how to get rid of roaches in your car

Get Rid of Roaches in Car by Following These Steps

When you are in your car, roaches are the last thing that you should have to be concerned about. However, once these pests have settled what began as a small issue can suddenly spiral out of control. In this article, we will explain how to get rid of roaches in your car for good. The process is actually quite simple.

How Do Roaches Get in Your Car?

Before we can explain how to get rid of them, we need to first figure out how they get into your vehicle in the first place.

Roaches are the worst passengers. They stink. They go to the bathroom everywhere. They even carry bacteria that can make you and your human passengers very sick.

Most people are aware of these things and would never knowingly allow roaches in their vehicles. However, the truth is, they rarely get in without some help from humans.

By nature, roaches are great at infesting our things as well as hitchhiking inside the things that we carry around. They can hide in things that we buy, wear, borrow, or carry. Not only that, but they also lay their eggs in those things too.

For example, shopping bags are a common entry point for roaches. If you receive an infested bag of groceries at the store you may be in for a terrible and long-lasting surprise.

Additionally, roaches can be found riding and suitcases, purses, backpacks, yard sale boxes, clothes from the laundromat, and many other places. Typically, you carry these things in your vehicle to bring them home.

Once they are in your car, they will stick around for food crumbs and food wrappers that you thought you threw out as well as other treats that get lost in your vehicle. These pests don't need very much to survive, and there are plenty of crumbs to keep them fed so they will make themselves at home and start breeding.

Once you discover there is an infestation, it's time to take action and get rid of these terrible creatures.

"Special Ops" Approach to Get Rid of Roaches

When you make the decision that you're serious about getting rid of your roach infestation, there's something that you need to know. Roaches are really good at what they do, and they will fight back.

for an infestation in your car, that means you can forget about any solutions claiming to be "instant" or "effortless". instead, you must utilize a targeted, tactical approach. This is also known as a Special Ops approach.

This approach to getting rid of your Roach infestation hits in a couple of ways. of course, it will take a little more time and effort in the beginning, but it will kill the roaches completely and for longer term.

Determine Where They are Hanging Out

The very first step in this process is to determine where the roaches are hiding in your car. This will do more than toughen you up, it will show you exactly where you need to be applying the poison to kill them.

The best way to do this is to learn how to think like a roach.

Thinking Like a Roach

It's pretty simple to think like a roach in the car. Simply ask yourself where the crumbs are.

This will most likely leave you to check the area between the seats where crumbs, loose change, straw wrappers, and other things fall into never to be seen again. You will likely be surprised and how much food is collected down there. It makes the perfect spot for cockroaches to build a nest.

The next place you will probably check is the floor mats. Whether your mats are plastic or carpet, the crumbs and the stains on top only tell half the story. Check under those for the tiny German roaches or their eggs. The area under the mats is perfect for them to live and multiply.

Another area where roaches like to hide in a car is the truck. You may have storage space or a spare tire compartment that could be a haven for them to live and multiply. You should also check the tire tool compartment, glove compartment, air conditioning vents, and even the pockets of your doors. There are so many places they could be hiding.

Now that you have an idea of where you're rich is might be hiding, it's time to take action.

Hit Target Areas Hard

The next step in Special Ops is to take what you learned about your creepy passengers and use it against them. First, you will take away what they love about your car and then kill them right where they are.

Make Your Car a Terrible Place for Roaches to Live

While you might want to jump straight to murdering these creatures, you first need to make your car a terrible place for them to live. You need to clean out your car of anything and everything that could be a potential food source for them.

If you have not already removed carpets, slid seats out of the way, and opened up compartments, this is the time to do it. Then, get your hands on the best vacuum cleaner you can find in vacuum every nook and cranny of your car.

If you do not have access to a portable vacuum, go to the nearest car wash. Most of them have a powerful vacuum for just a few quarters. This is critical because it will get even the teeniest crumbs down in the carpet that you would not be able to reach with your hand.

After vacuuming, take everything out that you could function without. This is especially true if your car looks like the closet. There are a lot of people that have clutter in their cars, but this provides places for the cockroaches to hide and breathe. Remove absolutely everything from your car.

Kill Roaches Where They Live

Now, it is time to kill the roaches right where they are. You do not want to use a bug bomb for a couple of reasons. For one thing, it can stain your headliner and upholstery and is not effective for killing them. Therefore, you are left with a roach infestation and a discolored interior.

Also, while you might think a big burst of fog is ideal for reaching even the tiniest spaces in your vehicle, it doesn't always reach them at all, much less with a lethal dose. instead of killing them, it drives them deeper in.

A better way to kill roaches in your car is with gel bait. This is a sneaky secret weapon that you apply in tiny amounts in and around the trouble spots. This works by enticing the roaches to eat it and slowly killing them. Then, as others in the colony consume the dead roaches, they die too.

A quality bait is powerful enough that just a few drops can kill an entire colony within a few days.

If you have a really bad infestation, you may also wish to use an insect growth regulator, which will attack the nymphs that survived the baiting and encourages the rest of the colony to eat more bait.

When you pair the two, you can get rid of a bad infestation fairly quickly.

Natural Approach to Getting Rid of a Cockroach Infestation

If you are not keen on the idea of putting chemicals under your seats, there are some natural methods for treating a Roach infestation in your car. We will take a look at those below.

Diatomaceous Earth

Diatomaceous earth, or DE, is a great way to kill cockroaches and is basically non-toxic to humans. This is so toxic for roaches, that it will kill them when they walk through it, they don't have to consume it.

Borax

Borax and boric acid are two natural powders that will kill roaches. However, they must eat it. You might want to mix it with peanut butter to make it enticing put it in some bottle caps and slip them underneath your seats.

What if My Pets Get into The Roach Treatments?

The product's that we suggested here or not as toxic to pets. Most ingredients in gel baits are food based and the insect growth regulator formulas have not been found to be dangerous for pets.

If you use Borax, boric acid, or diatomaceous earth in slight quantities as suggested, they should not be harmful to your pets either.

this means that you need to limit how much you use hey make sure to place them out of reach of pets and children.

Preventing Cockroaches in Your Car

Now that you have gotten rid of the infestation, you probably want to keep them out. Below are a few tips for preventing infestation in the future.

Keep windows closed

While it is true that cockroaches are hitchhikers, there are some that like to explore. Some of them can climb steep surfaces an others can fly. Therefore, make sure to keep your doors and windows closed. Additionally, if possible, do not park near wooded areas and take care if you visit your local dump.

Inspect After Taking Trips or Going to Yard Sales

There's no way around carrying boxes, luggage, and perhaps even a bag of mulch in your car from time to time. However, you can take action an inspect the trunk or seat where you had the items to make sure you don't have any unwanted guests.

Vacuum and Wash Your Car Regularly

Make sure to keep your car clean. Every few weeks, stop by the car wash Anne remove the mats and trash that has collected, and vacuum thoroughly. To finish, gather all of those things that you've been meaning to bring in the house, and actually bring them in. Of course, you will want to check for roaches before you do so you don't bring them into your house.

Starve Them

If you really want to avoid a Roach infestation in the future, avoid eating in your car and ask others to as well. If there are no crumbs, they have no option but to eat each other.

Conclusion

The last thing you want to deal with is a roach infestation in your car. However, sometimes they happen. You can get them under control though. Just follow these steps to get rid of them first and prevent them from getting in your car in the future.