eyes.
Eucalyptus oil has a strong scent that seems to have some success in repelling roaches. You can dilute it with water and spray areas you think cockroaches might have nested.
Yes! these roaches can experience a full range of emotions. While we may not always see them displaying these emotions in the same ways we do, that doesn't mean they're not there. Cockroaches can exhibit fear responses when faced with predators or dangerous situations.