What To Pour Down The Drain To Kill Roaches Instantly?

This guide reveals the three things you can pour down the drain to kill roaches hiding in the drains. You’ll also learn how to stop roaches from coming out of the drain with a simple no-brainer hack.

These drain roach killers eliminate the roach eggs, baby roaches, and therefore eliminate an entire roach colony inside the drains.

The best part? These drain roach killers must be there in your home right now!

So, if you’re sick and tired of seeing roaches in the bathroom or roaches in your kitchen and bathroom sink, this guide provides you with an instant solution.

Keep reading.

Do Roaches Come Up Through The Drains

Yes, roaches can come up through the drains. It’s because the drains of your bathroom, kitchen and laundry room are the prime nesting places for cockroaches to live and breed.

Why?

Over time, wastes choke the drains. It leads to gunk formation, which sticks clogs the drains from inside.

And these gunk and slime are food for roaches and a perfect egg-laying place for them. The baby roaches that hatch out of these eggs will feed on these wastes.

That’s why you’ll also notice tiny roaches near the drains of your bathroom and kitchen, especially near the drains of the sinks.

So, what type of roaches infest drains? More on that later.

For now, let’s find out the drain roach killers.

3 Things You Can Pour Down The Drain To Kill Roaches

1. Bleach and lukewarm water
2. A mixture of white vinegar and baking soda
3. A mix of ammonia and hot water

You can use these drain roach killer recipes in all the drains of your home, including the drains of the kitchen sink, bathroom sink, and bathtub.

Let’s find out how to use each of these drain roach killers.

Pour Bleach Down The Drain To Kill Roaches

Bleach is an excellent disinfectant. On top of that, bleach is a menace to bugs and pests.

Pouring bleach down the drain will instantly kill the roaches hiding there.

But there’s a way of using bleach. You can’t pour raw bleach straight out of the bottle into the drain. 

You’ll find out later why you can’t do it. For now, let’s find out how to use bleach to get rid of roaches in the drains.

It’s simple. 

All you’ve to do is mix bleach with lukewarm water. But don’t use excessive bleach.

It’ll be best to add two tablespoons of bleach half a gallon of lukewarm water.

Pour the mixture into the drain. Let the mixture sit in the drain for nearly 20 minutes.

Then pour normal water inside the drain to flush out the dead roaches and cockroach eggs.

Bleach kills the roaches by creating a deposit on their skeleton, making them impossible to breathe. 

Over time, the roaches’ exoskeletons break too because of the corrosive nature of the bleach. 

So, the reaction that bleach triggers in the anatomy of the roaches deals a severe blow and causes the cockroaches in the drain to die.

But there’s a catch. You need to be aware of the risks of using bleach.

DO NOT use bleach often to eliminate roaches or any other bugs in drains or elsewhere.

We recommend using it only once or twice.

Bleach is highly corrosive. Using bleach often will damage the drain pipes.

And many people believe that bleach unclogs drains. It’s false.

Bleach is a disinfectant and a cleaner. It doesn’t break down the scum and gunk that chokes the drains.

So, if you’re thinking that pouring bleach inside the drain will kill bugs and unclog the drains, you’re wrong. It’ll only kill the bugs.

Another thing that you must keep in mind while using bleach.

DO NOT pour any other thing into the drain from this list.

If you choose to use bleach to kill roaches in the drain, do not pour ammonia, baking soda, vinegar, or any drain cleaner for at least two days in the drains.

Why? Because bleach takes time to wash away. Bleach sticks with the drains’ interiors for some time before running water washes it off.

And if you use anything else into the drain, it’ll trigger a chemical reaction with the bleach deposits.

That chemical reaction will release fumes that can be hazardous for you.

As per the Department of Health, ” When you bleach mixes with ammonia, it emits toxic gas like chloramine which can cause coughing, nausea, dizziness, and pneumonia.”

Also, keep in mind that bleach can damage your skin and eyes if it comes in contact with them. 

So, always wear a glove and a pair of glasses while using bleach.

Pour A Mixture Of White Vinegar And Baking Soda In The Drain To Kill Roaches

A great alternative to bleach is a mixture of vinegar and baking soda.

Mix equal amounts of baking soda and white vinegar in a cup. 

Stir the mix well. Pour it in the drains.

Let the mix sit for no longer than 5 minutes.

Then as a final blow, pour hot water into the drains.

That’ll eliminate all the roaches hiding in the drains.

To add more punch to the mixture, you can also mix salt with it.

Pour A Mixture Of Ammonia And Hot Water In The Drain To Kill Roaches

Another potent roach killer is ammonia. 

Ammonia cleaner is water-soluble, and it mixes with water fast.

Mix equal amounts of water and ammonia cleaner in a bucket. 

And pour the mixture into the drains to kill roaches.

Ammonia also kills roaches on contact. 

If you want to make a homemade roach spray, pour the mixture into a spray bottle.

And spray it directly on the roaches that you come across. 

It’ll kill the roaches instantly.

Pro Tip – Use an anti-roach drain protector to cover all types of drains in your home, including shower drains, bathroom drain, bathtub drains, and sink drains.

And, clean the drains often. Don’t let the drains remain clogged for days.

How To Stop Roaches From Coming Up The Drains

An anti-roach drain protector is the best way to stop roaches from coming up the drains.

These drain protectors cover the drain holes and prevent these critters from crawling out.

You can use the drain protectors in the sinks of your bathroom, kitchen, laundry room, and even in the bathtub. 

Once you cover the drains with the drain protector, spray some peppermint spray on them.

Roaches hate the strong smell of peppermint. It’ll prevent them from crawling up to the drain holes. 

Roaches In Bathroom At Night

The roaches that you see crawling on the bathroom floor, sink, and even in the bathtub at night come from the bathroom drains.

Some of the roaches can be tiny. They come from the nests that adult roaches build in the drains, cracks that develop on the bathroom floors, walls, and plumbing underneath bathroom sinks.

These little roaches will feed on the molds that form on the bathroom floor and shower grouts and on the wastes of your bathroom trash bins, broken hair, and nails.

That’s why even their feces is in the form of wet smear marks.

Cockroaches are nocturnal pests. So, they do foraging primarily at night.

Cleaning your bathroom, unclogging the drains, and killing the hiding roaches in the drains are the best ways to get rid of cockroaches in the bathroom.

However, keep in mind that sightings of roaches in the bathroom can be a part of a home-wide roach infestation in your home.

So, it’ll be best to inspect your home, especially your kitchen and basement, for roaches.

Cockroaches In The Kitchen Sink

Cockroaches in the kitchen sink drain can be the primary source of cockroaches in the kitchen sink.

However, these roaches can also crawl out from hiding places, like the kitchen cabinets and food pantry.

To get rid of roaches in the kitchen sink, use a natural cockroach spray on the cockroaches in the sink.

Also, use the drain roach killers to eliminate any possible cockroach infestation in the kitchen sink drain.

But cockroaches in the kitchen sink also indicate that your kitchen might have a roach infestation. 

In the kitchen, cockroaches will hide in the kitchen cabinets, food pantry, underneath kitchen countertops, kitchen sink, and even below your dishwasher.

So, do a thorough inspection of your kitchen and get rid of cockroaches in your kitchen and home.

Sewer Roaches – The Roaches That Infest Drains

The roaches that infest drains, sewer pipelines, and any conceivable channel that disposes of wet wastes are sewer roaches.

Sewer roaches are American roaches, the most common cockroaches in the US that infest homes.

These roaches are also known as water bugs and palmetto bugs in many states of the US.

So, there can’t be any head-to-head comparison as many want to do when people raise the topic of sewer roaches vs. American roaches or palmetto bugs vs. water bugs. It’s because they’re all the same.

Sewer roaches are reddish-brown, big (grow up to 2 inches in length), and have a pair of transparent wings at their back.

American roaches or sewer roaches are the species of roaches that prefer damp places to hide and infest.

Hence their go-to place in your home is your kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, and basement. Water usage is high in these areas, making these rooms attractive for roaches. 

There’s also enough waste in these rooms for them to eat.

Sewer roaches also breed and lay eggs in the damp wastes. That’s why the debris that clogs the drains is one of their prime real estates.

It’s essential to control the dampness of your home to get rid of sewer roaches. 

Leaking pipes underneath sinks and faucets increase the overall dampness levels, which attract these roaches.

Should You Pour Borax Down The Drain To Kill Roaches?

Pouring borax down the drain to kill roaches works, but not instantly.

Why?

It’s because borax or boric acid is not an instant roach killer.

Though boric acid is a termite killer, roaches take 72 hours to die when they ingest it.

Mixing borax with water will make it lose its potency more, and on top of it, the roaches might not ingest it.

It’d be best to use ammonia, bleach, baking soda, and vinegar to kill roaches in the drains.

Ammonia, vinegar, baking soda, and bleach also eliminate drain flies that hide in the drains.

Is Pouring Chemicals Down The Drains Is A Solution To Cockroach Infestation In Your Home?

In brutal honesty, NO.

Whatever you’ve found out till now works well to stop roaches coming out of the drains. But temporarily.

Remember, cockroaches are hard to eliminate.

Physical sighting of one cockroach in your home is a strong enough indication of a possible roach infestation running deep inside your home.

Also, relying on these chemicals as the only way to get rid of sewer roaches can cause serious harm to the drains.

They can cause leaks and bursts in pipes. 

Repeated usage of these chemicals also creates deposits in the drains that can cause clogging deeper down the drains.

And the worst part, these chemicals mix up with groundwater, which causes damage to the environment.

So, it’d be best if you use these chemicals as a stop-gap measure to kill roaches and bugs coming out of the drains. 

Remember, it’s always best to hire a pest controller when it comes to getting rid of roach infestation in your home. 

Most natural and DIY ways work well on tough bugs like roaches and bed bugs when the infestation level is low. 

When the infestation level is severe, always hire a professional.

Conclusion

Pouring a mixture of bleach and warm water, or vinegar and baking soda, or ammonia and hot water in the drains gets rid of roaches in the drains. However, keep in mind that if you’re using bleach, do not use any other things like vinegar, baking soda or ammonia.

Bleach, when mixed with certain products like vinegar and ammonia, can trigger chemical reactions which will emit fumes. Those fumes are harmful to health.

This guide reveals the reasons why roaches infest drains. There are also guidelines on how to use these drain roach killers.

Remember, sightings of cockroaches in the bathroom and kitchen can be because there are roaches in the drains.

And clogged drains draw roaches to them. So, to minimize the chances of roaches in drains it’s always a good idea to clean your drains often.

But roaches in the drains also point to the fact that there can be a roach infestation in your home.

To stop a roach infestation from happening, read our guide on how to easily prevent roach infestation in your home.