No More Roaches

I have wanted to write this Instructable for a long time but could not bear the thought of a photo of a roach. I found a plastic one; problem solved. I think you get the idea from that sentence that I am just a little bit, somewhat, sort of, come to think of it, mildly, TERRIFIED of roaches. This is the story of how I got rid of the roaches in my home and they have stayed gone for 10 months now after just the initial treatment.

Step 1 What you will need

Boric acid powder*
Karo syrup - you may substitute honey or maple syrup or pancake syrup
Rice flour - you may substitute any flour you have on hand
1 Popsicle stick
1 Mixing bowl

Amounts as follows:
2 parts Boric acid
1 part rice flour
enough Karo syrup to make a peanut butter like consistency mixture

Important note: Boric acid powder is not something you want to inhale (get into your eyes or swallow) so mix this up outside. Wear a dust mask too until it is mixed up. It has no oder.

For a 2800 square foot home with 4 bathrooms, I mixed 2 cups of boric acid with 1 cup rice powder and about 3/4 cup of Karo syrup. I used a plastic bowl to mix in and stuck the bowl and left over bait up into the attic/crawl space when I was done baiting.

*(available in hardware stores in the US as "Roach Prufe" (this was the only way I was able to buy it, the canister is 98% boric acid and 2% blue coloring).

Comments

[xena1356]

Hi , i been living in my condo for 5 years now and when i first moved in i demolished the whole kitchen, bathroom , i changed the floors i put everything brand new , after a year i started to see roaches i think i got them from the next door people, then i told the manager and he sent a exto and put some gel then i only saw a few but then as time passed i started getting more and more and now i have a lot and its annoying me i can't stand them , i tried ur recipe but i still see them , well not like before but there still there crawling around i did what u said to do , do u think that since the next door have them i will always see them in my condo , i just want to get rid of them for good i have 4 kids and they get scared when they see them , i don't like eating at my place or sleep in my bedroom anymore there all over the place. Pls i need ur help what should i do.

[Kuvisha]

Hi!

I just moved into a new apartment and the place is crawling with roaches! YUK!

I have a feeling that the whole building might be infested, do u think this is still a good idea because i don't want to attract them all to my unit, i"m grossed out enough as it is but desparate to be rid of them for good!

Please please help!

[Ninzerbean]

Yes, of course! Read all the comments, it is a great idea. They are pretty smart buggers, they will spread the message to stay away from your place. You won't attract any more than are there and you will see results right away. Don't worry, it's going to be fine.

[sbarton2]

Just moved into a rental property a few months ago, the place was crawling with roaches. Used this recipe and I've only seen a few tiny cockroaches since. Great tip!

[Ninzerbean]

Oh do it a quick touch-up, you shouldn't be seeing any. Maybe you missed a few places? It is a BIG job to do a whole place, but of course the pay off is BIG too. Thanks for writing!

[Bakesalee]

I'm not concerned about toxicity - I am concerned about using anything that will actually attract roaches into my place (honey, syrup). Puke! How am I supposed to live? I saw a big one by my bathtub when I was sitting down to pee last night. Luckily I have a girlfriend who has her own apartment so I could leave. I'm back home now, but I'm not feeling good about it.

[Ninzerbean]

Silly Bakesalee - the roaches are already there at your place. You need the syrup to lure them to the stuff that will kill them. Then they go tell their buddies and roaches will both leave and get the message not to go back to your place.
I'm at my mom's house now (in Florida), she is a bit of a pack rat and there are a lot of cardboard boxes and old books and what not - BUT in two weeks here I have not seen one single roach. She used my formula about two years ago.

[kill-a-watt]

Well my Dad had an infestation, so I was able to try this recipe out.

I mixed it in a old plastic takeout tub. We wrote "poison" on the sides and top.

He only let me do the kitchen, and the first few weeks we had no progress. A week later I did the entire basement, reaching up  to smear some goop on each of the overhead beams. That (and perhaps waiting) made a huge difference.

Now, he only sees a very tiny roach like every three days. Amazing.

The only change I did was to add a bit of water to make it more spreadable.

I'd recommend going to the dollar store to get a paint scraper. It will come in handy to stir the recipe and to put a little dab of everything everywhere.

I still haven't done behind the switchplates yet. Maybe he'll let me now.


I'm going to do this for myself, in my own home as a prophylactic measure. ;-)

[Ninzerbean]

Great feedback, thank you, if only he would let you do the whole house...

[kill-a-watt]

I'll do a follow-up here and say that he hasn't seen a roach in over a year. I think we got them all. Since for the first 30 years of my life I can safely say there were zero roaches in that house, I don't expect a re-infestation unless my Dad gets real unlucky again (we think they came in on a bag of onions). The onions were in the basement, so maybe that's where the reserve roaches were coming from. Hitting all the overhead beams perhaps killed the basement ones too.

I did go and put a little dab on all the U-traps on all the upstairs sinks. All that poison is still there, so we should be still protected.

Just think if you could smear a bit of this stuff on every 2x4 while your house was being built.

[kill-a-watt]

also, I found 5 oz bottles of boric acid powder at Dollar Tree, for a dollar. The powder is 99% and dyed blue. One bottle was enough to do the job. I bought extra because it makes good brazing flux too. (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij_z-JY0nU4 )

I want to emphasize to slowly and carefully mix the boric acid up, as it's easy to kick it up and breath some of it in. I had a bit of a cough for a few days afterwards that I still recall even though it's been over a year. Once it is all mixed, it will be a like putty and the inhalation issue will be gone.

[Ninzerbean]

Thanks Kiil-a-watt,
I will add that part to the instructions. I'm happy for your dad finally too, I was worried when he wouldn't let you do the whole house at first. I wish it was not blue because my house is for sale now and I have to go around and wipe up all the blue that dripped because the last time I did a retouch I forgot to add flour and it never hardened up.

I totally agree that a house should be treated while it is being built. Why don't you start a little business when the housing market turns around?

[strmrnnr]

If you could make the mixture to go in a refillable chalk gun, or pre-filled tubes, you would really be able to do a slick job for new construction

[millerck]

A squeeze bottle like a ketchup bottle or a restaurant style condiment bottle works really well. You just have to clean it out really well after use.

I've used similar type bottles for various things. Just make sure to label them appropriately to avoid cross contamination. Even cleaned out, it would suck to use a borax paste applicator for a mustard bottle. I can't see that going to well. :)

[Ninzerbean]

Brilliant!

[mmarie_84]

I wish we would have known this sooner! this has been such an up hill battle!!! It seemed to never end. I can now see a difference. It has been 2 days and the amount has been decreased significantly! Thank you!

[Ninzerbean]

You are so welcome, sometimes I think because we live in such a 'new and improved' age that we forget about the things that worked perfectly well without being improved, and it makes us feel powerless because we don't think we can improve things ourselves without the help of a professional. Then to find out that the professionals are only working to keep themselves in a job by using a poison that will make the roaches only go away for a month so you think you are dependent on the 'professionals'.

[mdolcezza]

I just wanted to tell you you are the best person in the world 4 posting this!!!!!!!!!!! I can never thank u enough looool ok i'm getting a bit creepy! but yeah omg no moooooore roaches in my apartment!!! I live right on the beach in miami's heat!!! my house is attacked by them!!!! ughhhh i tried this no roaches no more!! thank uuuu!!!!! ha and thanks 4 putting a fake roach picture they r so disgusting

[Ninzerbean]

You are soooo welcome, I obviously know how you feel, thankfully for all of us, there is a solution. How I love the internet!

[Art-tart]

This method of using Boric acid and a sweet substance has been around forever. I remember my great grandmother using it when I was a child. The reason it works? The Boric acid when ingested will bubble up and and whatever digestive system the roach and or ant has explodes internally. She mixed Boric acid with just enough honey to make a think paste.  She saved soda bottle caps to use as containers which she placed in cupboards ect. Also next to ant trails.  Sometimes the old fashion way is the best way !

[Ninzerbean]

How true! Most people have been brainwashed into thinking they have to rely on a pest-control company - for pest-control that just makes the roaches and the pest control company come back every month. I like your Great Greandmother's idea of the bottle caps for certain places where little curious hands and little dogs can not get to them, but it's pretty easy just to smear it behind switch plates and on top of pipes. Roaches like to be up high and some places it's just not possible to balance a bottle cap. Thanks for commenting.

['wilkinson]

I have moved into my mom and dads house, i'm a full time caregiver for them now. they have a very bad problem with roaches I'm gonna try your recipe will let you know how it turns out, thank you for posting this

[csprinkle]

I live in Mazatlan, Mexico, where we have what are called "American cockroaches".
They are about 2 inches long and about 3/4" wide at their widest. No exaggeration. We also have tiny ones, about a half inch long. They are ALL disgusting, but those big ones scare the hell out of me. I woke to one crawling on the back of my leg and thought I was gonna lose it!
Thanks for posting this instructable...I'll be buying boric acid -- and by the way, you can get boric acid in most pharmacies in the US. No prescription required, but it's usually kept behind the counter and you'll have to ask for it.

[Semper Fi Barbie]

This is awesome! I just moved into a new house last month. Unfortunately, my roomate brought roaches with her. Its not that I can't stand roaches, I can't stand them in my kitchen. And it grossed me out that they started living inside the microwave. I am from Southern California and now live in Florida so I've never seen this before. I think I am gonna give this a try since my furbabies can't keep up with the roach population.

[tmorris13]

Unfortunately, they are in Southern California, as well. I know, as we now have roaches. We think they traveled down from the upstairs unit, since they showed up shortly after our neighbors moved out :( I'm hoping this instructable will help us.

[Edwin Da Freak]

Thanks for info. My question is can we expect on 'ible on the giant bugs !!! They are AWSOME !! I'll post my results on bug killing as I remodel a friends garage into an apartment for myself.

[Ninzerbean]

The artist died shortly after he delivered the bugs to my house. So sad. His wife asked me to give them a wiggle (they are kinetic) everyday for Paul.

[PikminRed]

D:
:(

[hug me and die]

<_<

[GENERALCHAOS]

0.o so meny of them

[esanche2]

Thank you so much for this. I'm going to apply this as soon as I get home. I have not seen any palmetto bugs since I but Boric acid by itself around the garage, but I am having trouble with German Roaches. They are everywhere. I bought some boric acid from a Family Dollar store here n Houston. They sell it for $3 in case somebody is looking for it. It's 100% boric acid and it's a pretty good size bottle. It's in the poison section.
Gonna try this out. Thank you so much!!!!

[Ninzerbean]

You are most welcome!

[PikminRed]

Any substitute for the syrup?

[Ninzerbean]

Karo syrup is cheapest I think, you can use anything you think the buggies will be attracted to; peanut butter, honey, simple syrup (2 parts sugar to 1 part water, boiled), maybe soft drinks? How about glue, they sure like that, but you will have to work fast.

[milesfromneihu]

Excellent 'ible! And those sculptures are a riot.
I caught on to Roach-Pruf back in the States, some time in the '70s or '80s. Loved it, but I always just used the straight dust. I even treated the Chinese restaurant I was working at at the time--one afternoon I pried the wainscotting off the walls and dusted behind. The owner never knew why the roach population dropped so dramatically. My inspiration came the day I placed water glasses for a four-top and one of the ladies pointed out that one of the glasses had a swimmer. Embarrassing, to say the least. But the restaurant got a free treatment that the owner never knew about.
I've moved on since then, and now live in Taiwan, where I can buy boric acid (way cheap!) at the local chem shops.
I think I'll try your sweet bait system; it sounds better than what I've been doing all this time.
Thank you!

[Ninzerbean]

Thank you for writing, cool story!

[Furballs]

Veery interesting. My 11 floor apt. building is infested with German roaches, by far the most common ones here in Canada. Luckily they don't lay eggs around the place, but they do drop those cases full of tiny new roaches everywhere. UGH ! It's not possible to completely eliminate sources of food and water in a place like this, and besides, I read an article that claimed one roach lived over a month sealed in a glass jar with one human hair and no water. No info on how long the hair was but even if your home was close to sterile, they'd still find food, I think. I hate 'em, but I've had to get over the creepies, or never sleep, cause I've lived here over 20 years. The current landlord is a jerk who won't do pest control. I've been using diatomaceous earth, which really does work. But it is kind of slow, does not stick well on vertical surfaces, and it's really dirty looking. My floors and cupboards always look kind of dirty and dusty because of the D. E, and it's always getting stirred up into the air, and it's not good to breathe it, I know. I had heard of boric acid but did not know it was so effective. The newest gel paste that the pest control companies use works but costs a fortune. I think I paid over $60. for one tube of that stuff. No way I could afford that. Because I'm constantly getting new roaches from all the other apartments, I've been very discouraged, but your paste sounds very doable and far less messy. Soon as I find some boric acid, I'll let you know what results I get. Funny, I remember my grandmother used to use boric acid wash for the eyes if you got dust or something in them when I was a kid and even though it's no longer sold for this purpose, clearly there is little to worry about in terms of toxicity, even for my cats, should they manage to catch and eat a sick roach. Something I hope I never actually see happen :-).

[Ninzerbean]

I agree with you about removing food and water - that is impossible. This will work, do it right away for right-away relief. The roaches will send signals to the other roaches in your building not to go to your place, they are very smart. You may even want to post a link to this 'ible where all the tenants can see it. Then the whole building could become roach-free. Just read all the comments, you will understand how important it is to be thorough.

[Weissensteinburg]

Great instructable! If we didn't have an appointment with Lewis Cobb about the roaches we've been seeing, I'd try it.

[Ninzerbean]

Thank you ever so! Who is Lewis Cobb? Should I know that name?