Home
Cockroaches

How to Prevent Roaches from Moving with You

Preventing Roaches from Moving into a New Home

Avatar of author Ismael Girard
Ismael Girard
2
min read
Introduction

Preventing roaches from moving into a new home is essential for making sure your next property is the most peaceful. To prevent cockroaches from moving with you involves a few critical, preemptive steps, from inspecting and cleaning all items before they're packed to making sure you use preventive measures in your next property.

Here, we'll guide you on how to make sure cockroaches stay behind during your move, ensuring peaceful start. Here's what we'll cover:

✔️ Thoroughly inspecting and cleaning items before the move

✔️ Strategies to prevent cockroaches during the move

✔️ Implementing cockroach prevention treatments at your new home

Read on to learn more about each of these steps and start on the right foot, without any hidden cockroaches.

How to Prevent Cockroaches Before the Move

image of a person packing belongings carefully, to avoid potential cockroach infestation during the moveo

The key to preventing cockroaches during your move is preparation. Start by meticulously inspecting all your belongings. Seal any openings in boxes and furniture using strong adhesive tape to block any potential entry points for roaches. Follow these detailed steps:

Inspect and Clean Household Items

Begin with a methodical inspection of your belongings. Furniture, kitchen appliances, and even stuff you wouldn't think roaches would be attracted. Ensure each belonging, whether it's a plush sofa or a small lamp, undergoes a meticulous cleaning process. Use a vacuum to clean the crevices and hidden spots, a popular hideout.

Choose Plastic Bins Over Cardboard Boxes

Cardboard holds an undeniable appeal for roaches. The smell of glue used on the material can attract them and the material itself provides a comfortable hiding spot. Opt instead for plastic bins. The hard surface doesn't offer any crevices for roaches to hide in, reducing the chances of a surprise roach infestation in your new home.

Tips for Using Storage Bins

  • Use clear casings for better visibility and check for unwanted passengers.
  • Ensure the lids are sealed tight, preventing any dark spaces for roaches to crawl into and hide.
  • Clean the plastic bins before use to ensure no roaches inside and remove any traces of unwanted organisms.

Special Considerations for Specific Items

Roaches (and even bed bugs) display a peculiar fondness for electronics and pet supplies. Let's discuss these two scenarios.

Handling Electronics and Appliances

German cockroaches, noticeable by their dark brown color, come and find small crevices in electronics and appliances to be an ideal home for them. To prevent roaches at a low cost, you can use our citrus cockroach deterrent. Also, consider packing these things in tightly sealed bags.

Pet Supplies and Food

Empty water bowls and food containers can serve as a water source and food supply for roaches respectively. Keep pet food in tightly sealed cases, and clean pet supplies thoroughly before moving. Avoid leaving pet food out overnight as this can attract pests in search of sustenance.

Following these tips aids in ensuring a roach-free area when moving into a house.

How to Avoid Bringing Roaches While Moving

Carrying roaches to a new apartment unknowingly creates an infestation that's difficult to control. Grasping the methods to ensure they remain a part of your past and not your future is vital.

Pack and Load the Truck Wisely

Initiating a smart pack-and-load tactic for your household stuff dislodges roaches or their hidden egg cases. Primarily, vacuum every nook of your furniture as an effective way to ensure the cockroaches get no free ride.

Also, avoid using boxes as German cockroaches adore the adhesive quality of the glue used in them. Opt instead for containers that seal tightly, dismissing any room for these critters.

Before loading the belongings into the truck, go the extra mile by wrapping them in airtight bags, creating an additional barrier against any potential cockroach that's set on making a new home with you.

The truck loading order takes precedence too. Non-kitchen items first, followed by kitchen appliances and then lastly, the furniture. The goal is to prevent cross-infestation, also, each category should be well spaced out, cramped conditions invite our six-legged hitchhikers.

But, if these steps feel too much to handle, never hesitate to hire a professional exterminator who can do the job for you.

Use Roach Control Products

Products like roach gels provide a kill-at-source approach, eliminating roaches that consume the bait and those that feed on its carcasses. Roach motels also offer a secure hold-and-kill path where roaches will find themselves trapped.

To avoid a future recurrence of infestations, equip your apartment with roach control products before moving in. Aerosol foggers generate a mist that kills cockroaches hiding in cracks and behind furniture. Boric acid is an similarly powerful cockroach deterrent, but remember to keep it away from children and pets.

Pest control is not a one-time task but a continuous one. Considering the use of essential oils against cockroaches, regular application of these natural remedies complements traditional products to aid in keeping homes roach-free. Adhering to these guidelines and adopting a proactive approach diminishes the probability of encountering cockroaches in your home.

How to Keep Cockroaches Away After Moving

Settled into your new place, you now face the important task of avoiding any future roach infestations. This phase involves two crucial steps: Unpacking with Caution and Contacting a Roach Exterminator. Let us provide clear insights on executing these steps effectively.

Unpack with Caution

First, approach your unpacking strategy with precaution. Often, cockroaches or their egg cases hide within the crannies of your cardboard boxes and your stuff. Sift through each box meticulously, and examine your belongings keenly to make sure no pests hitchhiked through the move.

Examining dishes and any small movable object holds paramount importance. As cockroaches and their eggs particularly affix themselves to such items, a careful inspection and cleanse with water will help keep roaches at bay.

Also, store food and house plants in sealable containers. Hence, it eliminates potential hiding spots for roaches and ends one crucial food source, thereby keeping your living space roach-free.

Contact a Roach Exterminator

After taking utmost care in unpacking, reinforce your roach prevention method by engaging professional help. Contact a reputable roach exterminator even though you did not see any sign of cockroach infestation in areas in your home.

Calling a roach exterminator, as many people should do, compounds the likelihood of having a roach-free home. An expert roach exterminator is well-versed in handling them, and they can pinpoint and treat hotspots that attract roaches, such as food crumbs, pet food, water leaks, and clutter.

Remember once roaches invade your home, they are tough to get rid of entirely. The two-step strategy we presented here constitutes a proactive and comprehensive approach to keep your new place free of roaches. Given the distress and the potential health risks associated with a roach infestation, these pest control measures are investments worth making for your home and health.

Final Thoughts

We've walked you through the steps to make sure your move doesn't include unwanted roach guests. From pre-moving prevention to unpacking with care, we've outlined the best practices to keep cockroaches away.

Maintaining a roach-free home requires ongoing vigilance. Using sealable containers for food storage and engaging a professional exterminator are crucial post-moving steps. We can't stress enough the importance of these proactive measures.

They're not just about avoiding the nuisance of roaches. They're about safeguarding your home from the health risks they pose. Here's to a smooth, roach-free move and a peaceful future in your new home!

Table of contents
Heading 2

Frequently asked questions

How can cleaning household belongings help prevent cockroaches while moving?

Thoroughly cleaning your things before moving removes food residues and potential cockroach eggs, reducing the likelihood of transferring cockroaches to the new location. It's particularly important to clean appliances where cockroaches might hide.

Why are plastic bins recommended over boxes for moving?

Plastic bins are preferable to boxes because they offer a more secure, less penetrable barrier against cockroaches. Plastic is less appealing to cockroaches than cardboard, which can absorb oils and residues that attract these pests.

What are the risks of moving electronics in relation to cockroaches?

Electronics are common hiding spots for cockroaches due to their warmth and the small spaces within. Moving these items without proper inspection and cleaning can inadvertently transport cockroaches and their eggs to your new home.