Your kitchen is among the cockroach’s most favourite places, because it contains shelter, water, and food. It is unfortunate because you’d never want your food contaminated by the dirty things cockroaches bring, not the least of which are many diseases. Keeping your kitchen free from cockroaches means additional cleaning to remove all food sources. Roaches eat virtually anything, including faecial matter, and they congregate on sewers, on garbage, and in drainage systems, where various harmful bacteria are found, including Salmonella and E. coli. Cockroaches transmit these pathogenic bacteria, and if they have access to your food, they will crawl all over them and feed on them. If you ingest these bacteria, you can get sick.
How to tell if you have cockroaches
If you live in Sydney – you can almost be guaranteed that you do, sadly. You can determine if you have a roach problem if you see signs of their presence. First, if you see a cockroach, this means that many more of them around. It is said that for every cockroach you see, a thousand more are hidden in the area. So seeing a single cockroach already constitute a significant roach threat. Roach faeces also indicate their presence. These look a lot like ground pepper or ground coffee. Roach faeces can be found in pantries and cabinets.
Ootheca, or discarded roach egg cases, are oblong-shaped and coloured brown. Worse, if you also see nymphs (or young roaches) and adults along with the ootheca, this means that your home is already a cockroach breeding area. Ootheca are commonly seen stuck on surfaces such as furnitures and cabinet doors.
Keeping Your Kitchen Free From Cockroaches
To get rid of cockroaches, always maintain cleanliness. A clean home and kitchen will definitely help deter them as there will be less food. Always make sure that your countertops, sink, and stove are wiped down. Never leave food scraps on the bench. Don’t forget to clean all of your kitchen appliances, such as toasters and microwaves, which tend to collect crumbs. Never leave unwashed dishes overnight, especially since this is the time that cockroaches are very active. Make sure your garbage bin is inaccessible by keeping the lid tightly sealed. Take out your garbage regularly.
Store all food inside airtight containers, and make sure your food storage areas are always tightly closed. Even pet food must be tightly sealed. Never leave any leftovers lying around for cockroaches to feast on.
One very important attractant for cockroaches is moisture. This is why they also love hanging out in your bathroom and your drains. To keep them out, fix all leaky taps, remove excess moisture in cabinets beneath the sink, and fix holes and seal openings by applying sealant. Clean out drains regularly using drain cleaner, and use drain covers. This will ensure that accumulated food particles in the drain are removed and prevented.
Also seal cracks around your home, which serve as roach entry points. Weatherstripping on doors and sealing around windows are effective measures. With cleanliness and diligence, you can keep your home cockroach free. If you cannot control the infestation, however, you may call professional help. Resolve your cockroach problem today when you book a consultation with Picton Pest.