Cockroaches are a common household pest, which are resilient and have the knack of surviving in harsh conditions. If your house is infested, they will tend to lay eggs and have their nests close to sources of food and water especially in secluded spots in the house. Just like bed bugs, roaches love the night, so you might encounter most of them at night. The usual hiding spots are cabinets, drawers, under sinks, cracks or crevices, but sometimes they might decide to hide in appliances.
You need to be certain that the cockroaches are living in your appliances. So make sure that you have checked around the appliances for live or dead roaches, droppings, shed exoskeleton, and egg cases. If you have clarified that the cockroaches live in your appliance then the next obvious question is how do you get rid of them? Here are some of the most effective ways to remove cockroaches:
Sticky traps
The sticky traps come in handy when you want to kill cockroaches in a place where other toxic methods can be harmful like a place where children are playing or where you prepare food. However, this non-toxic method can only kill a limited number of roaches and cannot fully take care of the infestation problem. It is advisable that you use this method together with other methods.
Extreme low temperatures
As much as the cockroaches are resilient they do not have the ability to withstand extremely low temperatures. Cold is one of the best and easiest ways of killing them. You can take a plastic bag and wrap small appliances like the toaster and place them in the freezer. If the appliances are bigger, you will have to wait for the winter so as you can take them outside especially if the temperature is below -6 degrees celsius.
After several hours, you will find dead cockroaches, but if you want to make sure that all of the cockroaches are dead leave the appliances in the cold for several days. After which you will have to thoroughly clean them to avoid reinfestation. If they are outside the house make sure you carry out full pest control so as they do not find their way back into your appliances.
Use of baits and cockroach dust
You can also use the insecticidal approach, which can also be very effective in killing cockroaches. The baits normally have certain compounds like boric acid or fipronil that are deadly to the roaches. When placed near the appliances, the cockroaches will carry them back to their hiding place in the appliance, which will aid in killing both juvenile and adult roaches.
The cockroach dust can also be applied behind the appliances where the roaches are active and it can instantly kill the roaches. These products are safe so long as they are out of the reach of children and pets.
Cockroaches are a nuisance and it is better to get rid off them before your house becomes infested because they are very resilient and they know how to survive.