How to Kill Cockroaches

Cockroaches are built to survive you. They hide by day in warm damp cracks and come out at night to feed and breed out of sight, so the few you spot are a fraction of what is really there. Killing cockroaches for good means reaching the ones you cannot see. Here is the fastest way to do it.

Why cockroaches are so hard to kill

A cockroach spends its life in the cracks: behind the fridge, under the sink, inside wall voids and around warm appliances. It breeds fast and feeds on almost anything, from grease to crumbs to cardboard, so a population builds quietly before you ever see one in the open. That is the catch with sprays alone. You knock down the roaches on the counter and the ones deep in the harborage keep the cycle going. (Some get around better than you would think: Can cockroaches fly?)

How to kill cockroaches fast

Treat the hiding places, not the open counter. Puff a thin, even layer of Dust to Dust into the cracks, gaps and voids where roaches travel, behind and under appliances, along baseboards and under the sink, using the Insect Buster to reach deep. Dust to Dust is a plant-powered insect powder that works like diatomaceous earth but kills up to three times faster. The fine powder scratches a roach’s waxy shell and dries it out from the outside. It also clogs the roach’s breathing, so a roach that walks through it cannot clean the dust off or recover. For the ones you catch in the open, a direct mist of Six Feet Under drops them on contact and dries clean. Then take away their food and water: wipe up grease, store food sealed, fix drips and empty the trash. (Thinking about a bug bomb? Are bug bombs safe?)

Kill cockroaches, then keep them gone

• Dust the harborage: puff Dust to Dust in a thin layer into cracks, voids and the gaps behind appliances with the Insect Buster.
• Hit the ones you see: mist Six Feet Under on roaches and the hard surfaces they cross, then wipe.
• Starve them: store food sealed, wipe up grease and crumbs, fix leaks and empty the bin nightly.
• Close the doors: seal cracks, gaps around pipes and entry points so new roaches cannot move in.

Related: How to get rid of German cockroaches and How to get rid of cockroaches in the kitchen.

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