this is going to sound insane, but i am currently having a meltdown about potentially running into roaches at my new place (i have not actually encountered one thus far). i’m from nyc, so i’m already planning on sealing up the pipes and whatnot, but i have three questions:
1. what can i do regarding my washing machine? its sitting on a sort of square, and it has a pipe leading down into it. it’s mostly covered, but can i tape it? or should i use steel wool?
2. does oxygen based bleach work as well as chlorine based bleach?
3. my ac leads outside to a big box, it’s not loosely draining. can roaches still get in that way? should i be taping the ac itself?
thank you in advance. i’m scared of googling because i can’t even look at photos of them. 😀
edit: for additional context, i am a clean freak so everything is always washed, kept clean, no dishes/food out, etc. i live on the 3rd floor of a concrete building in a relatively lowkey part of tokyo.
by marg-tyrell
13 comments
I live on the second floor, been here four years and never seen a single roach.
My previous apartment was also second floor, and I would occasionally see single adult roaches (no babies) on the balcony. I don’t think they can get in through the air conditioning.
Unfortunately, whether you see them or not (especially on the third floor) is dependent on how clean the neighbours are…
Whatever you do, the 🪳are waiting for you.
Just chill…
Pray for clean neighbor
Spray them with a dish soap solution. Suffocates them.
I’ve had them crawl into the a/c outside draining tube and die in there, blocking up the tube and backing water up into the a/c, which was annoying.
Make sure the outside draining tube is dangling and not touching the ground so it’s difficult for them to get in. For added security take some plastic mesh you buy oranges/mikan in and tape it over the end.
Good that you’re taking steps now because they’ll start to appear now the weather is changing.
Unless you’re a millionaire many times over, you’re probably going to live in a place with roaches. Just keep tidy. My buddy has lived in NYC for over 10 years and developed an allergy to them, that’s how prevalent they are.
If you go to Daiso or Seria, you can buy little mesh tube thingies made for the A/C units so bugs can’t get in. Also at the 100 yen store they sell bug deterrent hangers. I think they give off some sort of odor bugs don’t like, and they last around 2 months.
The Black Cap poisons are the most effective, throw those in places around the house you’d expect roaches to be (near entrances, under the fridge, etc)
Seal all entrances from underneath/outside the house. Roach babies can get in from 1mm cracks. Seal with tape and putty, you can get those cheap.
If you see little black specks that look like black peppers, that’s roach poop. Get the black caps asap.
Place your bed on top of four bricks wrapped in newspapers. This is the only true and tested method for warding off the evil roach.
diatomaceous earth, just put it in any corners or wholes around your place, moved into a place with a lot of German cockroaches probably from neighbors for the amount.
They are pretty smart and will avoid things and places that kill them, every two months I just re puff dirt into the cracks.
I’ll get an occasional one that makes it through but Also put a little of it in the vacuum cleaner and checked that it coats them and they dry out and die.
If you spend more on food safe grade it’s pet safe kid safe. I just bought the cheap stuff that is a paint mix in.
Went from 15-20 a day to 1-3 a week, probably from under door or window places where wind blows it away
Cockroaches are unpleasant but I hope you don’t get a visit from a mukade, that will really freak you out, especially if its’s big one.
If it helps ease your mind at all, I’ve been in my place (4th floor RC mansion) for 2 years and have never seen one.
Bring some diatomaceous chalk with you and draw a few circles or lines in places where you fear they will enter. It’s cheap, no smell and will.kill roaches, ants and other invert pest. Seeing at least one is practically unavoidable during the summer unless your on a higher floor in your building. The roaches here are a bit different then the ones in the states. I have never seen a German cockroach here. Those are the brown and black ones that are small and typically infest places where I’m from in Philly. Instead they are giant black buckets but you don’t see alot at once, rather just the occasional one in your place that has snuck I mto escape the heat.