Roach bombing your house is a cost-friendly DIY alternative if you have a serious infestation. However, it should be done with precaution because it can be a potential threat to you and your pets at home.
For a roach bomb to work, it has to come into contact with the bugs. Keep everyone out of the house including pets, identify the roach hideouts, then bomb them with precision. Keep the bombed area air-tight for 4 hours. After that, open all doors and windows for at least 3 hours to aerate the house before you let anyone or pets back. Â
Roaches multiply fast and are challenging to control because of their persistence. Once you see their eggs or baby roaches in your house, you know there is an infestation. Killing them immediately is your best option. But professional roach extermination can be expensive.
How to bug bomb a house for roaches
House bombing, also called fogging, is an ideal roach control method that you can perform to exterminate cockroaches from your property. However, the foggers must contact the roaches’ bodies to kill them. If you apply the right bomb roach as directed, you will curb the roach infestation.
Bug bombing controls roaches, provided the product touches the cockroaches’ bodies. The wrong application causes health hazards and fire incidences. Knowing how to bomb a house is vital to prevent such problems. Below are the best practices to follow when fogging your home or apartment:
1. Read the label and follow the instructions
While most bombs have similar application methods, they usually have specific instructions and warnings worth noting. Ignoring instructions and precautions is the primary cause of health effects resulting from the wrong usage.
Labels contain vital information like how long to wait for the product before entering a bombed room, how much of the product you will need for each room, the method of application, and precautions. Before using the product, carefully read the label for all the guidelines.
2. Cover foods, surfaces, and other items
Pesticide particles fall on surfaces during the application, leaving residues on them. The particles are harmful when ingested and irritate the skin. Covering surfaces and keeping foodstuffs prevents them from contacting the pesticides particles, which can be dangerous when consumed.
Before turning on the bomb roach, wrap the kitchen countertops, sinks, upholstered pieces of furniture, and your children’s toys. Keep all the dishes away, including your pet’s bowls. Store foodstuffs in the pantry and lock them in.
3. Turn off ignition sources
The pesticides particles from bomb roaches are highly flammable and can quickly spark if naked fire sources are nearby. To avoid fire breakout when using the bomb roach, you must turn off fire ignition sources such as candles, fireplaces, and furnaces.
Electronic devices and appliances can also cause a fire if particles fall on them. Unplug all electronic devices and appliances to prevent any potential sparks that can cause a fire. Keep bomb roaches six feet away from the appliances for more safety.
4. Open closets, cabinets, and cupboards
Roaches love warm, humid, dark, hideous spaces they can fit into. As such, they hide in cupboards, cabinets, and closets. Applying a bomb roaches with closed hot points doesn’t expose most of them, making the treatment less effective.
To get the most out of the bombing, open these places to uncover the roaches. Opening the cupboards, cabinets, and closets ensures the pesticide particles reach those areas to kill the bugs they contact.
5. Inform your friends, family, and neighbors
House bombing houses next to each other can be dangerous if the neighbors are unaware of the activity. Often, apartment units share walls and ventilation systems. Suppose there are crevices and cracks between the units; the pesticide particles can easily pass from the treated house to the nearby ones.Â
Particles spreading to untargeted areas could cause a fire if there were naked flames in the neighboring unit.
Before the bombing, let your neighbors know of it. They can unplug their appliances and turn off ignition sources to prevent hazardous fires and health-related issues.
Informing your family and friends about your bombing will help them stay away from the house, so they are not affected by the dangerous air from the bomb roach.
6. Close the doors and windows and turn off air conditioners
The bomb roach works effectively when its particles are confined in a room. If you leave the doors and windows open, the particles will spread outside, leading to wastage.
Before turning on the bomb roach, close all the doors and windows. Air conditioners such as fans blow away the pesticide particles and can clog them in their system. Turn them off before turning on the bomb roach.
7. Set the bomb roach at the center of the rooms
After all the preparations, place the foggers at strategic points and turn them on to bomb the house. Each room to be treated must have its bomb roach, and it’s advisable to use the correct size for each to avoid wastage and explosion from excess particles.
By now you should have known which size is suitable for each room. If you are disinfecting a story building, set the bomb roach from the rooms upstairs coming downwards. Start from rooms further from the exit, moving to ones near the entrance.
Now set the bomb roach to sit at the center of each room, preferably on a flat, sturdy surface. When set, turn on the bomb roaches.
8. Leave the house immediately
Vacate the house as soon as you turn on the foggers. Kids, pets, and family members should be out of the house. Restrict movement into the house until the specified time has passed. Refer to the label for the waiting time.
9. Ventilate the house
Return to your home after the waiting time has elapsed and immediately open the doors and windows for airflow. Air out the house for about one hour before settling in. The same should be done when a car is bombed for roaches. Ii should be left in the open for every particle to escape.
10. Clean the surfaces
Pesticide residues fall on the uncovered surfaces, and you have to clean them to make the house safe. Strip the countertops and surfaces you had covered and dispose of the covers. Mop the floors to remove residues and wipe the exposed surfaces thoroughly with a disinfectant.
Throw the exposed clothes, sheets, and linens in the washer and let them get cleaned thoroughly before use. Wash the dishes to make them safe before use.
Recommended roach bombs
Choosing the right roach bomb to treat a roach infestation can be challenging. You are spoiled with vast choices, but the fear of choosing the wrong one can be overwhelming. You don’t have to worry. Below are the three best roach bombs you can choose from to manage your infestation:
1. PCO Products Pyrethrin Fogger Bomb
PCO Products Fogger Bomb contains Pyrethrin and Dicarboximide as the active ingredients. You can effectively use it to eliminate roaches, fleas, ants, weevils, and flying insects from homes, schools, warehouses, hospitals, hotels, motels, and kennels.
One unit of PCO Pyrethrin fogger treats roaches from a room size of 5000 cubic feet.
PCO Products Pyrethrin Fogger Bomb pros
· Kills several insects
· Moderate coverage
PCO Products Pyrethrin Fogger Bomb cons
· Requires multiple applications to kill the roaches completely
2. Hot Shot Fogger6 With Odor Neutralizer
Hot Shot Fogger contacts and kills pests such as roaches, crickets, firebrats, fleas, gnats, tiny flying moths, spiders, and waterbugs. Each can cover up to 2000 cubic feet of a room or space.
It is safe for use in apartments, garages, homes, sheds, storage areas, and basements. This product is highly effective and will control roaches for up to two months after application. Â
The liquid is clear, non-staining, and doesn’t leave white residues on surfaces. Hot Shot Fogger mist can effectively penetrate through cracks and crevices to kill the roaches.
Hot Shot Fogger6 With Odor Neutralizer pros
- It doesn’t leave a white, messy residue
- Can kill roaches from cracks and crevices
- It kills many insects
- Favorable price to buyers
- Controls pests for a longer time
Hot Shot Fogger6 With Odor Neutralizer cons
- No IGR
3. Raid Concentrated Deep Reach Fogger
Raid Concentrated Deep Reach Fogger kills roaches, ants, and spiders. The product stays around for two months while killing the pests. It can penetrate cracks and crevices to reach hidden roaches to kill them.
Additionally, Raid concentrate leaves no white, messy residues. A second application is necessary after 14 days to kill hatched roaches’ eggs.Â
Raid Concentrated Deep Reach Fogger pros
- Leaves no white residues
- Controls the pests for longer
- Can penetrate cracks and crevices to kill hidden roaches
Raid Concentrated Deep Reach Fogger cons
- It has a strong, choking odor
- Requires two applications
How long do you have to leave the house for a roach bomb?
For most bomb roaches, you have to stay out of the house for at least 4 hours. The minimum duration you should leave the house is 2 hours while the maximum is 5 hours. However, this depends on the type of fogger used. Â
This duration is to allow the foggers to kill the roaches and protect yourself from pesticides particles, which can be detrimental to your health.
Always check the bomb roach label for the waiting time the manufacturer recommends. Every roach bombers have a list of precautions and instructions on how to use it. Where to and when not to. It is extremely important to follow those and never ignore a single word of advice on the label.Â
What to do before you roach bomb a house?
Although roach bombing is relatively straightforward, there are vital things you must do prior to the activity to ensure safety and good product usage. Here are the critical activities to do before roach bombing your house.
1. Read the product’s label
Refer to the label first to know vital information such as waiting period, application method, and coverage. Labels also show the precautions to take before and when using the product to prevent harmful effects.
2. Cover food items and surfaces
Pesticides particles can be dangerous if you touch or ingest the residues from surfaces. To protect surfaces from the residues, cover them using newspaper or plastic. The countertops, sinks, your kids’ toys, and pet’s bowls are sensitive areas to check.
3. Remove ignition sources
Pesticides are highly flammable and can quickly spark a fire. Remove all naked fire sources such as candles, fireplaces, and furnaces. Unplug electronic devices and appliances.
4. Open closets, cupboards, and cabinets
Closets, cabinets, and cupboards are excellent spots in the house where roaches hide. If you leave them closed, the bomb roach won’t penetrate those places to kill the cockroaches. For more effectiveness, open all the closets and cabinets.
5. Inform your neighbors
Let your neighbors know you are bombing roaches so they can unplug their appliances and turn off ignition sources to prevent fire incidents from the spread of pesticides particles.
References
· Purdue University: Household and structural roaches
· Iowa State University: Cockroaches and “The Bomb.