Applying pesticides is not the most effective method of cockroach control; instead, homeowners should learn to prevent cockroach infestations by making their home inaccessible and inhospitable to cockroach pests. The best preventative methods of cockroach control include maintaining sanitary living spaces, keeping stored foods tightly sealed, controlling indoor moisture, keeping yard vegetation well groomed, installing mesh screens over crawl space vents, and sealing cracks, crevices and other potential pest entry points on the exterior walls of homes. When it comes to both preventative and remedial methods of cockroach pest elimination, a combination of control tactics must be employed, and pesticides alone are insufficient. In fact, chemical pesticide sprays are no longer commonly used to combat cockroach infestations, as they have been largely replaced by more effective and less toxic dusts and baits.

Residual pesticide sprays are sometimes applied to indoor areas to exterminate cockroaches. These areas include the pathways cockroaches take to access food, and suspected cockroach harborages like cracks, crevices, beneath heavy objects, and if possible, within wall voids. Surfaces sprayed with residual pesticides remain toxic to cockroaches for two to four weeks, which makes residual pesticides occasionally effective when combined with other control methods. German cockroaches and other common roach pest species have developed a resistance to residual pesticides, which is one of the primary reasons as to why baits and dusts become the most common methods of professional cockroach control programs.

Non-residual sprays kill cockroaches on contact, and they are also used to flush cockroaches out of their indoor harborages, or hiding spots. Although flushing allows pest control professionals to better understand the amount of cockroaches active within infested homes, flushing may also cause roaches to scatter into new harborages throughout homes. Dusts not only remain toxic to cockroaches for a longer period of time than liquid residual insecticides, but they are also ideal for injecting into wall voids where most cockroaches hide within infested homes. Before the advent of dusts, there was no easy way to exterminate cockroaches within inaccessible indoor areas. Some dust products consist of common insecticides, while others consist of inorganic and environmentally friendlier desiccants, such as boric acid. Several non-repellent bait products are highly effective for controlling cockroaches, but maintaining sanitary conditions is very important for the success of baiting programs. Today, the majority of pest control professionals effectively eliminate cockroach infestations by relying mainly on dusts and baiting systems.

Have you ever had cockroaches eliminated from your home with baits?