How to Get Rid Of Roaches in Your Car

You can imagine the horror of having roaches fly out of your vents when you were just beginning to enjoy a long drive in your car.  It is not a rare occurrence to have cockroaches in your car. In fact, it’s one of the most common roach infestations nowadays and if this happens to you, you must be at your wit’s end trying to deal with it.

In our post today, we will be delving much deeper into the issue, establishing why you might be having a roach infestation outside your house and basically giving you a few tips and tricks on how to get rid of roaches in your car.

Why Are There Roaches in Your Car?

The most basic reason why roaches live and breed in your car is that there is an ample supply of food. For this to happen, you must be eating out of your car every once in a while.

Most times we are so caught with life that we forget to clean up any spills or leftovers that may be in the car after we are done eating. The food wrappers, soda cans and grease you leave in your car is precisely why roaches will find it as a suitable environment.

It doesn’t have to be a big mess that attracted these creatures, maybe you dropped a piece of chips once under your seat after a quick run to the drive through, or a few crumbs fell off as you were trying to enjoy your lunch.

Either way, it doesn’t mean that you are a messy person to have roaches in your car, even the tiniest of crumbs will do the trick, especially if you live in areas where roaches are common.

The worst part? Roaches can eat just about anything for survival. This means that they will feed off paper and cardboard in the car as well. When it comes to proper elimination, you will have to declutter as much as you can to cut off any food supply they might have.

Establishing that You Have Roaches in Your Car

You might have seen one or two roaches scurry by, but does this mean that there is an infestation in your car?

The only way to ascertain this is by giving your car a good looking over. Chances are, you will either find more hiding out or a nest that definitely confirms your worst fears.

You can start off with checking under your car hood, on the floor, under mats, carpets, seats, and sills. The next time you are at your local car wash, request for the steam cleaning under the car hood, which not only flushes out any dirt built up, but also any roaches that may be hiding out in there.

Good Roach Elimination Ideas

Before we cover what you should not do when it comes to dealing with roaches, how about a few good ideas that will get rid of these disgusting creatures off your car completely?

Before you start on any elimination plan, it’s important that you keep your car clean. Vacuum regularly, declutter and always dispose of any food wrappers or garbage in the car. We recommend taking out the floor mats and seat covers to ensure that you are able to deep clean even the hidden areas and take off any stains.

Use a deodorizer or disinfectant on the fabrics in your car, which leaves such a pleasant scent; roaches cannot survive in areas with such scents, so they have to leave.

It’s not such a bad idea to stop eating from your car; it’s a small price to pay if you want to keep using your car without worrying about pests.

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Roach Baits

This is one of those effective methods that are also quite useful in case of home infestations. Once a roach comes in contact with the bait, it can either ingest or take some back to the nest. Any roaches that eat the bait succumb to death. The best part is always that the rest may feed on the dead roaches which also leads to their death.

We recommend placing your baits on small disposable plates, which are easy to move whenever you are in the car. You should keep these baits away from the reach of your children and pets since they are a health hazard, and remove them each morning.

The baits work better if you place them at the back of the car at night; under seats and along floorboards. They may not work as fast, so you need to be patient, for at least a couple of months.[thrive_megabutton mt=”Check Price on” st=”Amazon.com” color=”blue” link=”https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0049I6CT2/?tag=roachexpert08-20″ target=”_blank” align=”center”]

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Roach Traps

If you are not sure of the extent of the roach infestation in your car, roach traps come in handy. The number of roaches that are caught in the traps should give you an idea of what exactly you are dealing with; the roach species, level of infestation and the high traffic areas. This will help you plan for the best elimination technique to use.

Sometimes roach baits are just not enough to deal with the roaches on their own, and you need a reinforcement. You can also use roach traps to create a more powerful combination with the baits and speed up the process. The most effective, non-toxic and affordable trap you can use is a glue trap.[thrive_megabutton mt=”Check Price on” st=”Amazon.com” color=”blue” link=”https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XXGDSYM/?tag=roachexpert08-20″ target=”_blank” align=”center”]

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Roach Sprays

If you have just started noticing one or two roaches crawling about, you can first buy a roach spray to keep in your car and use whenever you spot one. This is not a very effective method given that you will be killing one roach at a time, which can be quite time consuming.

Also, keep in mind that you are spraying a toxic substance in a confined area, so it’s best to keep the windows open to avoid inhaling the chemicals.

If you are not a fan of the commercial sprays, you can try out dish soap, which works just as well. Fill a spray bottle with three parts water and one part dish soap and keep the bottle in your car in case you spot a roach roaming around.

This soap works by coating a roach’s skin, which covers their pores and affects their breathing, causing them to suffocate instantly.[thrive_megabutton mt=”Check Price on” st=”Amazon.com” color=”blue” link=”https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BOCDXW/?tag=roachexpert08-20″ target=”_blank” align=”center”]

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Hiring Exterminators

These are professionals trained to deal with all kinds of roach infestation, even in the car. Before you opt for roach exterminators, ensure that you have all other methods first and ascertained that none worked.

Exterminators can be quite expensive and unless you have a budget for this, then it’s not an option for you. If you go ahead and call them, they might either ask you to take the car to their premises for examination, or they can make the trip to wherever you are.

After a thorough examination, they are then able to come up with different techniques they deem would be suitable for your situation.

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What’s Not to Use When Eliminating Roaches from Your Car

There are basic roach elimination methods that most people will recommend, which have previously worked for them when getting rid of roaches in the house.

Well, what may have worked in a house may not necessarily work for your car. We do not recommend techniques such as using bug bombs in the car because there is a high chance that you will inhale the residue the next time you are in the car.

Powders such as diatomaceous earth and boric acid may also seem like a very good idea, but we highly advise against it. This is because when you turn your heat or a/c on, you will only blow the powder into the tiny spaces in the car, which are hard to clean and you may end up inhaling them. This could be quite harmful to your health.

You might have heard that roaches die from the summer heat, so you should leave your car parked in the sun all day. This is not necessarily true and does not work because roaches are nocturnal and only come out at night.

Roach Prevention Tips and Tricks

When you finally succeed in getting rid of roaches from your car, you just don’t stop there. At the end of the day, you do not want these creatures coming back and bringing untold misery in your life. There are a few tips you can use to keep roaches at bay.

We already mentioned how vital it is to keep your car clean. You need to ensure that there is nothing in your car that can attract these creatures, which means no clutter, food grease or spills.

This brings us to the point that you should stop eating from your car, as much as it was part of your lifestyle. You can never be too careful with this as just one crumb of food is enough to have roaches crawling back.

Wrapping It Up

There is nothing more frustrating than having a roach infestation in your car. But if you handle the elimination right and fast, you can get rid of these creatures easily and forget about the whole ordeal.

You need to thoroughly clean up your car before setting up any roach traps and baits. It’s important that you focus on preventative measures such as not eating from your car, to ensure you keep these creatures away for a long time.

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