How To Kill A Cockroach Without Touching It? 8 Easy Ways Revealed

This is the most comprehensive guide on how to kill a cockroach without touching it.

You’ll learn seven easy-to-do and ingenious ways to decimate roaches and dispose of their bodies.

But here’s a kicker – these methods won’t get rid of roach eggs or nests.

Removing them are the keys to completely get rid of roach infestation from your home. 

For that, you’d need a help of a professional pest controller to do the job. 

Nevertheless, these methods will exterminate the maximum number of roaches hidden inside your home. 

Use the techniques that we’re about to reveal and kill cockroaches without spending a dollar.

8 Ingenious Ways To Kill A Cockroach Without Touching it

Out of these seven ways, 4 are homemade cockroach killer recipes.

These recipes are easy to make with stuff you have at home.

With a little bit of caution, it’s safe for you, children, and pets.

#1 – Squish The Roach Under Your Shoes

This is brutal.

If you don’t feel yucky with the roaches’ guts spilled out on the floor, then there’s no better way to kill roaches without touching them than by stomping on them. 

But don’t forget to get rid of the roach body and clean the surface with the disinfectant.

Else, you’ll attract ants and other roaches. 

Check out our post on crushing a roach, where we’ve outlined a step-by-step guide on what to do when you use this method.

#2 – Freezing The Roaches In The Refrigerator

Roaches can’t survive extreme cold and heat. At temperatures below 40°F roaches become inactive.

And at subzero temperatures roaches will die.

Hence, putting a roach in plastic bag and putting the plastic bag in the freezer for 3-5 hours will kill the roaches.

For freezing the roaches, you may need to use a pincher to pick up the roaches and putting it in plastic bag.

#3 – Spray A Mixture Of Listerine And Water On The Roaches

Does Listerine kill roaches? Yes, it does. 

But remember, it works on roaches when you spray it on the cockroach. 

It means that the Listerine and water mixture only works on contact. 

Check out our step-by-step recipe on preparing Listerine cockroach killer.

It has a ton of other homemade roach-killing recipes made from Lysol, vinegar, and essential oils. 

#4 – Use Boric Acid – The Tried And Tested Roach Killer For Decades

If there’s one thing that humans repeatedly used, for centuries, to kill roaches, it’s Boric acid. 

It doesn’t repel the cockroaches. It means that the roaches wouldn’t avoid it. 

And how to use it?

It’s easy.

Mix boric acid with equal amounts of sugar and keep it in places that are possible hiding places for roaches. 

Some of these places are kitchen cabinets, basement, wet rooms like laundry room and bathroom. 

The sugar will attract the roaches. They’ll feast on the mixture. 

Boric acid will dehydrate the roaches from inside, and it’ll kill them. 

The best part? 

The mixture will stick with the roaches’ body. And when they get back to their nests, the infected cockroach will spread it on other roaches.

So, you’d be killing multiple roaches without touching them. 

#5 – Use Diatomaceous Earth – The All-Round Pest Killer

Every home should have diatomaceous earth. 

It’s because it kills many pests that invade homes, like bed bugs, termites, and worms. 

All you’ve to do is to scatter diatomaceous earth in your home, especially in the places where roaches hide. 

Diatomaceous earth works by penetrating the body, and like boric acid, by absorbing the fat from the roaches’ body. 

The result is that the exoskeleton of the roaches breaks, causing them to die. 

When the roaches with diatomaceous earth get back to their nests, they spread it on the other cockroaches. 

The habit of roaches cleaning each other becomes their menace. 

When the roaches in the nest clean cockroaches with diatomaceous earth on their bodies, it enters their system, causing them to die too.

#6 – Pour Mixture Of Bleach And Hot Water To Kill Roaches Hidden in Drains

Drains are the most unlikely places that roaches can enter your home. 

And many homeowners don’t know it.

These roaches are commonly known as sewer roaches, but they’re American roaches.

To know more on the topic, you can read our post on how to get rid of sewer roaches. 

It’s not only in your yard where roaches hide. Cockroaches also hide in drains. 

Cockroaches can make nests inside the drains of your bathroom sink, kitchen sink, and even in places like catch basins. 

Pouring a mixture of hot water and bleach in these places will kill the adult roaches, roach eggs, and infant roaches. 

Bleach is a lethal roach killer. But there’s a downside to it. 

Using this method often will damage your drains as bleach is corrosive. 

Use this method, not more than once or twice. Else it can damage the pipes in the drains.

A word of caution – always wear a glove while using this recipe. Bleach can give you serious irritation on your skin.

#7 – Use A Roach Spray  

Sprays like Raid are instant roach killers. And it comes in handy when you don’t want to get too close to the roach. 

Spray it on the roach, and it’ll die instantly. 

But we strongly recommend not using a roach spray in your kitchen, especially near your food pantry or where you keep your utensils.

Before using, please read the spray bottle’s instructions and keep it away from children and pets. 

#8 – Use A Cockroach Bait To Lure The Roaches And To Kill Them

Cockroach baits are not instant killers, but they’re slow poison.

To use roach baits effectively, you need to keep them in the right places. 

Keep them in the middle of the room, and they won’t work well to attract roaches. 

So, keep them in the dark corners of your home.

Places like the attic or basement, or at the top of the kitchen cabinet and near the kitchen sink are common hiding places of roaches.

The bait attracts the roaches, they consume it, and they die within 2-3 days.

The roaches who encounter the roach infected by the bait will also die. 

There are also sticky roach baits available that makes the roach stick on the bait.

You put something on the bait, that roaches eat, like cheese or a small piece of meat.

The roaches will step on the bait and will get stuck.

You can then spray an anti-roach spray on them to kill them.

But don’t forget that roach baits are poisonous. Ensure that your pets and children cannot access them. 

How To Dispose Of The Dead Roaches?

All these methods will kill roaches without you touching them, for sure.

But if you leave the dead roaches behind, they’ll attract other roaches and other insects like ants, spiders, and centipedes.

You certainly don’t want that to happen. 

So, you must vacuum clean your home to remove the dead roaches. 

If you find dead roaches in hard-to-reach places, then use a broom to remove them. 

After vacuuming, don’t dispose of the vacuum cleaner’s dust bag with dead roaches in the trash bins of your home and yard. 

That will also attract ants and other insects that feed on dead roaches. 

It’d be best if you dispose of the dust bag with dead roaches away from your home. 

Does Killing A Cockroach Attracts More Roaches?

Yes, it does. 

Cockroaches, like crickets, eat their dead. 

You can use a dead roach to your advantage if you want to lure the cockroaches out of hiding.

But we don’t recommend it.

It’s because a dead cockroach can attract other insects like ants.

So, it’d be best if you get rid of the dead roaches from your home. 

Long Term And Permanent Roach Solution – Hire A Pest Controller.

Let’s face the cold hard truth. Roaches are tough pests to kill. 

And roaches do come back, time and again, unless you exterminate them at their source, which is their nests.

You need to destroy roach nests and roach eggs to eliminate cockroaches from your home. 

And to do that, you’d need a licensed and experienced pest controller. 

The above methods work for sure. 

But if you use these methods, if your home has severe roach infestation levels, then using these methods will like scratching the surface. 

Your home would need a thorough examination of roach infestation and the applicable pesticides to kill them. 

That only a reliable pest controller can do.

Summary

Here are the seven easy ways to kill a cockroach without touching it.

1. Squish the roach under your shoes.
2. Spray a mixture of Listerine and water on the roaches.
3. Use a mixture of boric acid and sugar to attract and kill the roaches.
4. Use diatomaceous earth.
5. Pour a mixture of bleach and hot water to kill roaches hiding in the drains.
6. Use a roach spray like Raid on the roaches and in their hiding places.
7. Use a cockroach bait to lure the roaches. It’ll kill them after 2-3 days.

Also, hiring a pest control company is a long-term and permanent solution to make your home roach-free. 

If you see roaches even using these methods, it means cockroach infestation runs deep inside your home. 

There are roach nests, eggs, and baby cockroaches hiding inside your home that you must eliminate to make your home roach-free.

To do that, you’d need the help of a roach exterminator who can eliminate roaches from your home right at its source. 

More Actionable Must-Read Guides:

How to get a cockroach out of hiding?

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