15 Common Things That Attracts Roaches To Your Home

Cockroaches are extremely versatile pests, there's no doubt about that. Whether they're in your kitchen or your bathroom, cockroach infestations are a global problem. They will eat just about anything that you can imagine and are known to carry diseases that pose health risks to humans. 

Experts at hiding and capable of fitting into almost any tight space as well as the ability to regenerate limbs and survive without food for a month, these adaptations make cockroaches extremely hard to get rid of once they're in your house. Here's why the roaches are in your house:

We all know that cockroaches can survive up to a month without eating, hence they can stay hidden for long periods to stay safe before deciding to emerge. However, the lack of moisture is one thing that cockroaches cannot abide and they die of thirst within a week.

Thus the cockroach antennas can help them find water through smells. Leaky pipes and faucets are one of the main reasons you often see them in bathrooms and kitchens. They can also hide under refrigerators or air conditioning to indulge in condensation as an alternative.

Obviously, the main thing that attracts cockroaches is clearly food like any other pest. But, don't we keep our home clean and practically spotless? That's true, but cockroaches have a slightly different definition of food. Leftover grease, wallpaper paste, human hair, and book bindings may not be much but to a cockroach, its a family feast.

When they find ample amounts of these "food" sources in your home, it can influence these pests to prefer staying there for an extended period and thrive even in a clean house. 

Cockroaches have developed the ability to use even the smallest of openings as an entryway into your house. Whether you have cracks in the exterior walls, gaps in dryer vents, or even the gaps between walls and floors, a cockroach will be able to sneak through it.

Cockroaches can compress and fit into spaces of 4/25 of an inch without injury. Cockroaches will creep inside your home searching for moisture, food, and shelter especially if there's heavy rain or other sorts of bad weather outside.

Another key cause of cockroaches being attracted to your home is pheromones. The cockroaches use various pheromones to communicate. They may also be used to attract other cockroaches from the outside.

Because of this, cardboard makes a valuable location to them not only in terms of food but also because materials like cardboard and wood have a much better ability to soak in the scent of their pheromones for the long term.

Another major factor that makes your house more vulnerable to cockroaches despite keeping clean and taking precautions is the location. The southeastern United States, especially Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, are home to large populations of American cockroaches.

So if you live in these areas you can expect to see these pests in your home despite cleaning regularly. And unlike their German counterparts, American cockroaches aren't particularly associated with unsanitary conditions. 

In urban areas, cockroaches are more common due to a denser population and how close proximity all the different living accommodations are to each other. However, if you live in suburban areas, do you think cockroaches enter your home directly after journeying wherever they came from? No, the most likely entry for your cockroaches first is your garden.

Dense gardens filled with overgrown bushes and tons of leaves tend to become cockroach magnets and hideouts because they provide everything that they want such as water, shelter, and food. 

Even if you clean your houses regularly, though none of us likes to admit it, there will always be some neglected areas in our homes. While these areas may not actually be dirty, need repairs, or look unkempt at first glance but it is commonly known that cockroaches prefer hiding in dark and hidden spaces.

Whether that space may be between the doors, behind curtains, under tables, and inside or behind the cabinets. These areas often go neglected and unnoticed until it's too late and an infestation festers. 

If you routinely leave dirty dishes overnight thinking you would do it in the morning, that can also attract roaches. Doing the dishes in the evening as the last thing before you can go to bed is no one’s favorite task, but the cockroaches are looking for food sources. 

Those smidges and smears of food residue may not be much but for roaches, they are a prime food source and can be more than enough to feed their whole family every night. So putting this on your high priority to fix will help curb your roach problem.

Cockroaches are cold-blooded animals which is why they can get away with eating less food as they don't have to produce their own heat. But like all animals, they also like to keep warm so they are particularly drawn to places with high heat and humidity content.

This is the main reason why you are more likely to cockroaches a lot more in summer than in winter as they move deeper and deeper inside your house's walls, cracks, and crevices in search of warmth and hibernate if things get too cold.

Food odors from your trash bag can attract cockroaches, so don't leave it around in your house or by the door to take them out later. Your trash cans and garbage bits are filled with scraps of leftover food and food wastes which are like buffets for them.

Plus the bins also provide the warmth, moisture, and darkness that they love. Even if you clean your kitchen regularly, there's no point if your unsealed trash bins in your garage entrance, attract the roaches.

You may be cleaning up your food wastes, leftovers, kitchen counters, and spills regularly but spills aren't only the ones that you can see. Spills that have gotten themselves lodged into small hard-to-reach places such as the gaps of the stovetop or behind the oven also count.

You may not be able to reach them in order to clean it but roaches will get to them pretty easily on top of even attracting roaches from out of your home and soon enough your house will have a full-blown infestation. Make use of q-tips or cleaning gel slimes.

Old piles and boxes of paper and cardboard might not look any edible to us, but the cockroaches would consider any fibrous and organic materials including cardboard a major source of food and energy.

If you have a stack of boxes, sitting undisturbed in an attic space, you can be sure that roaches will find it attractive. While the cockroaches are not able to smell the cardboard, they can smell the damp/wet cardboard after rain which offers them warmth, food, shelter, and hydration all in one.

Do you always leave water in your pet's water bowl and kibble in the food bowl all day for them to drink and eat anytime they wish? Well, think again because your pet is not the only one enjoying them. A pet’s water bowl is a water pool of bliss for thirsty roaches and a bowl full of free buffet.

You may not have seen them do so during the day but they definitely will at night. Feed your pets several times a day by pouring them portioned food and water instead of leaving food out all day. Also, remember to store pet food in air-tight plastic containers as roaches cannot eat through the containers like rats.

To all the appliance lovers out there. Yes, sadly, it's true. Cockroaches are not only attracted to our appliances but also spend time in the appliances day and night. Moreover, your stoves and refrigerators have nooks and crannies which provide refuge to the roaches.

Further, on the topic of the appliances, water heaters, coffee makers, microwave ovens, toasters, and blenders, are practically paradise for cockroaches because they provide a combination of water and warmth.

Here’s an extra incentive to get rid of the extra stuff in your attics, shelves, or basements. Even a bunch of relics, souvenirs, or memoirs create conditions that are attractive to roaches. These bundles of clutter make wonderful homes for critter pests which you definitely don’t want to happen.

Get rid of them in a garage fire sale or move them to airtight plastic containers to declutter. Move them around while cleaning the house and you might even find some roach eggs signing that you have an infestation in advance.

Cockroaches are noted to dislike and avoid certain natural scents. While these scents may not work in repelling an infestation, for roaches checking the prospects of settling into the house from the outside gardens, it may be sufficient enough to deter some inbound roaches and settle somewhere else by causing discomfort.

1. Peppermint: Peppermint has a strong scent which can make the cockroaches feel unpleasant.

2. Cypress: Cypress oil or wood can deter the settling of cockroaches due to its natural repellent properties, unlike most other furniture which may offer a nesting spot.

3. Bay leaves: The fresh aroma produced by recently procured bay leaves can discourage cockroaches from entering certain areas. This is especially useful in the attic, bookshelves, and in the cardboard boxes being used to store souvenirs.

4. Eucalyptus: Cockroaches also tend to avoid the scents released by eucalyptus oil. While they might not kill or deter adult cockroaches, they are confirmed to kill cockroach nymphs, fungi, and bacteria.

If you have a few cockroaches in your house but nothing serious, you can try and get rid of them with this recipe. Before we begin, do not let your pets or kids near boric acid.

Boric Acid Liquid Trap

Mix equal parts of boric acid powder with flour, cornmeal or sugar then pour it on yogurt lids near where you see the roaches. They will run through the mixture, and then when they clean their antenna they will end up ingesting the poison.

Boric Acid Cake Bait

Alternatively, you can mix boric acid with sugar and flour to make a dough bait. Shape them into small balls and place these poisonous treats on the floor. Roaches should drop dead after ingesting boric acid.

If you still keep seeing roaches after laying these traps then you may have a big infestation on your hands. For every roach you see, there's potentially 50 roaches that you do not see.

There are further additional preventative measures that you can take to reduce the risks of cockroach infestations in your home. After all, prevention is always better than attempting to cure after the fact. This is doubly true for cockroaches as they have an extremely high reproductive rate.

On average, a single female cockroach is capable of producing 200-300 cockroaches in a single lifespan. They can bounce back stronger if even 1% of them survive the extermination giving them some level of resistance to the chemicals used meaning they will be even harder to root out completely later on.

• Don't overwater houseplants.
• Wipe down kitchen counters after every meal.
• Repair any water leaks.
• Remove any sources of standing water.
• Wipe down your stove after cooking.
• Sweep daily and vacuum weekly.
• Keep firewood and compost as far away from your home as possible.
• Keep your grass and landscaping short, neat, and tidy.
• Sprinkle diatomaceous earth dust near common roach holes.

If even after following all these measures you get roaches in your home or if you already had an infestation in the first place. Then preventative measures are not going to solve it and even after laying boric acid poisons, there are still a lot of roaches, call the professional exterminators.

Since roaches multiple pretty fast, it would be better to completely eradicate all the roaches professionally instead of allowing a small infestation to proliferate and become more difficult to root.