What Attracts Cockroaches to Your Home?

Terry Stephanie

Cockroaches would only invade your house and specific places for a number of reasons. An infestation of roaches in your house can pose serious health risk but don’t cause any structural damage.

With different known species, about 4000, only a few are known as indoor pests. They are known to thrive and grow rapidly in number thus are the most hated and probably unwanted indoor pests.

So, what attract cockroaches? Dirty or poor hygienic conditions is one of the major cause of roaches coming into your homes. Like many other pests, roaches are also attracted to your home in search of food, shelter or warmth.

Cockroaches are considered opportunistic feeders eating almost anything including crumbs, sweets, vegetables, decaying matter, trash, dead skin, fungi and other small insects.

This post will cover the things that attract cockroaches in indoors and outdoors settings. We will also discuss how you can kill the roaches with some of the things that attract them.

Cockroaches in Your Home

An infestation of cockroaches is a common problem world over. Cockroaches will invade your house, apartment and they will move everywhere including you kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, storage room, pantry etc.

If you see cockroaches, just know they are coming in search of food, water and a warm environment to live.

Cockroaches are known to thrive in dirty environment. If you don’t clean your home regularly, there is high likelihood of having cockroaches in your home and the longer it takes to clean the home, the rapid their population grows.

Note that an infestation of cockroaches in your home is potential risk to your health. Roaches are known to carry diseases causing pathogens such as fungi, bacteria and viruses. If not eliminated, cockroaches can make one sick especially stomach related issues such as diarrhea, fever, cholera and salmonella. This may result from food poisoning coming from contamination either through their saliva or droppings.

How to Get Rid Of Cockroach Smell, Odor, on Clothes & in Microwave

What Attracts Cockroaches in Specific Areas such as Kitchen, Apartment, Bathrooms,

In this section, we will look at what attracts cockroaches in specific places like your bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, apartment etc.

Cockroaches in bedroom

What attracts cockroaches in your bedroom? Your bedroom provides perfect hiding spot for the roaches other than just being warm enough for the roaches to thrive. If there are fruit peels, food traces in your bedroom and or other animal poop then cockroaches are more likely to invade your bedroom.

Cockroaches can easily smell food items even in your bedroom. In your bedroom, the roaches can make shelter under the bed, behind furniture and in tight places or even in cracks.

Cockroaches in the Kitchen

What attracts cockroaches in your kitchen? Your kitchen in most cases is the first place one would expect cockroaches in plenty. It provides the conducive environment for the cockroaches to thrive. Talking of the humid weather, warm and droplets of food items on the floor and counters and cabinets, it wouldn’t be surprising to miss roaches in the kitchen.

Cockroaches would love to make shelters where they can access their source of food easily. In most cases, under the sink, near leaky pipes, beneath the stove, inside the refrigerator, behind cupboards, in wall cracks and in dark holes.

To get rid of the cockroach infestation, make it a habit of regularly cleaning your countertops, floors, wipe excess moisture, fix leaky pipes and seal the cracks in your kitchen. Trash and leftovers should be disposed daily.

Cockroaches in the Bathrooms

What attracts cockroaches in the bathrooms? Moisture and warmth are the only reasons known to attract cockroaches in the bathroom. If the pipes leak, dirty floor, wet and dirty towels, bath mats, stagnant water around the sink, all these can also cause roaches to live in your bathroom.

Cockroaches would also build their shelters in holes under the sink, spaces under the bathtub or drain. To avoid cockroaches in the bathroom, get rid of excess water and keep your bathroom clean and dry.

Cockroaches in Apartments

What attracts cockroaches in apartments? Most residential areas and apartments have cockroaches. Poor and unhygienic sanitation is the number one cause for cockroaches. Also, food leftover, dirty floors, animal waste, garbage, damp bathroom and the kitchen attract the roaches to invade the apartments.

To get rid of cockroaches in apartments, repair all damaged pipes, drain and remove excess water, clean trash bins and dispose leftover carefully.

What Attracts Cockroaches Outside Your Home?

Cockroaches are the most common types of pests and can be found anywhere including outside your home. The thing that would attract cockroaches outside include, dead insects, animal poop, wet pots, leaky pipes, food leftovers, open trash bins, overgrown and decaying vegetation and compost.

Foods That Attracts Cockroaches

What food attracts cockroaches? Remember, cockroaches can eat almost anything that is edible. Although they are omnivorous, they prefer to eat fruits, vegetables, garbage, sweet, starch, greasy items, crumbs, cheese, etc. Cockroaches can eat even decaying matter such as garbage, compost and dead insects.

Here let’s discuss in length some of the food that attract cockroaches:

a) Sweet

Cockroaches are fond of sweets or starchy based products such as jams, cakes, drinks, cookies, candies etc. They can easily sense the smell of sweet food through their antenna. Once they enter your house, the send signals to other cockroaches through their pheromones for the others to follow.

b) Potatoes

Are cockroaches attracted to potatoes? Potatoes and other starchy products happen to be some of the food that attracts cockroaches. If there are potatoes in your home, the likely hood of cockroaches invading your home is high. Potato peels also kept in trash or in the kitchen will attract cockroaches in your home.

c) Sugar

Does sugar and sugary products attract cockroaches? Sugar and any other sugary products are one of the major food items that would invite cockroaches in your home. If you spill sugary drinks such as juices or cookies, candies and cakes on the floor, cockroaches will be attracted to such food items. In most cases, cockroach baits, traps are used to make poison to kill them.

d) Popcorns

It is said cockroaches tend to feed on almost anything. Cockroaches will eat popcorns too. If you have popcorns in your home, make sure you keep them tightly covered otherwise you will attract cockroaches. Not just popcorns but other snacks as well.

e) Alcohol

Are cockroaches attracted to alcohol? Roaches are fond of sweets and sugary beverages. Most alcoholic beverages use sugar in their manufacture. The roaches can detect the smell of sweet in drink and will feed on alcoholic drinks.

f) Coffee

Coffee is food just like most beverages. Cockroaches are known to eat almost anything to survive. Coffee in your kitchen cabinet or pantry would attract cockroaches but not as mush crumbs and other sugary items.

What Repels Cockroaches- Food that Cockroaches Hate?

Here are some of the things that would repel or rather cockroaches hate:

a) Baking Soda

Cockroaches are not attracted to baking soda. It is for the reason that baking soda is used in combination of sugar to get rid of them. Usually, baking soda and sugar is normally sprinkled on the infested area. The sugar is used to lure the roaches while the baking soda is the poison that will the cockroaches.

b) Onions

Cockroaches hate the smell of onion and avoid it. Some people have used onions and cayenne pepper to get rid of the roaches although not effective. The smell of onion is strong enough to repel the roaches.

c) Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar has been used for a long time to repel cockroaches. They hate the smell of the apple cider vinegar and can be used to get rid of cockroaches. It can also be used as disinfectant to wipe contaminated surfaces and to get rid of pests in generals.

d) Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is a natural pests repellent such as fleas, bed bugs, mosquitos and even cockroaches. You can use coconut oil to eradicate cockroaches if you combine it with vinegar.

e) Garlic

The smell of garlic is enough to repel the cockroaches. It has been used as a natural repellent to keep away pests from invading your home. Cockroaches hate the smell of garlic and can be used to deter the roaches from invading your home. If you sprinkle garlic powder on the infested area, it will drive the roaches away.

f) Salt

Does salt repel cockroaches? Do cockroaches hate salt? Yes salt can be used to repel the cockroaches. Just sprinkle some salt on the infested area to keep the cockroaches away.

How to Attract and Kill a Cockroach

You can easily draw the cockroaches out of their nest and kill them. Use some of the foods cockroaches like such as cookies, sweets, crumbs, peanut butter or sugar and place near the infested area to attract them before killing them.

There are natural cockroach baits to use to kill the roaches such as boric acid, baking soda and diatomaceous powder.

Here are some of the natural methods to kill cockroaches: