How to Protect Your Kitchen from Roaches

Why roaches choose the kitchen

Roaches need three things: water, food and a warm, tight place to hide. A kitchen has all three in one room. The sink and dishwasher supply water, crumbs and grease supply food, and the motors of the fridge and dishwasher keep the cracks around them warm all year, even during a New Jersey winter.

The roach that causes most kitchen problems in North Jersey is the German cockroach: small, light brown, with two dark stripes behind its head. It lives indoors, breeds fast and prefers to stay within a short walk of food and water. That's why the kitchen, and the bathroom next to it, are where an infestation usually starts.

• Water: drips under the sink, a wet sponge, the dishwasher, pet bowls, condensation on pipes.
• Food: grease on the stove and backsplash, crumbs in the toaster, open cereal and pet food, sticky soda cans in recycling.
• Shelter: cabinet hinges, gaps behind the backsplash, cardboard, appliance motors and the space under the stove.

Take away any one of these and the kitchen gets harder for roaches. Take away all three and treatment works much faster.

Don't carry roaches into the kitchen

German roaches often arrive as hitchhikers. A single egg case can start a new infestation, so be careful with what you bring in:

• Grocery and delivery boxes: unpack them outside the kitchen if you can and recycle the cardboard right away.
• Used appliances: check a used microwave, toaster oven, coffee maker or fridge closely before it comes inside, especially the motor area and the bottom.
• Moving boxes and furniture: inspect anything that comes from a home or storage unit that had roaches. Our tips on avoiding roaches when you move walk through it.
• Bags and backpacks coming from a workplace, school or building with a roach problem; don't set them on the kitchen counter.

When prevention isn't enough

Prevention keeps roaches from settling in. Once German roaches are breeding in your kitchen, cleaning alone usually won't finish them. Call or text Silver Bullet Pest Control at 973-510-2585 if:

• You see small tan roaches on the counter, in cabinets or around appliances.
• You find droppings or egg cases in more than one cabinet.
• Roaches show up during the day.
• You've cleaned, sealed and used store baits for two or three weeks and still see them.
• You run a food business.

A technician will find where they're hiding, place baits and growth regulators in cracks and voids (never sprayed across counters or dishes) and come back for a follow-up. Roach treatment comes with a 90-day warranty. If you're facing a big problem tonight, we answer calls 24/7; see our 24/7 emergency cockroach exterminator page. For more on dealing with an established colony, read roach infestation tips.