Cockroach Control Manual 26 deposited, and it should be flushed with a cleaning solution after each use. If a disposal isn't available, remove garbage to an outside, sealed container before evening. If this is often impossible, waste food are often placed in cockroach-proof containers like glass jars with air-tight lids.
Clean all surfaces in food preparation or eating areas, including counters, tables and floors with a cleaning solution after each use. Dishes, bowls, utensils and glasses should be immediately cleaned.
Grease may be a special problem and may be hard to clean. Cockroaches prey on the film of grease on oven hoods and walls next to where frying pans have been used. Clean all spills. Spilled food residue will attract cockroaches.
Sponges, cleaning pads and brushes must be thoroughly cleaned after use. Soiled clothing should be placed in a neighborhood not readily accessible to cockroaches, like a sealed plastic bag or a decent fitting hamper (without ventilation holes). Initial Cleaning Efforts.
Most folks tend to put off deep cleaning jobs (like ovens, behind stoves and refrigerators) until we've an honest reason to do them. If you've got cockroaches, there should be an incentive to form this extra effort. In fact, there is a good possibility those difficult cleaning areas are contributing to your cockroach infestation. When you clean, you'll see cockroaches. Have the vacuum handy and vac ’em up.
Before you start any control efforts, pull out refrigerators, stoves, freezers and clean behind and beside them. Wash the surface of the appliance. Remove the rear of appliances and vacuum dusty areas around motors. (Be bound to unplug appliances when doing this.) Remove items from cupboards, vacuum, and clean thoroughly (Figure 5-7).
Wash floors. Clean under burners and therefore the stovetop. Be sure to not forget the within and out of doors the oven and the broiler area, if you've got a gas range. It is important to get rid of grease.
(Cockroaches eat grease with gusto!) Cockroaches and Rodents Cockroaches and mice often coexist within the same dwelling. Both cockroaches and mice are nocturnal and sleep in dark, hidden locations. Cockroaches eat mouse feces and mice, in turn, may eat cockroaches.
Cockroaches eat mouse baits (pellets, blocks) without adverse results. If you're using bait to control mice, you'll be feeding cockroaches. Eliminate Hiding Places Remove Clutter. Remember, cockroaches prefer to be in tight, small places. These areas are where they feel secure, rest, mate, and breed.
Most cockroaches only need a 1/16” space, so even small cracks and crevices provide ample harborage. Also, cockroaches prefer porous surfaces like wood, paper, cardboard, insulation, and cloth. Stainless steel, aluminum, plastic laminates, ceramic tiles or baked enamel surfaces are less preferred. If you change the habitat, attempt to use materials cockroaches dislike.
When soft, porous materials are layered (such as corrugated cardboard), it forms a cockroach breeding area. don't keep stacks of paper bags, sacks, cardboard boxes, rags or pieces of wood in locations where cockroaches could also be present.
one of the most important mistakes is that the practice of storing paper bags between an appliance and therefore the wall because it establishes a layering effect next to a warm area.
This sack storage practice is an excellent cockroach breeding site. Examine all areas, within the kitchen, bathrooms, laundries, basement, and storage closets, especially near where cockroaches were found in your traps.
Figure 5-7 Clean thoroughly to get rid of food particles, cockroaches, and cockroach specs. (V. Jedlicka) 27 Re-organize and eliminate any clutter.
Any portable items providing harborage should be sealed in cockroach-proof containers or heavy plastic bags. Seal Them Out! After you eliminate clutter, search the whole room, and find all cracks, seams, and crevices larger than 1/16”.
don't overlook cabinets and furniture. These areas got to be sealed therefore the cockroaches haven't any places to hides. Commonly neglected areas are behind molding, small holes in cabinet doors, around rubber gaskets, around water pipes, in hollow tube legs of kitchen tables, where cabinets or walls meet one another, or around built-in appliances.
Caulking is simple, economical thanks to sealing most of those cockroach hiding places. There are three sorts of caulk:
1. Latex caulk is typically cheap, but latex eventually will crack and shrink.
2. Acrylic caulks are better than latex, but they still shrink over time. additionally, cockroaches may chew into latex or acrylic caulks.
3. Silicone caulks are the best! they're more flexible, waterproof, and can’t be chewed through. Before you caulk those crevices, confirm the edges of the space being sealed are clean and dry. Smooth the caulk so it forms a decent seal.
Also, use enough caulk to fill the width of the space and about 1/4-inch deep. you'll get to use enough caulk so it'll last. The disadvantage of silicone caulk is paint won't adhere to the surface just like the other caulks. For spaces greater than ½”, think about using foam fillers and caulk over the froth.
If caulking all the cracks or seams in your home seems to be a major undertaking, use monitoring sticky traps to determine locations where cockroach infestations are established and focus caulking and sealing efforts in those areas.
If cockroaches are infesting the cracks or seams, apply a cleaning solution and desiccation dust (discussed in Chapter 6) to those areas before caulking. Insecticide dust are often utilized in void areas, but confirm you read the section about the application of dust before you are doing this. After you completely seal this area, cockroaches can not use it as a topographic point.
Even high-grade silicone seals got to be checked and cleaned regularly. If the sting of the seal begins to flake or peel, clean out the caulk with a knife, and take away the whole section of caulk.
Then, clean and smooth the section with abrasive material, like sandpaper, and reapply the caulk. Don’t Overlook These Places There are some important areas during a kitchen that are often overlooked as a source of water, food or shelter.
Ignoring these “secret” places can counteract the effects of other management tactics. Primary Control Strategies: Modify Resources Figure 5-8. A German cockroach and fecal specks near a stack of papers during a heavily infested, very cluttered apartment. Figure 5-9.
Use caulk to seal cracks and crevices and void areas to eliminate these cockroach hiding places. (C. Ogg) (B. Ogg) Cockroach Control Manual 28 Refrigerators:
• Door gaskets should be checked and replaced if hard, stiff, or cracked. (Yes, roaches can live under refrigerator gaskets.)
• Vacuum the coil and compressor; wash and dry the bottom drip tray.
• Check insulation around motors and clean or replace as required. Dishwashers:
• Check and repair all leaks.
• Remove bottom panel and clean regularly.
• Check insulation for cleanliness and replace if needed.
• Check door gaskets and seals; replace them if they leak. • confirm food residue is faraway from inside the dishwasher daily. Stoves: • Clean the stove regularly and thoroughly. Don’t forget to wash under the burners.
• Use heatproof sealants to caulk cracks. • Check insulation for possible infestations. You may need to exchange it.
(Cockroaches can live and breed within the insulation if they will gain access inside the walls of the stove). Electrical Locations: • Examine and caulk around electrical fixtures, outlets and switches. For your safety, close up the electricity.
• Use a foam sealant if an infestation exists inside the electrical conduit. Metal Cabinets: albeit cockroaches do not prefer metal, they're going to sleep in metal cabinets, if they need no other options.
Metal cabinets are usually constructed with small openings which allow cockroaches to urge inside the doors. Examine cabinets carefully. Seal hinges, latches, seams and holes within the bottom and/or top of the doors
. Drawers: Pull out each kitchen drawer and examine the cavity. When the drawer is closed, small void areas are created which give cockroach harborage (Figure 5-10) Small Appliances: Cockroaches can enter small appliances through small holes and cracks.
The most likely infested appliances is that the microwave oven, since is might not be cleaned regularly after use and food particles may build up. It shouldn't be necessary to throw appliances away. Instead, take the appliance apart or use a chilly treatment, discussed in Chapter
6. Figure 5-10. A kitchen drawer has been removed to show a cluster of cockroaches hiding within the void area created when the drawer is closed.
Vacuum these cockroaches. (C. Ogg) 29 Primary Control Strategies: Modify Resources Cockroach Control Manual 30 Figure 6-1.
Placing cockroach-infested appliances within the freezer may be a non-toxic method of killing the roaches!
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