8 Ways to Keep Your Bathroom Cockroach-Free
Cockroaches in the bathroom? That’s a serious issue. These bugs bring germs and bacteria. It’s an unwelcome surprise when you find them in your home’s most private areas.
The bathroom is damp, warm, and often filled with cracks. Ideal for cockroaches, basically.
Fortunately, you have options. Warding them off is simple with the right approach. Here’s how you guarantee your area stays pest-free and handle bathroom cockroach prevention.
Eliminate Sources of Moisture
One of the main reasons cockroaches find bathrooms appealing is they are usually humid. Wet floors, leaky pipes, and standing water give the dampness cockroaches need to survive. Reducing extra moisture is one of the first measures for cockroach control.
To reduce moisture, follow these steps:
- Solve leaks. Look for any leaking pipes or fittings. Repairing them is vital, even since a little trickle can draw cockroaches.
- Dry the bathroom after every use. After using the bathroom, wipe counters, floors and sinks to remove extra water. Drying wet places deprives cockroaches of the moisture they require to live.
- Use a dehumidifier. Think about using one if your bathroom usually stays humid and suffers from inadequate airflow. Low humidity will make the place less appealing to cockroaches.
Getting rid of extra moisture makes the surroundings unwelcoming for pests, so you can successfully prevent an infestation in this way.
Seal Cracks and Gaps
Through the smallest gaps and holes in your bathroom, cockroaches can find their entrance. Extremely clever, these bugs crawl through cracks in windows, baseboards, or even pipes. A key aspect of cockroach control is sealing these possible points of entrance.
To prevent access:
- Examine the area. Look around the edges of tiles, especially around plumbing, for any holes or cracks in the walls.
- Seal with caulking. Seal windows, tiles, and baseboard cracks with a premium caulk. As popular cockroach access points include pipes and plumbing fittings, be sure to inspect around them.
- Use door sweepers. Install a door sweep if there is a space under your bathroom door to stop cockroaches from crawling through. These cheap barriers are quite successful and easy to attach.
Keep the Bathroom Clean and Dry
Cockroaches are constantly searching for food and water.
Here’s a sad fact of life. Cockroaches find places like toilets actually quite appealing. You might want to skip this paragraph due to some gross facts. Roaches like toilets because of the moisture and organic matter like soap scum and hair. So, keep the area dry and clean as much as possible in order to drive them off.
The following tips will help you make your bathroom less bug-friendly:
- Clean regularly. To get any filth, soap scum, or hair that cockroaches might find appetising, wipe surfaces like counters, sinks, and shelves. Particularly in the shower, routinely clean tiles and grout to help prevent mildew and bacteria accumulation.
- Get the trash out. Even if it’s just paper or tissues, routinely empty the bathroom garbage. Since cockroaches can survive on relatively little, it’s essential to eliminate all possible food sources.
- Keep drains clean. Regularly clean your drains with an appropriate drain cleaner or baking soda and vinegar. This tip aids in the breakdown of organic materials, including hair and soap scum, which draw cockroaches. Keep drains clog-free by routinely removing organic waste.
An important part of your cockroach control plan is a dry and clean bathroom since it is considerably less likely to draw cockroaches.
Use Natural Repellents
This one isn’t quite obvious. However, it’s for anyone who wants to avoid using harsh chemicals. Moreover, it’s a great way to keep cockroaches away safely and effectively.
After all, certain smells irritate cockroaches. This makes them great natural repellents in your fight against the pesky little bugs.
Which ones exactly? Namely, strong smells like peppermint, eucalyptus, and lavender. They can drive them off. Just combine a few drops of essential oil with water. Next, mist your bathroom from top to bottom.
Dried bay leaves can be placed underneath the sink, behind the toilet, or in the corners to help keep cockroaches away.
Another natural solution is placing cucumber slices where cockroaches are most likely to go. Though this might not be as effective as a full-scale pest control plan, some people swear cockroaches detest the smell of cucumbers.
Block Access to Drains and Pipes
Cockroaches love drains because they offer both dampness and darkness. The sewers are the perfect hiding place. Prevent cockroaches from using your plumbing as a highway.
Here is how to maintain drains free from cockroaches:
- Get drain covers. Cover your sink, bathtub, and shower drains at night to prevent cockroaches from crawling up through the pipes. Most hardware stores carry cheap, readily available drain covers.
- Look for any leaks or cracks around the plumbing in your bathroom. Since cockroaches sometimes find their way via gaps around the pipes, be sure these locations are correctly sealed with foam or caulk.
Two key elements in avoiding cockroach infestations in your bathroom are blocking access to drains and maintaining the condition of plumbing.
Use Cockroach Traps
Cockroach traps attract the bugs with bait and then capture them within.
You can set traps under sinks, behind the toilet, or in corners – places you have seen cockroaches or where they most likely hide. It is possible to catch cockroaches with both sticky traps and bait stations.
Cockroach traps should be checked and replaced regularly. To prevent drawing other pests, be sure you dispose of traps catching cockroaches.
Although they are useful, traps perform best when combined with other cockroach control strategies, including moisture reduction and crack sealing.
Call in Professional Pest Control
Doing all of this alone makes a cockroach invasion too hard to manage. It could be time to bring in a licensed professional pest control company if you find multiple cockroaches in your bathroom or if they keep returning despite your best attempts.
Examining the level of the infestation, a pest control specialist can target more exactly to handle it. Many pest control firms presently provide non-toxic, eco-friendly solutions for houses involving children or pets.
By eliminating the present infestation and teaching how to prevent future issues, professional pest treatment can offer long-term cockroach protection.
Maintain Regular Prevention Efforts
Once you have effectively eliminated cockroaches from your bathroom, you should maintain consistent efforts at cockroach prevention to make sure they never return.
Regular cleaning is important. Maintaining a dry and clean bathroom, frequently clearing drains and wiping down surfaces. You should also check the toilet. Look for any evidence of fresh cracks, leaks, or cockroach activity on occasion and take quick care of any problems found.
You can reapply the repellents. To keep natural repellents like bay leaves or essential oils effective, be sure you routinely replenish them.
Conclusion
More than just a bother in the bathroom, cockroaches could cause health problems and become a constant annoyance if not quickly addressed.
Your bathroom will be cockroach-free if you remove dampness, close cracks, use natural repellent and retain cleanliness.
And be sure not to hesitate to bring in expert pest control should the issue get too taxing. These techniques will help you have a better home generally and a clean, bug-free bathroom.
