Wednesday 3 April 2013

COCKROACHES???



ow do I get rid of cockroaches in my house?

Aside from that old wives' tale of placing pandan leaves in cupboards and ruthless spraying of insecticide, how do you get rid of cockroaches?

Well, prevention is still the best line of defence. This means you have to keep the kitchen clean - without bits of food or crumbs lying around.

This means you cannot skip cleaning up after cooking.

A quick once-over with the vacuum cleaner will ensure that even the tiniest crumb is picked up.

But even before that, food containers have to be sealed tightly and garbage bins shut with tight-fitting lids.

As for that open bag of uncooked rice that you bought, it also has to be tied up tightly to keep the little creatures out.

You should also keep the area where you store the rice dry.

Your cupboards and other dark places should be kept dry too.

Cockroaches love water. They can go for a long time without any food, but not water.

So after you wash your dishes, dry your sink. Never leave dirty dishes in it.

If all these methods do not seem to work, go around your kitchen and other areas you suspect of being infested and use a simple caulking gun, which is an implement that dispenses sealants such as latex or silicone for homes, to plug up any holes.

Cockroaches need only a crack to get in.

If this fails too, you can repel cockroaches by wiping all floors and other surfaces with a mixture of 100ml water to 10 drops of eucalyptus oil, tea tree oil or citronella oil.

These types of natural oil can kill roaches upon contact and will keep them away.

And oil on surfaces would look less obvious than a bunch of pandan leaves nestling in the dark recesses of your cupboard.

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