Cockroaches are one of the toughest pests to get rid of in homes. If you are thinking of using mothballs for roaches to go away, you are not alone. Mothballs help to get rid of many insects, but do mothballs repel roaches?
Yes, mothballs repel roaches away from your home. Mothballs include naphthalene, and the cockroaches don’t like the smell of it. But remember that mothballs are not a strong roach repeller, and it’s a temporary solution only. Cockroaches will get used to the smell over time and will be back in your home.
Now, the obvious question is, how do you use mothballs to repel roaches? What other actions can you take to keep roaches away?
Let’s find answers to all the questions you have!
Contents
Why should you repel roaches?
Before you jump into repelling the roaches, do you know why you are doing this? Some of you know they are bad, while some of you are scared of them.
The key point of this conversation is that you need to seriously repel roaches. Cockroaches are not good to have, and you should get rid of them as soon as you notice roach activity in your house because:
- According to the World Health Organization (WHO), roaches are unhygienic scavengers.
- Although roach bites are rare, they carry harmful bacteria that can cause unwanted disease.
- Cockroaches play a vital role in spreading diseases like diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, and typhoid fever.
- Roaches are also allergic to many people.
We guess that is enough to convince you to repel roaches from your house seriously.
How do mothballs repel roaches: The effective method
Now back to the main topic, do moth balls keep roaches away?
The answer is, mothballs keep roaches away, but only temporarily. In addition to that, mothballs are not strong roach repellers. It means that mothballs won’t be able to repel large group roaches.
Still, people want to use mothballs to repel roaches because mothballs are effective in repelling moths and similar insects, and they are also easily available.
However, you can follow our methods to get the most out of mothballs to repel roaches.
First, identify the places where cockroach infestation is high. Then place two or three mothballs there.
Roaches like to hide in tiny places. Your hands may not be able to reach there, but you can throw mothballs into such locations.
As we have already told you, mothballs have naphthalene, which is its main property. When the roaches appear near the mothballs, the strong smell of naphthalene makes it harder for them to breathe.
As a result, the roaches are likely to try to run away. When providing this solution, we often get asked, do mothballs kill roaches?
Mothballs killing roaches is a highly unlikely event. You need to lock the roaches with mothballs in a small place, and only then the smell of naphthalene will be able to kill the roaches. Or else roaches will go away, breathe in the fresh air, and become normal.
Why you shouldn’t use mothballs?
Mothballs are easily available, and you must have seen your grandma use them for keeping clothes safe from bugs. Due to its easy availability and inexpensiveness, people also tend to use them to repel roaches.
But we recommend you avoid the use of mothballs. Why?
Because the active ingredient in mothballs is harmful to the air as well as the human body, as you can see, the naphthalene makes it harder for roaches to breathe. It similarly affects our respiratory system.
That’s why most mothball product labels recommend you to use it in a tightly closed container. Such as inside the wardrobe to kill clothes moths.
But if you use mothballs to repel roaches, you will need to keep them in open places inside your home. Mothball smell is quite unhealthy, especially for children, as they are more sensitive than adults.
That’s why we, Go Repel, do not encourage you to use mothballs for repelling roaches.
What keeps roaches away?
As we discourage the use of mothballs, you obviously want to know what repels roaches. What can you do to keep roaches away from home?
That’s a fair question, and we have the answer! You can follow the tips below to keep roaches away:
- Essential oils: Essential oils are one of the best natural roach repellents. They not only keep roaches away but also repel spiders, ants, ticks, etc. Mix a few drops of different essential oils such as tea tree oil, lavender oil, and peppermint oil together and spray them where there is a roach infestation. [Tip: Adding a few drops of vinegar will make the mixture more effective.]
- Vinegar: You also can use a diluted vinegar solution to repel roaches. Mix the same quantity of vinegar and water together and spray them directly on the roaches or where there is cockroach infestation.
- Boric acid: Boric acid is another home remedy you can use to repel or kill roaches. Mix it with sugar and flour to make small doughs. Spread the dough in places where roaches roam. Sugar and flour attract roaches; when the roach eats the dough, the boric inside it will dehydrate the roach’s body and eventually kill it. You also can spread boric around the house to repel roaches. [Caution: Boric acid can be harmful to babies and pets. If you have children or any animal at home, try to avoid using boric acids.]
- Roach killer: Last but not least, you can buy roach killer to get rid of these irritating pests. There are different types of roach killers available on the market, such as roach traps, baits, gels, etc. You can start with Combat Max Roach Killing Gel. User experience and review for this product are pretty good.
These were some of the best ways to keep roaches away from your house.
Final Words
We hope you have found the answer to the question, do mothballs repel roaches? Though the answer is yes, we have explained why we discourage using it. If you want to use mothballs in places where they won’t be able to harm you, then it’s good. Or else we recommend you to follow the other methods we explained above to get rid of cockroaches.
If you still have any questions regarding getting rid of roaches or any other pests, please let us know in the comment section. We will try to reply to you with a solution ASAP.