URGENT PROBLEM...GETTING RID OF COCkROACHES....SERIOUSLY urgent!!

Call an exterminator, if you're renting its the landlords duty to provide one.

As for killing the roaches, DO NOT STEP ON THEM, you could cause them to drop eggs and you will have a bigger problem.

If you have fans turn them on, keep the place as cold as possible and vacuum everywhere. Buy some HOTSHOT or RAID, not sure if they sell it in the UK but it's amazing stuff, spray it everywhere and watch those S.O.B's die.

Terminator is you're only solution.

I thought of Men in Black when I read the thread title.

Heya THIS IS URGENT FOR ME....

Well since a few months weve had cockroaches at my flat in London....Ive got this spray to try and rid of them but its not working i mean it kilss a few but tomorrow there double the amount......There coming fom the kitchen and come at night i think as we can see tm in the kitchen at night......From the kitchen they come into the rooms and living room etc......In the kicthen there in the cupboard on the roof of the kitchen on the ground etc....

Please help me out as its coming to a point where its affecting our daily lifestyle.......They come on the plates as well thus making life twice as hard as we have to clean the plates again...

Please help...

Ok mate, first of all I know exactly how you feel.

Me and my girlfriend fought a constant war against cockroaches when we had an apartment in Cambodia...

The ************* out in Asia have wings and can fly, making them about 5 times as freaky. Seriously, me and my girlfriend still have nightmares!

Unfortunately for us, Cambodia was too poor for services such as Exterminators, so we had to fight them alone.

The internet is a good source of information. First, you should indentify which spieces you are dealing with; For us it was obvious that it was the Asian spieces because they are the only ones that fly and we were living in the middle of South East Asia!
But the ones in Europe are usually the German Cockroaches or American Cockroaches.

It's important you find out which species you are dealing with because they all have different habits; Like some are active during night and avoid light and some are active only in the day.

Once you have that sussed out, it makes planning a strategy easier.

You could of course call in an exterminator, but cockroaches are one of the hardiest living speices in the known universe! He will use chemicals and this will get rid of them temporarily but will most likely explain that it's going to be an ongoing battle...

Basically you have to start following some rules around your home;

Chemical sprays are only part of the solution, first you have to cut off there food supply:

Follow these rules to the letter:

- Do not leave your washing up laying around. You will have to start cleaning your dishes as soon as you finish your meal.
- Always clean up crumbs or spillages on the floor or any surfaces immediately.
- Start sealing food packages properly and ideally store them in containers; Things like breakfast cereals, bread and so forth.
- Do not leave your rubbish bins open. This is a big no no, this really attracts the roaches. Ideally buy bins with lids and put a plastic bin inside. When full always empty them immediately.
- Storing your rubbish correctly outside is also incredibly important. If your roaches are coming from outside then this is one of the most important factors. Make sure everything is double sealed and placed in hard plastic bins with lids that seal shut...try and keep the rubbish as far away from yoiur house a spossible, especially away from doors (roaches can come under doors, we had massive problems with this in Cambodia).
- Repair any dripping taps or plumbing; Roaches can survive weeks or months without food as long as they have a water source. Very important you get rid of any pools of water.

Once you have cut off all there food sources by following the above, THEN it's time to go on a search and destroy mission...This is when you get some pay back for the nightmares they have caused you and your family!

You'll be amazed at what tiny holes and crevices the roaches can squeeze into; They can shrink there body to about 1/6 of it's normal size and get into the tiniest gaps.
We found out where the nest was in our apartment; It was behind the toilet where there were tiny gaps in the tiles.
Your best weapon in filing up these holes is 'silicone gel'. It's cheap and you can get it from any DIY store. It only takes a day to set rock hard and it remains water proof. This cuts off and starves out any baby roaches who hide in these gaps.

Go all around the house looking for gaps; any potential tunnels, entry/exit points no matter how tiny the hole or gap looks...Seal it off.

Try and follow a roach as it runs away; See where they go.

Chemical sprays are efficient, but they can adapt very quickly and develop immunities; Don't hesitate to squash it. I know it leaves a horrific green slime and they can drop eggs, but if you clean it up staright away with bleach, hardcore disinfectant, it's one less roach that will breed and cause problems.

Obviously keep all surfaces sparkling clean. Mop floors daily (preferably twice a day). Vacuum carpets daily (initially try to do it twice a day) and wash bed lining regularly. If they are coming in undernath doors, perhaps make something from wood that seals the gaps at bottom of the doors when they are shut and at night time.

Strictly following all the above for only a week drastically eliminated the number of roaches in our property; They no longer had nests in our apartment and all we had to contend with was them coming in from the outside under our door (we had mosquito nets over all windows). The geckos did the rest (roaches have a few natural predators) for us

I wish you the very best of luck! I know they can literately ruin your life when an infestation sets in, but just a couple of days of big effort; military style planning and buying the right tools and executing the plan, you will get on top of the problem, maybe even eliminate the problem entirely.

And remember most kicthens in the UK actually have roaches. They are almost impossible to eliminate entirely in commercial kitchens... It doesn't mean you live in a dirty house (you can live in a spotless mansion and still have a cockroach infestation if you aren't storing things right), and actually roaches are harmless despite then looking like something out of the Alien films!

Good luck!

You have an infestation.

You can keep hoovering them, swatting them and spraying them forever, they will just keep coming and will keep on multiplying.

As I explained in depth, you have to find there entry points and where they are nesting, then cut off there food supply and deep clean your entire home.

If they come out at night then you are dealing with the European species (German) or American species, most probably the former. They dont fly. Our Asian friends had wings and were attracted to light, they occasionally flew through our windows from outside...*shivers*

Have you gone through your kicthen like I told you? Sealing everything tight?
Have you mopped the floors, cleaned all surfaces etc?
Are you storing your rubbish like I told you?

If so, dont waste your money buying more spray. Spray is completely useless without cutting off the food supply and entry points....

Think of it this way; You saw 20-30 roaches last night. Let's say 15 were female. That's 30 eggs each per roach. That means there are at a minimum 400 baby roaches nesting somewhere (probably in reality it's more like 1000) that will come visit you soon, then they will have babies....Get my point? Spray isn't going to defeat them or even touch there population and breeding cycle...

You need to buy some silican gel and seal off the gaps and crevices around your house.

Get back to me when you do this....

Possibly...

How is the situation looking now?