If you have ever seen a cockroach or you suspect that some are hanging around your house, your first course of action is to look for a natural and easy solution to help you deal with these annoying insects before you contact a pest control service.
Can you use peppermint oil to eliminate these pesky roaches?
Well, you need to know a few things first before you even begin to wipe down every nook and corner in your house with this essential oil.
How to Use Peppermint Oil as a Cockroach Repellant
Peppermint oil is a super easy-to-use cockroach repellant in your house. While this is not really a foolproof method, you will love the fact that it is relatively cheap and you can also try to experiment with it to determine what will work best for your problem.
The good news is that you don’t need fancy equipment to get started. All you have to do is mix water and 10 to 15 drops of pure peppermint oil in a spray bottle. Afterwards, you can spray this solution generously on the counters, walls, as well as other surfaces and areas where you have noticed or suspect cockroach activity. Just take note that this is already enough for deterring roaches at least in the meantime.
Another good alternative to this peppermint oil spray is to wet some cotton balls with water and peppermint oil and put these along walls, in closets, or cupboards.
You just need to apply it again rather frequently to ensure that the fragrance will not wear off soon. Since roaches are nocturnal, your best option is to apply it again every night before going to bed. This way, once the roaches go out during nighttime when they are most active, the peppermint oil repellent will also be at its strongest state.
If you want a stronger solution, you could try mixing in some amount of vinegar. You can expect a strong scent from this mixture. To prepare it, use two parts water and one part vinegar and mix in 10 to 15 drops of peppermint oil. Once combined, you can start spraying away. Don’t hesitate to spray in your pantry and cabinets, your bathroom, as well as other places in your home where roaches are not welcome.
One useful tip to remember is that if you are also using other baits for killing cockroaches, you must avoid spraying peppermint oil on these baits. You might assume that it will increase the effectiveness of your baits. However, since peppermint oil is a type of insect repellent, the roaches will be convinced instead to stay away from the baits. You could try using the baits and peppermint oil at the same time but you need to apply these in separate spots of your house. This also applies to traps. You will want to place baits in the traps instead of a repellent such as peppermint oil.
How Peppermint Oil Repels Roaches
If there is one thing for sure, it is that peppermint gives off quite a strong smell. This is a rather refreshing fragrance and one that is very potent and unmistakable.
Is this smell enough to make roaches run? Yes, it is and some studies suggest just that.
One study tested mint oil and its effects on two of the most common roach species, the German roaches, and American roaches.
The researchers were surprised to discover what is great news for millions of homeowners in the world searching for an easy, natural, and safe way of repelling roaches.
During the experiment, mint oil was able to repel all the cockroaches which is a quite significant and remarkable result.
This is also big news for those who are facing a serious roach problem but are nervous or hesitant to use harmful chemicals or those who are not yet prepared or willing to get in touch with a professional pest control service.
The best thing about peppermint oil is that it poses very little risk to kids and pets although you have to ensure that they don’t ingest it. Peppermint oil also comes with yet another exciting benefit: it can freshen up the whole room right away.
What is even more interesting is the fact that there is more to peppermint oil than just repelling cockroaches.
Will Peppermint Oil Kill Cockroaches?
Peppermint oil not only acts as a natural repellent for roaches but this also happens to be toxic not only to roaches but even for bed bugs.
The same study discovered that peppermint oil was able to kill both American and German cockroaches once they came into contact with this for a long period.
Why is Peppermint Oil Toxic to Cockroaches and Insects?
Research revealed that menthone, a compound that is the same as menthol, is the specific ingredient in peppermint oil that makes it a potential killer of roaches. Menthone is a compound responsible for the minty fragrance of mint oil and this can be found in the oils of almost all common and popular mint plants.
What is the implication of this for your pest control system? The not-so-good news is that you might not be able to kill off a lot of roaches using peppermint oil. The roaches observed in the experiment were constantly exposed to this oil.
In normal circumstances, roaches are just too quick to experience any effect with brief contact. Also, since mint oil is a type of repellent, the roaches will probably avoid it as much as possible. They will do this because the scent of peppermint oil is a poison for them.
All of these mean that it would require more constant physical exposure to kill the roaches than you will likely get with using a spray bottle.
If you want to repel roaches that are lurking in your home, now is the time for you to use peppermint oil to your advantage to keep these annoying insects at bay.
