After getting rid of red cockroaches, do not rush to celebrate your victory. Take care that they do not enter your home again. The appearance of Prussians in a house or apartment is a real disaster. People have been fighting these beetles for years, but victory remains theirs, despite the huge losses in their ranks. Many desperate residential property owners have a question: why, despite all the means used, they cannot get rid of these annoying insects; how to get rid of the Prussians once and for all? If this question is considered comprehensively, then the answer is not difficult to find.
Cockroaches don't like cleanliness
Prussians (red cockroaches) are living creatures, they need to eat something. If there is something to eat in the kitchen, they will always find ways to get to their food base. Before starting the next military operations against them, you need to assess the sanitary condition of the room where food is prepared.
- There should be no leftover food, bread crumbs, or containers of liquid left in the kitchen overnight. All products should be placed out of reach of insects or packaged in plastic bags.
- Don't forget about the trash can. If the family does not have a rule to take out the garbage in the evening, then the bag of garbage should be tightly tied.
- Floors must be kept properly clean. The presence of crumbs on the surface is unacceptable.
A clean kitchen will not be attractive to Prussians; there will be fewer of them. But, of course, they will not disappear completely. However, now the fight against these insects will be more successful.
Prussians cannot stand the smell of ammonia. If you add a few drops to a bucket of water and wash the floor or wipe the places that the described pests especially love, then these insects will leave you for a while
You can also learn how to get rid of meal moths.
What is sold in stores from the Prussians
It is easier to kill cockroaches in a private house than in an apartment, since they do not escape from neighboring apartments, through ventilation grilles or other means available to them.
The Mashenka pencil earned good reviews from consumers. People like it because of its affordable price, safety and ease of use.
Many print and online publications advise how to remove Prussians; people who have found an effective remedy for these insects share their experience. From all this incoming information, it is important to find the best way to kill insects in your apartment.
The aerosol product will destroy all cockroaches in the house very quickly
All the products that stores offer us can be divided into several categories according to the method of their use.
- Aerosol insecticides, the most popular of which are Raptor, Raid, Dichlorvos, Fufanon, Mikrofos, Dohlox, Combat, etc.
- Gels, powders, pencils with insecticides, the most effective of them are Raptor, Domovoy, Sturm, Mashenka pencil.
- Traps for cockroaches with Velcro or poison (Kombat, etc.).
You can learn about how to choose the type of Dichlorvos and the features of its use.
If the Prussians manage the kitchen in small quantities, you can limit yourself to a pencil, powder or gel
Fighting the Prussians: basic points
Fighting cockroaches at home is a very complex and rather long process. Therefore, you immediately need to be ready to win, not in one day. However, if you follow all the recommendations and perseverance, you can actually get rid of all pests. The main thing is to choose the method of solving the problem that will be most effective in a particular case.
Conventionally, methods of controlling cockroaches in apartment conditions can be divided into the following large groups:
- The use of improvised means that guarantee the destruction of insects (boric acid, borax, etc.).
- The use of repellent substances (turpentine, ammonia, kerosene). In this case, insects are removed from an apartment or house, but without their direct destruction. If such an outcome occurs, the pests will most likely move to another room or apartment with neighbors. Not all roommates in the house will be grateful to such a “gift”. Therefore, it is better to notify your neighbors in advance that there is an intention to poison pests, so that they can also take appropriate measures to prevent the appearance of pests in their home.
- Using special traps. Good ready-made products are easy to purchase in the store, however, you can also create them yourself.
The choice of a specific method for solving a problem directly depends on the person himself. It is traditionally believed that it is the first group that is most effective, but, as practice shows, much depends on the ability to use certain methods and understanding the individual characteristics of each case of cockroach infestation (total number of individuals, resistance of pests to household substances, etc.).
If the above groups of methods are ineffective, it is better to use professional insecticides, which can be easily purchased at regular hardware stores or call a specialized pest control team.
What is more effective against Prussians?
All means available to the buyer for exterminating cockroaches have their advantages and disadvantages.
- The aerosol product will destroy all individuals in the house very quickly. But after treating the premises with insecticides, all residents will need to move somewhere for at least one day. Then you will need to thoroughly clean your apartment or house. The aerosol product is suitable for combating large numbers of Prussians.
- If the Prussians manage the kitchen in small quantities, you can limit yourself to a pencil, powder or gel. When using these products, there is no need to leave your living space. But their validity period is longer. They are especially effective if you need to free a specific place from the presence of cockroaches, for example, a bedside table, pantry, closet, etc. Then just draw a line with a pencil or gel, and uninvited neighbors will no longer visit this place.
- Traps are used when there is a small concentration of insects. They are equipped with bait, the smell of which attracts insects, and Velcro, upon which the pests die.
- The most drastic way to rid a living space of Prussians is to call a pest control service. But due to the high cost of professional services, people rarely order them.
If we talk about the cost of all the above products used to kill insects in an apartment, then the price of an aerosol in comparison with gels and pencils used for the same area is much higher.
Traps are used when there is a small concentration of insects
The Mashenka pencil earned good reviews from consumers. People like it because of its affordable price, safety and ease of use. This is a fairly effective remedy if the problem with the Prussians is not global.
Purchased products for cockroaches in the apartment
If you are not a supporter of traditional methods, then you can purchase specialized drugs or devices in the store. Prices for such products vary, so be sure to find something that suits your budget.
Aerosols
Modern aerosols, such as Raptor, are safe for people and animals, do not have an unpleasant odor, and are easy to use. They affect not only adult Prussians, but also their larvae. How to exterminate cockroaches using a spray is indicated on the bottle. Price from 150 rubles.
Important: if you decide to use the old generation aerosol - “Dichlorvos”, then keep in mind that it is extremely toxic because it contains 6 poisons. This product is dangerous to use in homes; it can poison not only Prussians, but also household members.
Houses
This trap looks like a cardboard house with holes, inside of which there is a fragrant bait, and the bottom has an adhesive base. As soon as a pest crawls into such a structure, it sticks and has no chance of getting out. Find a place where cockroaches gather and leave the device there overnight. Cheap baits from Kapkan or Bros are excellent for fighting Prussians. Price from 20 rubles.
Gels
This drug is not harmful to humans, but has a paralytic effect on insects. Gels are produced in syringes, so they are convenient to apply. Distribute the product in a dotted manner in places where pests accumulate, and after 6-8 hours the long-awaited relief from cockroaches will occur. The drugs from Dohlox and Globol are effective. Price from 50 rubles.
Traps
Modern pest control device. They look like small round boxes filled with a product - hydramethylnon. As soon as the cockroach gets out of the device, it spreads the substance among the entire brood, and all individuals die. To completely eliminate barbels, you will need several traps. Choose a quality product, such as “Combat Superbait” or “Raid Max”. Price from 200 rubles.
Crayons
Cheap and easy to use product. Use chalk to draw lines along the cockroach paths, and within 24 hours all the pests will be dead. The disadvantage of this method is that it is ineffective when there are a large number of Prussians. The most popular chalk among housewives is “Mashenka”. The price is about 20 rubles.
Powders
Detailed instructions are indicated on the packaging, so follow them strictly. The drug is extremely toxic and must be used with gloves and a mask. Do not wash off the powder for three days, then wet clean it several times. The “Clean House” product does its job perfectly and costs only about 25 rubles.
Important: discard the poisonous powder if there are children and pets in the house, because this product is dangerous to health and life.
Ultrasonic repellers
An electronic trap that emits high-frequency sound waves destroys the German nervous system. Because of this sound, insects die. Such frequencies irritate animals; do not use it if there is a pet in the room. The repeller runs on electricity, so it will last you a long time. You can purchase inexpensive but high-quality ultrasound from the manufacturer “Pest Reject”, price from 150 rubles. Devices from Tornado and Riddex have a higher cost, starting from 400 rubles, but they will last much longer.
Now you probably know how to kill the hated cockroaches if uninvited insects settle in your home. Keep your home clean, take preventative measures, and then you won't have to deal with mustachioed pests.
How to remove Prussians using improvised means
There are quite a lot of people who are afraid and do not trust the ready-made remedies for Prussians offered by manufacturers, so they want to know how to get rid of Prussians without using insecticides.
- Prussians cannot stand the smell of ammonia. If you add a few drops of water to a bucket and wash the floor or wipe the places that these pests especially love, then these insects will leave you for a while.
- There is another proven folk remedy that can be used to combat insects crawling around your apartment. You will need: boiled eggs and potatoes, as well as boric acid. Finely chop the eggs and potatoes, add boric acid and make small balls from the resulting mixture.
Poisonous balls should be placed in places where insects crawl. Prussians who feast on such balls die over time. But when using this method, make sure that your poison balls are out of the reach of children and pets.
It is easier to kill cockroaches in a private house than in an apartment, since they do not escape from neighboring apartments, through ventilation grilles or other means available to them.
How to fight
You can destroy cockroaches in different ways. It depends on the number of insects and on the capabilities and preferences of humans.
As always, chemical and folk remedies help to poison the Prussians. The first of them are more effective and solve the problem faster. The latter are less dangerous to use, but require time, sometimes repeated use, to achieve results. The effect of each method may also be different.
Chemicals
These include insecticides (gels, traps, aerosols, powders, crayons), which are now widely represented in the assortment of hardware or specialty stores:
- Traps. These devices work on the principle of a mousetrap. Cockroach traps are small cardboard or plastic boxes with bait inside and slits for the insects to crawl inside. The bait has an odor attractive to cockroaches. Having penetrated this smell into the box, the cockroach sticks to the sticky inner surface of the trap and can no longer get out. As the “mustachioed neighbors” fill up, the box is thrown away. Disadvantages of the device: it is only suitable for small numbers of insects; a device filled with cockroaches does not look aesthetically pleasing, to put it mildly, and for greater effect you need to install many of these traps at once.
- Gel. (Global, Fas, Clean House, etc.). It is applied dotted or dotted around the perimeter of the room and in places where insects are particularly concentrated. The gels last for quite a long time (about a month on average), have no odor, and are safe for humans. Disadvantages - it is not always convenient to apply (the furniture must first be moved away from the walls; it is not always possible to reach the most secluded corners).
- Chalk "Mashenka". This has long been a well-known remedy for Prussians, and has never failed. No effort required for application, no odor, long lasting effect. In addition, chalk can retain its properties for a long time even if the packaging is opened. The product is very cheap, but very effective. Minus: it’s better to “draw” with chalk in less noticeable places.
- Aerosols (Combat, Dichlorvos, Clean House, etc.). The result after using them is noticeable almost immediately. These poisons affect the nervous system of insects, leading to organ paralysis and painful but quick death. Thanks to aerosols, you can destroy a large colony of cockroaches at once. Disadvantages: unsafe for human health; complete evacuation of all family members and animals is required during treatment and for several hours after it.
But no matter how strong the insecticides are, none of them has a lethal effect on well-protected cockroach eggs. Any chemical product requires reuse when a new generation of insects is born.
Traditional methods
Trying to breed Prussians using folk recipes is always less expensive and safer. However, these methods are not always ideal in terms of their effectiveness. But if there are allergy sufferers or people in the house for whom the use of chemicals is clearly contraindicated, folk remedies will be the best solution. Especially if there are not many cockroaches in the apartment yet:
- Freezing. Since cockroaches cannot stand the cold, you can try freezing them out. But we must take into account that the death of insects will not occur so quickly, and the home will need to be ventilated for at least 2 hours. The outside temperature should be -10C or lower. Disadvantages: this method is only acceptable in winter; additional care is required for household appliances and the heating system to avoid breakdowns and accidents.
- Ammonia. Cockroaches cannot stand the smell of this alcohol, but they do not die. The pungent “aroma” of ammonia disorients insects, disabling their sense of smell. Under such conditions, longhorned beetles lose the opportunity to live fully and therefore rush to leave the territory that smells of ammonia. To expel cockroaches, it is enough to carry out regular cleaning with water in which ammonia is dissolved. Cons: does not kill, but only repels, ammonia vapors are unsafe for humans, repeated regular use is required.
- Boric acid. This is the most popular folk remedy, and with a 100% guarantee. You can scatter boron powder around the perimeter or corners or lay out bait balls from a liquid solution with food (semolina, mashed potatoes, boiled eggs, etc.). A cockroach will definitely crawl to the smell of food, feast on the poison and die after a while. But in addition to the intestinal effect, boric acid also has a contact effect. That is, the cockroach may not eat the bait; it only needs to touch it and bring particles of poison to the nest, where other individuals will be poisoned in a chain reaction. Disadvantage: boric acid in any form should be inaccessible to animals and children.
You can poison cockroaches using traditional methods. But it’s better if you use them at the very beginning, when the barbels have just appeared in the apartment and have not had time to breed. Otherwise, it would be more advisable to give preference to chemical agents. If you can’t successfully fight cockroaches on your own at home, only a specialized service can save the situation.
An important condition for a successful outcome in the fight against cockroaches is to limit the access of insects to water, since a poisoned barbel will definitely drink and survive.
It is almost impossible to get rid of the Prussians forever and with a guarantee. You can never be sure that insects will not get into the house again from neighbors or with things brought from hotels, hospitals, etc. Therefore, it is better to adopt several methods of exterminating cockroaches in advance and use any of them as soon as at least one the barbel will be seen in the house.
Don't let your guard down - cockroaches may return
After getting rid of red cockroaches, do not rush to celebrate your victory. Make sure they don't sneak in again. We recommend learning about the types of domestic cockroaches.
To do this, cover the ventilation grilles in the apartment with a mesh with small cells through which insects cannot penetrate. Disinfect the room periodically and be sure to keep the apartment clean, especially in areas where you cook, dine, and feed your pets.
