Why do I have cockroaches when my home is clean?
Because cockroaches come for warmth, water and shelter, not mess. They ride in on shopping and second-hand things or walk in from next door. Keeping clean still helps, because it leaves them less to eat.
A cockroach says nothing about how you keep house. They come for warmth, water and a dark gap to hide in, and every home has those, spotless or not. They also travel: in shopping bags and delivery boxes, in second-hand furniture and electronics, and through pipes and walls from the flat next door. A clean kitchen helps a lot, because it leaves them less to eat. It just cannot stop one arriving.
So there is nothing to be embarrassed about. There is something to do, and the sooner you start, the smaller the job.
How they get into clean homes
- In things you bring home. Cardboard boxes, drink cartons and multipacks, a used microwave, a bed frame from a marketplace. One egg case tucked into a fold is enough to start. Before the next second-hand buy, see how to check it first.
- From next door. In flats and terraces they follow pipes, cable runs and the gaps around them. They move more when a neighbour treats, moves out or leaves a flat empty. More on that in cockroaches coming from next door.
- Up from drains and in from outside. The larger kinds, American and oriental, come in from sewers, drains and gardens. One of those is often a visitor, not a resident.
- Already there. A home can keep cockroaches from a previous occupant, hidden behind kitchen units or in the walls, quiet until something disturbs them.
New buildings get them too
It is easy to think a new build should be immune. It is not. Cockroaches arrive with the first residents’ boxes, from shops and restaurants on the ground floor, or along pipe runs shared by every flat. Once one flat has them, the shared walls and service shafts carry them on.
If you live in a new block and you are seeing small tan cockroaches with young ones among them, tell the building manager in writing. A building problem needs the building to act, however careful you are inside your own front door.
The plan: starve, bait, seal, track
- Starve them. Wipe the grease beside and behind the cooker, sweep under the fridge, keep food in sealed tubs, take the bin out at night, dry the sink and fix the drip. This is not about being cleaner. It makes bait the best meal in the house.
- Find out which one it is. A small tan one with two dark stripes behind the head is likely a German cockroach, the kind that breeds indoors. A big reddish or nearly black one is more often a visitor from the drains. Our four cockroaches side by side shows the tell for each.
- Bait, don’t spray. For German cockroaches: gel bait in small dots where they hide, plus an insect growth regulator so the young cannot grow into breeding adults. For the larger ones near drains: closed bait stations. Follow the label on every product.
- Seal the way in. Gaps around pipes under the sink, a missing kickboard under the kitchen units, the gap under the front door. See sealing gaps.
- Track it. Put monitor traps flat against walls under the sink, behind appliances and in the bathroom. Count them on the same day each week, adults and young ones apart.
Kids and pets: bait and traps go behind appliances or inside closed cupboards, away from children and pets, and the label decides how much goes down and where.
Just moved in, and this is the last thing you needed
If you have just moved, maybe after a hard stretch, and the first thing you find is a cockroach, it can feel like one more thing going wrong. Take a breath. One cockroach is a clue, not a disaster. Put out traps and let them tell you what you are dealing with. Our answer on seeing one cockroach walks through the first week.
If you rent, tell your landlord in writing now, with the date and a photo. That is not a confession. It is how the source gets found, and it puts you on record from the start. Our just moved in answer covers what to send.
When to get help
If you are still catching young ones after four weeks of bait and a growth regulator, the source is either bigger than it looked or outside your walls. Call a pest controller or press the building to treat, and bring your dated trap counts. They help far more than “we keep seeing them”. Not sure which way to go? Read DIY or a pro.
More questions
Can cockroaches come in with the shopping?
It happens, mostly in cardboard. Unpack soon and do not store flattened boxes under the sink or behind the fridge.
Does keeping the home clean make any difference then?
A big one. It cannot stop a cockroach arriving, but less food means bait works better and fewer survive.
Should I tell my neighbours?
If you share walls, it helps. They may be dealing with it too, and treating at the same time works better than treating alone.
Will a cat keep them away?
No. A cat may catch a few, but it cannot reach the ones hiding in the walls. Keep any bait out of its reach.
If a product label ever says something different from this page, follow the label. Safety and labels