Get Rid Of Cockroaches In Kitchen Cabinets

When you have a cockroach infestation, you may not notice it right away. Often you might see a lingering cockroach skittering across a table or up a wall. You may go ahead and squish it and kill it then go about your day, thinking nothing of it. What you may not realize is that the one cockroach you may have seen in killed is one of many that you don’t see that are in hiding.

How To Get Rid of Cockroaches in Kitchen Cabinets

The realization that you have a large cockroach problem on your hands may be revealed to you late at night after you have already laid back in your bed. As you wander into the kitchen at night to go grab some water from the fridge or a late-night snack, by flipping on the lights, the truth becomes apparent: dozens and dozens of cockroaches are scattered on the kitchen tile, on the counters, in your sink, EVERYWHERE. To your horror, you find out that you have a full-blown infestation! When the lights come on, cockroaches start to retreat back into their hiding spaces, and more often than not, the prime hiding spot is your kitchen cabinets.

Why Do Cockroaches Hide In Kitchen Cabinets?

Kitchen cabinets are such a hot spot for cockroaches because they are tucked away and usually out of reach. You simply put your dishes and belongings there and leave it be so this makes it a great place to hide and breed and feed without having to worry about you frequenting. If you were to hire an exterminator to treat your home for cockroaches, usually the first thing they would tell you to do preliminary before they arrive is to empty out all your kitchen cabinet and set all the goods aside. Empty cabinets expose the cockroaches because they are not able to hide behind all the items that you fill your cabinets with. When trying to tackle a cockroach infestation yourself, it’s important to act quickly because all the items inside of your cabinets are at risk. Cockroaches are disgusting creatures and are known to spread all sorts of disease pathogens, bacteria and allergens. If your food items are exposed and not properly covered, they could become contaminated and result in food poisoning next time to decide to eat the item. The feces and eggs cockroaches leave behind have been known to cause allergies and asthma in people that are susceptible so you will want to jump into action to tackle a cockroach infestation before their population grows out of control. Read on to learn more about cockroaches as the more knowledge you have on the pest, the better equipped you will be in addressing their invasion and ridding them from your kitchen cabinets and home entirely.

Background Info on Cockroaches

Cockroaches are creatures that hail from the Blattodea order of insects and have been on the earth long before we ever even existed. Plenty of creation have come and gone, like the dinosaurs, but the cockroach has never gone extinct. Instead, they have evolved and thrive because they are natural survivors; it was simply built into their DNA. There are nearly 5,000 species of cockroaches that have been discovered and of this large number, only about 25 are known to invade human dwellings and cause problems. In the United States, there are about 4 or 5 species that are a constant problem for homes and businesses because these cockroaches have been domesticated. In other words, they have adapted to a point where they not only prefer to live with or among humans, but they have become totally dependent on being close to us for their survival. At one point, these all these cockroach species lived outdoors and survived on water they came across, plants and organic matter. Since the development of civilization however and the fact that we humans live with entire areas where we store food, have running water and other luxuries, these cockroaches species infiltrated our homes and found that we had easy access to food, water and shelter--the three things they need most to survive. It became the smarter decision to stay in our homes rather than fend for themselves out in the wild. Cockroaches like the German Cockroach, American Cockroach and Brown-Banded Cockroach are the common intruders into homes. The worrying thing about when they are in your home is where they have come from because they often frequent dumpsters, sewage systems and other filthy environments. They crawl over these unsanitary places and then carry the filth on their little feet, spreading it where we live and around the food we consume. This is why cockroach infestation should not be taken lightly since they bring with them a high probability of disease and allergies. Homes, restaurants, grocery stores and other places where food is stored are favorite area destinations for cockroaches. In these places, cockroaches can enjoy a smorgasbord of stored foods, crumbs, grease and other treats for their sustenance. All the storage areas, such as kitchen cabinets, also provide them with ample choices for hiding spots and nests they can set up where their population can grow larger and larger. Knowing this makes it critical that you practice regular sanitation and clean up of your home and kitchen cabinets so spills and crumbs are cleaned up and that the cabinets are not excessively cluttered with items.

Recommended Read: What Attracts Cockroaches to Your Home

The Go-To Guide For Removing Cockroaches From Kitchen Cabinets

It’s important to note that kitchen cabinets are not the only areas where cockroaches may be hiding. A cockroach infestation is an infestation upon the entire home or building and is not just limited to one area, even if they are concentrated in one area like the kitchen cabinets.

Start by De-cluttering and Sanitizing Your Cabinets

It is important to go cabinet by cabinet and perform a detailed cleaning. This will take some time but being thorough is important. You may be surprised to see just how much spilled food, particles, crumbs and debris may be accumulated in your cabinets. Go shelf by shelf, wiping down these crumbs and spills. You should also take the time out to go through your cabinets and throw out food that you have no intention of eating to reduce clutter. Excessive clutter is a common issue that people bring upon themselves by buying way too much food that ends up untouched and uneaten and is just taking up space in the cabinets. By throwing out unwanted items and making sure you only buy food items that you for sure are going to consume and utilize, you will drastically reduce the clutter in your cabinets and thus take away food sources and hiding places that the cockroaches may be enjoying.

Take Away Hiding Spots

Cockroaches love our cabinets because they are dark and secluded and often there are plenty of little cracks and crevices that they can slip their little slender, flat bodies into to hide. However, you can eliminate these hiding spots with the help of your average caulk and caulking gun. Go through each cabinet and even your drawers and cupboards to seal off any cracks you see. You should also do the same behind appliances like the stove and refrigerator. You may not be able to get every crack, but just by carrying out this act you will make life a little bit more difficult for cockroaches. Cockroaches will lose the hiding spots they were so used to and if there happens to be cockroaches that are settled in that hiding spot and you seal it off with caulk, they become trapped. Essentially, you will have created their own tombs and have buried them alive.

Eliminate Access To Water

You may have taken away cockroach hiding spaces and significantly reduced their access to food with the first couple of steps above, but cockroaches can still survive if they can easily access water.

Recommended Read: How Long Can a Cockroach Live?

Cockroaches cannot survive without water for more than seven days. Knowing this info, you need to do your due diligence in keeping your kitchen and home in general as dry as possible. Address any moisture issues such as plumbing leaks and dry up areas of dampness. When it comes to your kitchen sink, dry off the sinks completely at the end of the night, dry off and put away all dishes and dry off any other areas that may have moisture to take away water so there’s not even a sip available for cockroaches. 

Break out the Pesticides

After you have done your best to sanitize, declutter, eliminate food and water access you can now deliver the death blow to cockroaches with pesticides. However, it’s important that you not just choose any cockroach killing chemical but ones that will create the biggest impact. For indoor cockroach problems in your cabinets, your best option is the use of a roach bait. The baits that work best contain food grade attractants so that cockroaches will gladly eat them when there is no other food options around. Best of all, these baits are slow killing, allowing for cockroaches to alert others to the bait so they eat it and share it around.

Recommended Read: Killing Cockroaches with Diatomaceous Earth

You should also use a pesticide dust inside wall voids, plumbing penetrations and other areas in your home. Dust pesticides work great because just a small puff of powder can be enough to kill cockroaches. The dust is able to travel to places other forms of cockroach control cannot reach which makes it perfect to apply in out of the way areas. Make sure to wipe up any excess dust that is visible, and always follow product labels. Last but not least, you should use roach traps to help not only catch roaches, but also as a form of monitoring populations. By placing glue traps in areas with know cockroach populations you can easily remove multiple stages of roach life cycle. Long term it will help you to determine if your roach problem is starting to get out of hand. Traps are an easy, non-chemical solution to any type of roach problem, big or small. Apply a residual insecticide spray in areas around kitchen cabinet bases, around sink areas, and appliances. Make sure to avoid areas where you have applied the Harris Roach Tablets. 

Conclusion

As frustrating as a cockroach infestation is, they are not impossible to get rid of. If cockroaches are in your kitchen cabinets and use it as a hiding space, by performing the steps in this article, cockroaches won’t be around for long. By decluttered your cabinets, thoroughly cleaning your kitchen, sealing off cracks and crevices and applying strategic pesticide treatments, your kitchen cabinets will once again be meant just for your food items and not disgusting roaches. There is no easy solutions once you have a cockroach problem in your kitchen cabinets, but we hope this guide and product recommendation will help. As with all pest prevention is always the best policy, so trying to prevent cockroach invasions in the first place. Checkout our ultimate guide for preventing cockroaches in your home.

Recommended Read: Killing Cockroaches for Good