Pest Control in Sacramento and Keeping Cockroaches at Bay

Few things in life are more frustrating than a roach infestation. These persistent pests make themselves at home in your bathrooms, kitchen and other living space in search of food. The problem quickly gets worse as they multiply fast.

It is a scene you have witnessed in a movie or television show. In the middle of the night, a character wakes up, goes downstairs to the kitchen to get a drink of water, turns on the light and freezes in horror as cockroaches scatter all over the place.

Many people joke about cockroaches and the fact they will probably be the last creatures standing in the event of an apocalypse. It could be true. After all, cockroaches have been roaming the earth for around 400 million years.

Well, they must be doing something right to survive so long.

Having a cockroach infestation is nothing that you want to experience. They pose a health risk and can get out of hand rather quickly. Once they have moved into your home, they could be spreading over 30 forms of bacteria, pathogens and parasitic worms. How gross.

Earthwise Pest Management, your pest control company in Sacramento, offers tips on how to keep cockroaches out of your home.

Keep a Clean Home

Sanitation is one of the biggest keys to fighting a cockroach infestation. Cockroaches are always searching for food sources, so make sure your kitchen is tidy.

The areas where you prep food should be wiped down immediately after use. The same holds true for places like your stovetop. Basically, wherever food touches a surface, that surface needs to be cleaned up right away.

One bad habit that most of us are guilty of is leaving dirty dishes out all night. You prepare a late-night snack and don’t feel like washing the plate, so you stick in in the sink and go to bed. This is a bad idea if you want to avoid a cockroach infestation.

At the very least, you should either rinse your dishes off or place them in a sink with soapy water.

Properly Store Food

Any food that is in your pantry or in your cabinets should be tightly sealed. If you have opened up something, make sure it finds its way into a Tupperware container or some other air-tight container.

You don’t want to pour yourself a bowl of Cornflakes one morning only to discover a cockroach found its way into the box of cereal.

Take Out the Garbage

Don’t leave your garbage cans open and exposed all day and all night. Having a garbage can without a lid is unacceptable if you want to keep cockroaches out of your home.

It might be a bit of a pain, but you should be taking the garbage out often and not allowing it to build up in your kitchen. Ideally, your garbage should be taken outside and placed in the garbage can every night.

Shuffle Things Around

Don’t be content just sweeping and mopping the kitchen floors. You need to slide the stove over, move the refrigerator and lean under other appliances.

Neglected Areas

There could be a couple of places in your home that gets neglected when it comes to cleaning. For example, it may have been a while since you wiped down the inside of your microwave oven. If so, this needs to change.

Make it a point to step up and clean the microwave oven more frequently. You also need to pay attention to other neglected areas that need to be cleaned.

Ventilation

Cockroaches just love warm and moist areas, like a crawl space for example. You can discourage cockroaches from taking over your crawl space by ensuring it is not so hot and humid.

One way to do this is by ventilating the areas to create a drier atmosphere. You also need to check in your crawl space for any holes or cracks that lead outside. You don’t want to give out an open invitation to any cockroaches that might be nearby.

Cats and Dogs

If you have pets, make sure that you clean their food dishes on a regular basis. In fact, you should be wiping down their food and water bowl every day.

If you are dealing with a cockroach infestation, give Earthwise Pest Management a call.