Cockroaches are one of the most undesirable common household pests in the world. With over 30 different species found all around the world, roaches are considered harbingers of disease and are associated with unsanitary conditions and filth. A roach infestation can be brought into the home by infected furniture, food, or even simply by changes in seasonal weather.
Removing a roach infestation from your home can be a frustrating process. Roach removal treatments typically consist of dispersing powerful chemical sprays or poisons around your living space, presenting a health risk to your family and pets.
These treatments are also not 100% effective, with many of the most common cockroach strains now resistant to many forms of chemical pesticides due to their high genetic mutability.
Diatomaceous earth is a highly effective chemical and poison free alternative to powerful insecticides that is guaranteed to work. Completely safe for use around children, pets and food, diatomaceous earth is able to completely eliminate any kind of roach infestation and keep roaches away, with no risk of losing effectiveness over time.
Treating your home for roaches with diatomaceous earth is as easy as following these five simple steps.
Step 1: Sanitize & Identify
If you’ve noticed roaches in your home, the first step in removing them involves thoroughly cleaning your living space. Roaches prefer damp, dirty and unclean environments, so sanitizing your living space is generally the best method of both removing roaches and preventing roach incursions.
Sweep, mop, vacuum and dust, paying special attention to areas behind furniture, appliances and in crevices. As you sanitize your home, mark the location of any roaches you see to identify the problem areas.
Step 2: Dry & Isolate
After cleaning your home, ensure that all of the areas in which you’ve identified the presence of roaches are dry. Diatomaceous earth requires a dry environment to remove insects efficiently as its absorbent properties are responsible for its effectiveness in eliminating pests.
Once you’ve dried your living space, isolate the entire area. Seal up windows, cracks and doors to remove all possible entrances or exits for roaches before beginning the elimination campaign.
Step 3: Apply Diatomaceous Earth Inside Your Home
Once your home is prepared, you’re ready to begin dispersing diatomaceous earth. Distribute diatomaceous earth all around your home in a fine layer, paying special attention to the problem areas you identified earlier. Areas like entrances, bathrooms and laundries are common places for roach habitation, as are kitchens and pantries.
There’s no need to worry about using diatomaceous earth around food preparation areas as it’s completely non-toxic. A diatomaceous earth applicator can make this job easier, but always be sure to wear gloves, safety glasses and a dust mask to prevent irritation.
Step 4: Apply Diatomaceous Earth Outside Your Home
After dispersing DE around the inside of your home, you’ll need to prevent further roach incursion by distributing it around the exterior of your home. Apply liberal amounts of DE around the foundation of your home, window sills, doors, and cracks. Using a wet application method can assist with this process, which you can learn about in our DE application methods guide.
If your home has a crawlspace underneath, you’ll need to distribute diatomaceous earth around this area as well. The most efficient way of seeding your crawlspace with DE is by using a specially designed applicator, but it’s possible to simply place a large amount of DE at the entrance to your crawlspace and disperse it with a leaf blower.
Step 5: Wait, Watch & Repeat
Once your home is sufficiently covered with DE, roaches will travel over the coated regions and gather DE dust. Diatomaceous earth binds to the exoskeletons of roaches, drawing the lipid oils out of their bodies and dehydrating them to death quickly and efficiently.
All of the roaches in your home will be dead within one week of application, but you’ll want to repeat this process at least twice to ensure you destroy any roaches hatched from eggs after the initial cleansing. Once your home is roach free, continue to use DE as a preventative measure around the exterior to prevent re-infestation.
Diatomaceous Earth Information Guide:
We have a wide variety of food grade diatomaceous earth resources for you look through to make your life a little easier and chemical-free. Please check out the other valuable resources and versatile application uses for silica-rich diatomaceous earth below:
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Please reach out regarding any information above. In the future, more share-worthy useful enhancements, experiences and effects of diatomaceous earth will be added as the benefits continue to pile up. Always welcome for more insight and awareness, click the button to see the most recommended beautifully blended product that combines both high quality food grade diatomaceous earth powder and pure organic silica together in one formula.