Getting rid of roaches isn't easy. Carefully adapted to live through the toughest of conditions, a typical cockroach can go months without food or water, survive with its head gone, ingest poisonous chemicals, and survive in radioactive environments. It seems that killing these creatures will not be simple at all.



However, there are some things we can do. Though they seem tough (and are), roaches have several vulnerabilities will give us a shot at wiping them out. The obvious way to eliminate cockroaches to to trap them living. After this, you simply "throw them away." You can accomplish this using a live trap, which might be as basic as a jar covered on the inside with a sticky substance, such as petroleum jelly. The cockroaches will hopefully crawl inside the container, and stick on the sides. At a later time, you can simple dispose of them. Gross, but effective.

Another popular option is the good old toxic bait trap. "Roach motels" use bait combined with a kind of poison that actually is toxic to roaches. This is a sound principle, and can be effective, especially when combined with other means. Sometimes they don't work, though, because not everyone of your roaches will find the bait and thus die from eating the poison. Still, its something to try before you dial up your friendly neighborhood roach exterminator.

Another option that can be quite effective (some say the most effective) is boric acid. Boric acid eats through the shell of the roach, making it dehydrate and die. This can take a bit, but its always fatal for the cockroaches. TO do this, spread the boric acid powder in dark edges, corners, and all over your living space. The more you have, the better chance of the roaches finding it. Don't be shy. If things work right, a roach apocalypse will occur. The roaches should start dieing all over your house, leaving you to find their dead remains in the most unlikely of places (fun!). A broom might be needed.

Roach spray is another popular option. These can work, but it takes a lot of spraying to kill many roaches. Also, spraying is not as easy as it sound when you're dealing with fast, small insects such as roaches. And think about it, are you actually going to track down every single roach and exterminate it, Arnold style? I doubt it. Still, having a can of roach spray around can help you feel a little more in control of the situation, but remember, its a false sense of security. No doubt about it, they will come back.

I hope I have made the task of killing roaches seem impossible to you or anything. Hopefully, these techniques will work for you. But if you are getting desperate, you can always dial up your friendly neighborhood exterminator, who does this for a living and should be able to help you out. If you're more of a do it yourself-er, then be all means try out some of the techniques.