How to Get Rid of Cockroaches in the Kitchen

The kitchen has everything a cockroach wants in one room: food, grease, water and warm dark places to hide. That is why roaches show up there first and why the kitchen is where you have to break the cycle. Clear them by treating the cracks they hide in, killing the ones you see and taking away the food and water that keep them. Here is the kitchen plan.

Why cockroaches love the kitchen

Roaches feed at night on grease film, crumbs, spills and the residue under and behind appliances, then retreat into the warm gaps around the fridge motor, under the sink and inside cabinet cracks. Add a leaky trap or a damp sponge for water and a kitchen can support a growing population out of sight. Seeing one in daylight usually means the hidden numbers are already high. (Small gaps are all they need: Holes in your home are attracting these insects)

How to get rid of cockroaches in the kitchen

Go after the harborage first. Puff a thin, even layer of Dust to Dust into the cracks and voids where roaches travel: behind and under the fridge and stove, along the toe-kick under the cabinets and around the pipes below the sink, using the Insect Buster to reach in. The plant-powered powder works like diatomaceous earth but kills up to three times faster. For roaches out on the counter or the floor, a mist of Six Feet Under drops them on contact and dries clean, so it is fine around the kitchen. Then remove the draw: wipe grease off the stove and the wall behind it, store food sealed, run the disposal, fix any drip and empty the trash before bed.

Keep cockroaches out of the kitchen

• Dust the gaps: puff Dust to Dust behind and under appliances, along the toe-kick and around the sink pipes with the Insect Buster.
• Kill what you see: mist Six Feet Under on roaches and the hard surfaces they cross, then wipe.
• Dry it out: fix leaks, wring out sponges and dry the sink at night so there is no water source.
• Clean and seal: degrease the stove, store food sealed and seal the cracks around cabinets and pipes.

Related: How to kill cockroaches and How to get rid of German cockroaches.

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