I never thought I would be writing about cockroaches, but apparently this is quite the problem. It is important to get rid of cockroaches fast, because they could endanger your health. To confirm this, there was a study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine entitled, The Role of Cockroach Allergy and Exposure to Cockroach Allergen in Causing Morbidity among Inner-City Children with Asthma. At the conclusion of their research, they determined that, “The combination of cockroach allergy and exposure to high levels of this allergen may help explain the frequency of asthma-related health problems in inner-city children.” Wow! So living along side the cockroach is especially bad for those who suffer with allergies and asthma.
In case you didn’t know, cockroaches can be a household pest that comes in different types, but are typically brown with a flattened body and are quick, usually coming out when it is dark. Some interesting facts about them: they can live without food for about a month and two weeks without water. Some female cockroaches mate once and stay pregnant for life, producing upwards of 400 offspring! They can live for a week without its head, and they can run about three miles an hour according to Pest World! Cockroaches can also emit a smell and some even hiss. So are you grossed out yet? Needless to say, we do not want these pests around. One way to keep them away is to keep things clean as much as possible. Cockroaches love to feed on grease and garbage. So what can we do if they are already in our house and what can we use that is safe and effective to get rid of them? Well I may have just the recipe to becoming a cockroach-free home!
The best way to get rid of cockroaches, according to one wise old man that wanted to share his successful recipe with me, is by using the following:
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cups flour
- 1/3 cup Plaster of Paris (calcium sulfate)
- a paper bag
- an envelope
Directions:
Combine into a paper bag 1/3 cup of Plaster of Paris, (which is gypsum cement and is a white powder that will form into a paste when mixed with water), with 2/3 cups of flour. Shake well to mix. Pour the mixture into a letter size envelope and seal. Don’t lick it shut with your tongue. Cut one small corner off the envelope. Next pour the flour and Plaster of Paris combination out of the open corner where the cockroaches visit, possibly along a wall or wherever needed. The cockroaches smell the flour and eventually come to eat it and then returns back to their home. When the mixture is ingested by the cockroach, the Plaster of Paris hardens and the inevitable happens–goodbye cockroach! You can usually buy Plaster of Paris at any home improvement store. And as always, keep children and pets away when applying.
Breathing air without allergens is vital to good health!
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