Is There A Way To Get Rid Of Cockroaches Overnight?

If you happen to see signs of a cockroach infestation in your home, you want to figure out how to get rid of these unwanted pests as quickly as possible. You probably would prefer a solution where you could go to bed at night and wake up the next day free of these filthy insects. Unfortunately, the likelihood of any particular treatment being able to instantly eliminate these pests is very small. You may be able to deploy methods that help you get rid of cockroaches forever, but it almost certainly will not happen instantly. No overnight guaranteed solution exists that kills 100% of roaches.

There are techniques available to eliminate the vast majority of your roaches with an initial treatment option, but it may take several days or weeks for a complete elimination, rather than happening overnight. In fact, after you deploy a strong treatment application yourself or with the help of a pest exterminator, you may see live roaches more often than you did before the application. This actually is normal — the insects may be looking for ways to escape the location of the treatment or they may be disoriented because of the chemicals in the treatment.

It's important to understand that it can take more than a few hours to actually kill the cockroaches after they come into contact with common treatment options. It can take up to 72 hours for adults to die after contact with boric acid, for example.

If an overnight elimination of cockroaches isn't a realistic option — even for professional pest control — how quickly can you get rid of these pests with the help of an exterminator? Unfortunately, cockroaches are among the most difficult insects to kill, thanks in part to their flat bodies that allow them to hide in crevices and out-of-the-way places that are tough to reach with treatment methods and chemicals. 

You should see a significant reduction in the total roach population after the exterminator performs an initial treatment application. However, even when the pros are treating the infestation, it can take weeks or months to completely remove them from your property. If you see live insects moving slowly in the several days after the treatment, it usually means these insects are actively dying. At this point, you do not need to spray them yourself. However, you can crush any of these insects to speed up the process. You then should vacuum or sweep any bodies of dead cockroaches that you see, as these bodies may attract other pests if left alone.

Often, an exterminator's poisons and sprays will continue to work well after the pest control expert leaves your home. However, depending on the level of your infestation, it's possible that the exterminator will schedule multiple visits to your home, just to make sure that additional treatments are not required over the ensuing weeks and months for newly hatched eggs.

Unless you are able to find every cockroach that's inside your home and crush every insect in the entire infestation — which is impossible — you cannot eliminate these pests overnight on your own, either. However, there are some treatment methods you can try to remove these pests from your home quickly. Understand, because these pests are great at hiding and may have hundreds or thousands of eggs also in hiding, it's incredibly difficult for you to eliminate a large infestation on your own. That's why many people hire an exterminator.

You can purchase over-the-counter solutions at your local hardware store to try to control cockroaches. The fastest-acting treatment options include foggers and aerosol sprays. The fogger works better when you cannot see the insects because they are hiding, but you do need to use foggers carefully, precisely following the directions on any product. You also could put out a gel bait or a sticky trap that could catch these insects as they move around your home. Again, always follow any directions for usage with these items to keep your family and pets safe.

If you prefer trying some products you may already have in your home, boric acid is effective, although it doesn't work instantly. You may want to create a bait that consists of a mixture of boric acid and sugar that will entice the insect to eat it and carry it back to the nest.