Cockroaches are harmful insects that can be a nightmare for women when it comes to cleaning the house. They often hide in damp and hard-to-reach places like cracks, crevices, doors, cabinets, bathrooms, dish and food storage areas, and around audiovisual and electrical appliances. Therefore, completely exterminating these annoying insects is not easy.
Cockroaches are omnivorous and can digest almost any kind of food, especially starch and sugar-rich foods like milk, butter, cakes, and chocolates. What’s even more frightening is that they also like human blood, feces, phlegm, dead skin cells from fingernails and toenails.
While eating, cockroaches regurgitate partially-digested food and scatter their waste everywhere. Secretions and vomit from cockroaches’ mouths, as well as glands on their bodies, have a distinct foul odor that is very unpleasant and lingers on objects that they have passed through.
Not only does it affect our daily lives, but cockroaches also pose a significant health risk to humans. Whenever we encounter cockroaches at home, we usually have the habit of smashing them with our sandals. However, few people know that this is a highly dangerous habit because when we smash cockroaches with sandals, disease-causing bacteria, pathogens, and parasites on cockroaches’ bodies will disperse directly into the air. Furthermore, dirt from the crushed cockroaches sticks to the sandals, and we often wear them around without thoroughly cleaning them.
Therefore, let’s stop using this extremely harmful method of killing cockroaches and use the following cockroach control methods that do not require the use of toxic chemicals:
Cucumber
Place the ends of cucumbers in the kitchen sink and the food storage cabinet, and cockroaches will avoid coming near. If after a few days, the smell of the cucumbers is not as strong as before, cut the cucumbers lengthwise and continue using.
Peppermint + salt solution
You can create a cockroach repellent solution using natural ingredients like peppermint and salt. Specifically, you can add peppermint essential oil to saltwater or white vinegar solution to create a cockroach-repellent solution. Just spray this solution where cockroaches are active, as they dislike the smell of peppermint and will immediately leave the area.
Tomato
You can find tomato plants with plenty of ripe fruits not only in rural areas but also in Saigon. When you come across a tomato plant with lots of fruits, pick one or a few and bring them home.
Place the tomato fruit in areas where cockroaches usually hide. The aroma from the tomato will not only drive away cockroaches but also make your home smell pleasant.
Perilla
To deter cockroaches, you can use a mixture of sugar and perilla. Grind sugar and perilla leaves into powder at a ratio of 1:1 and place it in areas where cockroaches frequently appear. After 3-14 days, the cockroaches will be completely gone. This is the most commonly used method of cockroach control in the US.
Lemon, orange, and grapefruit
A small tip is to add a little lemon juice to the water used for cleaning the house, kitchen, or any other objects. This not only disinfects but also repels cockroaches effectively. Not only lemon juice but also lemon, orange, or grapefruit peels have a similar effect.
Keep the lemon, orange, or grapefruit peels and dry them. Then, place them in areas where cockroaches are commonly found, such as corners of the house, inside closets, or burn the peels as a natural essential oil to repel cockroaches effectively.
Onion
The pungent smell of onions makes you feel repelled whenever you cut or slice them, and cockroaches are no exception.
You can cut onions into slices, place them on a plate, and place them in areas where cockroaches are commonly found or somewhere near the kitchen. The cockroaches will have to move out immediately!
Vinegar
Use hot water to dissolve vinegar, and then use a cloth to dip it into the vinegar water and wipe the floor. When the floor dries, the crystallized white vinegar will penetrate into the cracks of the floor. This method can prevent both cockroaches and ants.
Source: Giadinh.net