Perhaps one of the grossest and most icky things that can be present in one’s bathroom is a cockroach. Those things infest the sewer pipes and any cavity they find inside the wall and the very thought of cockroaches in the shower just roaming around the place is sure to give us the heebie-jeebies.
Cockroaches are crawlers that can survive in any damp and dark place. The cavities on the bathroom walls make the perfect spot for them to infest and it also protects them from the outside cold.
Roaches in the bathroom at night are unfortunately an occurrence that is quite common as during nighttime all the hidden cockroaches come out from the crevices. They usually run at first sight of light and then re-emerge as the light is put out.
Our goal is to stop the cockroaches in the bathroom from re-emerging permanently so that they do not infest a clean bathroom and dirty the place.
How To Get Rid Of Cockroaches In The Bathroom?
Here are a few tried and tested methods that can get rid of the roach infestation.
Seal All The Cracks In The Bathroom
Cockroaches are masters of invading a place from the tiniest gaps imaginable and if such cracks and crevices exist in your bathroom then the roaches are bound to exploit it.
Thus the simple way out of this is to seal those gaps and make your bathroom impenetrable through cracks in the construction.
To do this you have to first identify all the places where such a gap exists because such cracks develop over time and due to the material used in the construction losing its effectiveness after many years of usage.
Wall putty is the most commonly used method to seal small cracks. A thick white paste is formed out of mixing water and white cement powder, which is then applied in multiple layers to fill the gap as well as to seal it.
You have to wait for the paste to dry before you can use the bathroom again as exposing the wet paste to water before it has dried will destroy and dissolve it away.
Clean The Bathroom
It is common knowledge that cockroaches are attracted to filth and dirt. So the reason why you keep seeing a roach in the shower is probably that the bathroom is not clean.
Cleaning your bathroom regularly and keeping it dry is a good way to preserve the hygiene of the place as well as to eliminate bathroom cockroaches.
If you are leaving soaps out in the open then roaches may try to feed on it as some soaps have animal fat and thus will serve as a treat for cockroaches. Moreover, a soap that has been exposed to a crawling cockroach should not be applied to your skin. It may lead to skin infections even.
Keeping your soap in a dry and waterproof cover will keep it clean and away from any roach attack.
Similarly, if you keep your toilet paper rolled out in the open without a cover, it is very likely to attract cockroaches who will feast on it. Keep your toilet paper in a designated spot and keep it covered to avoid cockroaches from spreading harmful bacteria onto it.
Use Insecticide
The first thing that you should do to deal with any insect infestation is to identify the spot it is occurring from and spray a good amount of insecticide in it. But there are certain things you must keep in mind before you do so.
Most insecticides are made from chemicals that may contaminate the water source if you spray it without restraint just anywhere to get rid of cockroaches inside the bathroom. Unless you use insecticide sprays solely for the drain that carries out wastewater and bathroom waste, it may be dangerous and not worth it.
However, the fact that it is quite toxic can be advantageous as it is sure to wipe out quite a number of cockroaches inside the sewer drain.
Vinegar And Baking Soda
A mixture of vinegar and baking soda is quite efficient in unclogging blocked toilets and drains and the same unclogging characteristic of this mixture can be exploited to bring out the cockroaches hidden in inaccessible crevices of the bathroom such as cracks on the wall, shower drain, and such.
This is by far a better choice than putting bleach inside the drain and pipes which may corrode and damage the surface doing more harm than good.
That said, vinegar is not what you would call toxic and may not necessarily kill the cockroaches. However, mixed with baking soda it will give off a rancid smell which is enough to force the cockroaches outside of their hiding places after which you can use insect repellant sprays directly on the fleeing cockroaches to kill them or just douse the boiling water which will have the same effect.
Boiling Water
For those people who have lived in homes where putting any chemical inside the pipes and drains is forbidden and fineable, boiling water can be a safer and better alternative.
The only thing that you need to keep in mind is that the water has to be extremely hot so that when you pour it inside the drain it won’t cool down by the time it reaches the spot where the roaches are hiding.
Keep The Bathroom Dry
This has already been mentioned in passing but to elaborate further, cockroaches love to live in damp places. Not wet, but damp. So the bathroom cockroaches that you see every time may be there because the place is not dry enough and continuous exposure to water has made the walls damp.
Now one may very well question how can the bathroom of all places be kept dry as water is an essential thing in the bathroom. There are a few ways, the first is to install a shower curtain so that the water splashes do not get outside the shower area.
However, one may find it difficult to always keep the bathroom free of humidity, and thus dehumidifiers and exhaust fans can be installed to draw the moisture out and limit the humidity inside the place.
Plug The Shower Drains
If you see a roach in the shower drain of your bathroom then it is possible there because it was attracted by both the dampness and the warmth of the residue shower water.
This is especially the case during the winter months when the pipes get cold and it is no longer possible for the cockroaches to keep nesting there. So they move towards whatever warmth they can detect with their senses and your shower drain just happens to be one such place.
As a roach cannot crawl in when you are using the shower due to the flowing water, it will only try to crawl through when the shower is not being used.
But you can prevent that from happening by covering the shower drain with a metallic plug. Even if you do not have one, it can be easily bought from the nearest hardware store.
A temporary cloth plug can also be used but it should not be a permanent solution as water may seep in through the cloth and it may start smelling, more importantly, a damp cloth may become the breeding ground for germs and bacteria.
Use A Cockroach Trap
Using bait, a cockroach trap attracts the cockroaches towards itself and then traps the insects with the glue inside an enclosed space and can keep the rack attached to itself for as long as 24 hours.
It is a simple trap that does not use any toxic chemicals and is not a hazard like how usually traps are.
To use this, you have to first identify the source of the cockroach infestation. It can be the shower drain or a crevice in the wall. If you see a cockroach in the shower or anywhere in the bathroom, try to follow it and see where it runs off to. If multiple cockroaches run to the same spot, then that is the source of infestation.
Set up the trap there and when the roaches get glued to the trap, you can easily spray the whole thing with insecticide and then flush the dead cockroaches inside the toilet.
Use Gel Baits To Kill The Cockroaches
Gel baits for cockroaches are usually applied for cockroaches inside crevices in a single line or as dots on which baits such as crumbs of food are also kept. The cockroaches get attracted to the food and in turn, get poisoned by the toxic gel.
If you use gel baits overnight, you will see overturned cockroaches lying dead nearby which you can vacuum or just sweep out using a broom. Do this for a week daily while also taking precautions against cockroach infestation, and you will eventually be rid of cockroaches in the shower or the bathroom.
Contact A Professional Exterminator
If all else fails then the best way to rid your bathroom of a roach infestation is to call over an exterminator who will bring their professional gear and be able to use the right chemicals or sprays to kill the cockroaches.
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Final Thoughts
A cockroach infestation is a concerning issue that should be treated with urgency. The bathroom is where we go to clean ourselves and if that very place is being made dirty by insects, then it should be addressed immediately.
Remember that you cannot deal with this problem passively and you also cannot afford to flinch at the sight of dead cockroaches. Your main goal is to remove the source of food and warmth from the roaches and only then will you be able to get rid of the problem.