8 No Brainer Ways To Keep Roaches Away From Kitchen

Okay, so you’ve done the roach treatment and your kitchen is now roach-free.

And now you’re looking for hacks to keep roaches away from your kitchen.

Using roach repellents and closing their entry points are keys to prevent a roach invasion on your kitchen.

But there are more ways to make your kitchen roach-proof.

This guide gives you 8 easy-to-follow hacks which ensure roaches never show up their ugly faces in your kitchen.

Let’s dive in.

1. Seal Entry Points

The cracks on the kitchen windowsills and walls are the entry points that roaches, and many insects like ants exploit.

They sneak through them.

I recommend using a silicone-based or polyurethane-based sealant to caulk those crevices.

These sealants are strong, waterproof, and durable. Plus, cockroaches can’t chew through them.

2. Seal Hiding Spots

Wall voids and crevices on the kitchen furniture and floor are all hiding spots for roaches and other kitchen pests such as ants and centipedes. 

Seal them to prevent the invading cockroaches from nesting in these areas.

3. Keep Your Kitchen Clean

A dirty kitchen, with food stains on counters, appliances, floor, and sinks, attracts roaches.

Add the accumulating food waste in the kitchen garbage cans, pilling up dirty dishes and beverage spills, and your kitchen becomes a magnet for roaches.

The accumulating food waste in the kitchen garbage cans, dirty dishes, and beverage spills are magnets for roaches.

Keep your clean kitchen swanky clean. 

Clean the kitchen with a citrus-based cleaner and ensure that there is no single day your kitchen remains dirty.

Also, at least weekly, vacuum clean the kitchen storage areas, such as the pantry shelves and kitchen cupboards.

4. Store Foods In Airtight Containers

Food spills from the storage jars on the kitchen pantry shelves, draw roaches, and many other pantry bugs.

Keep the foods in robust, airtight containers and tightly close the lid of the jars to avoid spillovers.

5. Get Rid of Excessive Moisture

Roaches, especially American cockroaches, are attracted to moisture. 

Clogged drains, leaky pipes and faucets, and standing water increase the moisture levels of your kitchen.

A damp kitchen is a hive for roaches and many other pests, such as ants and beetles.

So, ensure no water leaks or plumbing issues inside the kitchen. 

6. Use Natural Roach Repellents

There are a ton of natural roach repellents that work wonders in keeping roaches away from kitchens and homes.

The most effective are bay leaves, peppermint essential oil, neem oil, white vinegar, cinnamon sticks, boric acid, baking soda, and diatomaceous earth.

Roaches hate the smell of these herbs and compounds.

Keep bay leaves or cinnamon sticks on your kitchen cupboard or pantry shelves to repel roaches.

You can also spray peppermint oil, neem oil, or white vinegar on the kitchen floor, windows, countertops, sinks, and in the nooks and corners of the kitchen. 

Scatter food-grade diatomaceous earth powder or boric acid in your kitchen to add more punch to keep roaches away from your kitchen.

Both powders are desiccant dusts that penetrate the exoskeleton of roaches to absorb the moisture inside their bodies. 

That triggers dehydration, which causes the roaches to die.

But remember to vacuum clean the kitchen after 5-7 hours from scattering the powders.

7. Keep Roach Traps

Roach traps lure out the hiding roaches only to kill them. 

You can use commercial gel-based bait stations or sticky traps and keep them in the tight corners of your kitchen and underneath appliances such as refrigerators. 

These baits emit an odor that draws roaches. The gel baits contain insecticides that kill the roaches when they consume them.

Keep these traps away from children and pets as they’re poisonous. Also, keep the traps out of the food storage sections.

You can also make DIY natural traps by mixing food crumbs with diatomaceous earth or boric acid in a bowl. 

Keep the bowl where roaches hang out, such as underneath sinks and behind appliances.

8. Declutter Your Kitchen

A cluttered kitchen always provides extra tight gaps for the roaches to hide. 

Give your kitchen breathing space by re-organizing it or removing redundancies such as unused cardboard boxes and empty food packets. 

Roaches Come Back After Treatment

Roaches are tough pests, and they come back after treatment. 

Things like food waste, high moisture, and accessible entry points to your kitchen will attract roaches in the future. 

Even a single roach in the kitchen can trigger a home-wide roach infestation. 

Cockroaches release pheromones, a chemical scent, that other roaches pick up.

So, it’s only a matter of time before other roaches follow the single roach to your kitchen.

So, do not slack off after roach treatment. 

Follow the hacks in this post to keep roaches away and prevent a future infestation. 

Dangers of Cockroaches In The Kitchen

Roaches carry germs and bacteria that they can pass onto your food. 

These germs contaminate food and cause diseases like salmonella. 

Also, roach poop, roach egg cases, and roach skin can get suspended in the air and enter our respiratory systems triggering allergic reactions and even asthmatic attacks in asthma patients.

These pests are incredibly resilient, and they multiply pretty fast. 

Most home remedies and DIY ways will keep roaches away. 

But they fail to get rid of cockroach infestation, especially when it is severe.

If you’re facing the brunt of cockroaches in your home and kitchen, it’s always best to hire pest control professionals for cockroach treatment. 

Summary

Keeping roaches away from your kitchen is easy if you follow the seven steps in this post.

However, these are not one-off steps. You must follow these steps continuously, at least once a week, and monitor any signs of roaches.

It only takes a little while for roaches to take over kitchens and homes. 

Given the nature of these pests, leaving the treatment in the hands of a professional pest controller is always the best option.