Hello. I live in an apartment complex on a college campus. We’ve recently had a rapidly growing problem with roaches in our apartment. The university sent somebody out to spray, but is making no efforts right now to spray in the apartments around us so we feel like they’re going to come right back in ours. They started spraying last week and now they’re spreading from just our kitchen and bathrooms and getting into our bedrooms.
There’s a chance we’ll be asking them to move us to a new apartment if they’re not going to handle exterminating them here properly. My roommate and I were wondering what we do to prevent them from clinging to our stuff and taking them to the new apartment? Will washing our clothes be enough to kill them if they’re on them? And what should we do with our dishes etc? Basically just any helpful hints about moving so we don’t accidentally take them would be great. Thanks!
As you can read in our GERMAN ROACH CONTROL article, apartments are a common location to find active roaches. One of the big problems with apartments and controlling roach infestations stem from the fact that it is sometimes difficult to have access to all the units in the structure. Failure to treat the structure in a uniform fashion will make the problem difficult to control and seemingly never ending.
Keeping that in mind, we’ve learned the best way to handle invasive roaches is to take advantage of that which they want most: food. In general, roaches will only migrate and move as food and shelter becomes scarce where they currently reside. To take advantage of this behavior, apartments can prevent infestations by “pre-baiting”. The simple process of setting out some roach gel prior to acquiring a real infestation can really help. If you do relocate, it is strongly suggested that you pre-bait the new location. This will ensure a thorough baiting is both easy to do and properly applied but most importantly, it will control any roaches that may be present or attempting to invade from neighboring units.
As for your concerns regarding the moving and packing of your belongings; there really shouldn’t be much that has to be done. When packing clothes, books and other items, a visual inspection is really all that is needed. When disturbed, roaches tend to scatter so if any are uncovered during the process of packing your belongings, they’ll be seen immediately. The real risks of transporting roaches during any move or relocation seems to be linked to the boxes which are used and the time in which they are kept before the move. In other words, if you collect boxes from restaurants or warehouses that typically have roach infestations, there is a strong likelihood one of the boxes you use for the move may contain roaches. This means you must choose your ‘box supply company” wisely. Additionally, storing the boxes you intend on using for several weeks in your apartment is not a good idea. As our roach control article explains, boxes have many ingredients which attract roaches and letting empty boxes sit out is a direct “housing invite” to any foraging roach that might be around.
In summary, if you end up staying in the apartment where you now reside, I suggest you take an active pest control stance to control the roach problem you’re currently experiencing. Even though there are treatments being done, you can successfully add to it by using some roach gel. Placements should be subtle and small and focused in discreet locations where roaches are still active and the liquid spray is not making contact. These locations will almost always be high up, in cabinets, the backs of TV’s, microwaves and other applicances most service companies will not “spray”. I’m sure this strategy will help to minimize the problem currently active. If it turns out that you do relocate, be sure to use clean, new boxes for the move and try not to store them more than one week prior to moving. Additionally, a good visual inspection of everything being boxed before it leaves your present apartment should be all that is needed to make sure you don’t carry or transport roaches with you to the new location. Lastly, prebait the new residence with the same roach gel in key locations like kitchen cabinets pantries, bathrooms, closets and dining rooms. Pre-baiting the new residence before you settle in will go a long way in keeping your new home roach free and as the following video shows, roaches just love this stuff to death!