Can someone please help me ASAP with this cockroach?

February 26, 2020 10:46 PM

I’m really scared. Please help and please don’t be mean. I need to do something ASAP with this one cockroach . I’ve dealt with and killed and stalked many many cockroaches in the last two years and I hate it but I moved into another apartment in the same high rise. The day has come of my biggest fears moving here. There is one in my kitchen now that I’m not cut out for by my usual method. It’s the biggest I’ve seen in my life bigger than the ones by the boiler room which terrify me. I’m scared to chase it with paper towels because if it moves or moves towards me I think I’ll scream and shake in terror. I can’t sleep knowing it’s alive. I’m chronically ill and can’t walk much but I have a cvs a block away. Is there a spray that I can aim poison at it and will kill it instantly? I so scared to see it run or leap. I don’t know why it’s here I lived here 3 months and deliberately didn’t use the kitchen sink or cook and it doesn’t seem to be moving? I wonder if it’s weak and came here to die. I saw that once in my old apartment with a smaller roach anyway please help and please don’t link me to sites that say what to do they terrify me. Please just tell me. Thanks.
posted by Blitz to Home & Garden (40 answers total)

Do you have hairspray at home? I don't know of any insta-kill insect sprays, but coating insects in hairspray can glue everything together to the point of immobilization and then one can proceed. I'm sorry you're going through this.
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:53 PM on February 26, 2020 [5 favorites]

If you are in the greater LA area, dm me, I will come get rid of the cockroach
posted by moonlight on vermont at 10:57 PM on February 26, 2020 [35 favorites]

Response by poster: I don’t have any but thank you, I will consider that if another method doesn’t come up because I can go get some mega hold hairspray. So far it’s not moved for 35 minutes. Even when I walk right in front of it ( I saw taking a bunch of stuff out of the fridge when I saw it) which seems so weird since it’s 1am and they are usually so active at this time. I’m hoping it’s weak or dead.

I’m in Chicago but thank you!
posted by Blitz at 11:00 PM on February 26, 2020

You can pour boiling water on them and it kills them pretty much instantly I think. This may not be suitable though, if you can't pour boiling water on your floor.
posted by BeeJiddy at 11:01 PM on February 26, 2020 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: How many seconds like 3 or 20? Like will it start running and I won’t be able to spray it long enough to kill it and it will just come closer to my bedroom?
posted by Blitz at 11:02 PM on February 26, 2020

As a fellow person who is terrified of cockroaches, you have my deepest sympathy. Raid spray, as other commenters have suggested, should do the trick.
posted by all the light we cannot see at 11:02 PM on February 26, 2020 [5 favorites]

Raid spray, available at CVS, should kill the bug very quickly, but not instantly.

Do you have a super in your building who might help?

Not moving when you go by it strongly suggests that it is already dead or dying. Roaches don't normally just hang out when a human is nearby.

So sorry about this.
posted by praemunire at 11:03 PM on February 26, 2020 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Ok, thank you everyone for your help and sympathy. I will go get Raid now. I’m feeling hopeful.
posted by Blitz at 11:05 PM on February 26, 2020 [1 favorite]

Can confirm that wasp spray kills roaches and it comes out in a long stream so you can get it from a further distance.
posted by txtwinkletoes at 11:14 PM on February 26, 2020 [4 favorites]

Came in here to say wasp spray will have the reach.
posted by geoff. at 11:28 PM on February 26, 2020

For ongoing prevention, consider Advion cockroach bait.
posted by kdar at 11:29 PM on February 26, 2020 [1 favorite]

There is no cockroach in the world that will move after being crushed under a boot heel. Just stamp the fucker.
posted by flabdablet at 11:54 PM on February 26, 2020 [5 favorites]

Along the lines of the hair spray suggestion; I've always used aerosol furniture polish (Mr Sheen, do you have that in the US?) on spiders to avoid any jumping or running. Foams them in place.

A magazine or similar is also a lot better than paper towel. You don't need to be feeling any squishing.
posted by kitten magic at 12:41 AM on February 27, 2020

If you have an opportunity in the future, get a loooong broom or a vacuum cleaner with long reach to pick it up afterwards. It may help!
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 1:05 AM on February 27, 2020 [5 favorites]

If you can't bring yourself just to stomp the fucker, and you're looking for some kind of spray-based immobilizer, I strongly recommend a Super Soaker filled with very soapy water over any kind of pre-pressurized spray product. Little bastard will get no traction in a puddle of soapy water, which a decent water pistol will let you create around it with better accuracy at longer range than you'll ever achieve with an aerosol can.
posted by flabdablet at 1:51 AM on February 27, 2020 [2 favorites]

Here in giant cockroach country (Austin) I use a bottle of rubbing alcohol with a trigger sprayer on it. Set the spray pattern to a narrow stream and you can hit it from many feet away even if it's up on a wall. As long as you hit it good it will turn over and start to kick and die within a few seconds. The alcohol dries quickly and leaves no poisonous residue. I keep a bottle ready to go in the kitchen and the bathroom. If you have any pets, this won't harm them.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 2:10 AM on February 27, 2020 [35 favorites]

1. Have a dish towel or rag that you don't care about? Soak it in water, get over top of the cockroach and just drop the rag on it. Pick up the rag from the center-ish, wherever the roach is, ball it up and toss it in the trash. Take your trash out.

2. Have a heavy book? Bombs away!
posted by emelenjr at 4:17 AM on February 27, 2020 [3 favorites]

Can you please report back? I have second hand anxiety reading your post. Hope you had success!
posted by the webmistress at 5:14 AM on February 27, 2020 [20 favorites]

Not a great solution for the kitchen but for future reference, brake cleaner - the type you get at Autozone or whatever, to clean oily residue off brake friction surfaces - will kill any insect instantly. Like, melt the wings off a wasp mid-flight.
posted by notsnot at 5:30 AM on February 27, 2020

I feel your terror. Like a lot of folks said here, just get a can of Raid/Black Flag and hit the bugger straight on. He'll be dead in seconds, but it's nervous system will still continue to twitch, but it's dead.

I'm very roach-phobic, but I sense in you it's much deeper than that. Please go talk to someone about this.

Good luck.
posted by james33 at 6:22 AM on February 27, 2020 [2 favorites]

You can also immobilize/instantly kill them with a good spray of Scrubbing Bubbles.
posted by jgirl at 6:27 AM on February 27, 2020

Get the Raid, spray the fuck out of it, trounce it with your boot or a book until crushed, clean up the floor REALLY WELL bc I heard somewhere that they deposit eggs whey they get crushed 😵
posted by erattacorrige at 6:59 AM on February 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

Suck her live into your vacuum cleaner. She won't get out.
posted by hypnogogue at 7:00 AM on February 27, 2020 [4 favorites]

I hope everything turns out well for you and badly for the cockroach and would just suggest two things: (1) If you are not already doing this - please consider discussing treatment for anxiety and related issues with a medical professional. You say you're chronically ill so hopefully you already have someone your can talk to about this. Paralyzing fear of anything is not something anyone should have to live with.

(2) More broadly, this is an issue that your landlord or management company should be dealing with, not you by yourself. Especially if you're sick. Its not safe and there are laws requiring them to deal with this. Don't be alarmed, but cockroaches are not solitary creatures, so there are probably others. Your landlord or management company should send someone to your apartment to do a thorough inspection, put pesticide and/or traps in the right places and - this is most important - use a pest-resistant expanding foam spray to close off any openings in the walls around the sinks, drains, floorboards, behind the oven, electrical outlets and switches, etc. (If they don't do this you can do it yourself but practice first; the stuff expands more than you think.) Diatomaceous earth also works really well and is completely non-toxic. IfFinally if you have a cat be hyper-vigilant about keeping their food off the floor and the dish clean. Cat food is crack for cockroaches.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 7:04 AM on February 27, 2020 [12 favorites]

I know you already handled this but for future reference - I'm 3rding the vacuum solution! I am terrified of them too and I just attach the longest extension I can, bring it slowly to their position (while the vacuum is still off so the noise doesn't startle it to run away) and then once the end is about 2-3 inches away, flip the vacuum switch! Sucks it right up and you don't have to go near it or dispose of the body or spray chemicals around!
posted by WinterSolstice at 7:53 AM on February 27, 2020 [3 favorites]

Cockroaches are unpleasant, sure... but your post suggests VERY high anxiety levels.

You haven't cooked or even used your own kitchen sink for 3 months because of fear of roaches that you hadn't even seen? That is really disruptive and not healthy. You need to be able to cook and eat without fear! (Also, the water in the P-trap of your sink drain probably dried from not being used, which may actually be how the roach got in).

Listen, I've had anxiety, and I've had periods where I don't have anxiety, and I was raised with relatives who had absolutely disruptive, magical-thinking, life-altering anxiety. I know a lot about anxiety.

From experience, here is the truth: anxiety is no way to fucking live.

You deserve a better life than hiding from your own kitchen.

Please get treated for it. Your whole life will get better. Wishing you all the best.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 8:03 AM on February 27, 2020 [28 favorites]

Rubbing alcohol, in a spray bottle, set to stream, does the trick, but be careful, because rubbing alcohol is dangerously slippery. Note. The alcohol won't kill it immediately, unless you give it a good soaking, but I've never seen a roach that could survive more than two good blast.

Edit. I see someone already posted this. It's weird, because I stumbled upon this tactic, but it really does work. The hideous little beast have no resistance to the alcohol. They just stagger away, go antenna up, so to speak, curse their gods and die. Very satisfying.
posted by Beholder at 8:17 AM on February 27, 2020 [4 favorites]

I have a similar roach aversion to you, but probably not as strong. I would make one recommendation: those few seconds after you spray it, before it dies (it will be, 5 seconds at most but it will feel longer) are just going to be scary no matter what. THAT is the "gotta fight through" part. You can know it's going to work, and you can know that your problem will be solved at the end, but unless you can work up the nerve to stomp it there's not going to be a solution without that small window of uncertainty and it's OK for that to freak you out.

But yeah, gross as it may be, stomping is the most final and the quickest approach. Feeling it crunch give you some strong psychological signals that the motherfucker is dead.
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 9:13 AM on February 27, 2020 [4 favorites]

Brake cleaner and alcohol(hair spray has lots of alcohol) are extremely flammable. Most bug sprays are pretty flammable. If you have a very old stove with a pilot light, or if you smoke, use extreme caution, open a window to let things air out. Read the labels. I hate roaches and spiders, but fire is also scary.
posted by theora55 at 9:43 AM on February 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

I could never stomp a giant bug like that. It's not easy for some of us. Raid is great. But in a pinch, simply spraying it with ANY sprayable substance can work. Bugs like that get coated and can't do much but expire after that. In addition, it being out in the open and not scrambling around shows it's near death anyway.

I have experienced this and used so much Raid I had breathing problems after. Please let us know you are okay, if you can. Much sympathy to you.
posted by tiny frying pan at 9:46 AM on February 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

Nthing mega-hold hairspray for optimal insect immobilization if it's not a flying variety.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 11:55 AM on February 27, 2020

Has anyone suggested Windex? I hate spraying bug poison inside if I can help it and haven’t used hairspray since the 80’s but always have a bottle of the blue stuff around. It doesn’t kill them instantly, but it slows them waayyyyy down so you can throw an anvil at it or what have you. Good luck and let us know how things went.
posted by 41swans at 12:11 PM on February 27, 2020 [2 favorites]

Can you get a cat? Cats love to kill cockroaches. Also cats are adorable.
posted by oceanjesse at 12:46 PM on February 27, 2020 [7 favorites]

I’ve dropped mighty large textbooks on cockroaches before and it’s always been effective.

But really I am writing this because I need to know if it’s dead. Is it dead?!?!
posted by teamnap at 12:58 PM on February 27, 2020 [5 favorites]

I can vouch that the rubbing alcohol trick works on flies as well. I thought I invented it.

As far as roaches, we got an infestation of them in our old apartment a few years ago (after ten years of living there, they suddenly appeared.) We soon got a notice from our landlord that the pest control people were coming through. I'm not sure what all they did, I know they put some traps around (or possibly baits) which we were told not to disturb. They may have sprayed or done something else as well. All I know is I never saw another roach the entire time we lived there. So I would definitely get in touch with the landlord and let them take care of the larger issue.

Meanwhile, I am also hoping for an update. I have bug anxiety as well and roaches top the list.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 1:31 PM on February 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

If it makes you feel better, the giant scary ones are much less likely to infest. The little German ones (about 1, maybe 1.5 inches long) are the terrifying ones for that. If you see one German cockroach, there are hundreds more that you don't see. If you see one giant cockroach, chances are he's just passing through and didn't bring his friends and family.
posted by Weeping_angel at 3:33 PM on February 27, 2020 [3 favorites]

I just wanted to say good luck.
posted by sixswitch at 4:48 PM on February 27, 2020

Don't poison yourself or set the apartment on fire trying to eradicate the critters. No literal nuclear options, your neighbors will not approve.
Raid works.
Get the manager in pronto and get the place fumigated. This may take a while to get all potential critters.
Add some diatomaceous earth around the baseboards. Add roach traps if you can stand it.
Also looking for an update on the bug-free zone.
posted by TrishaU at 7:16 PM on February 27, 2020

Please let us know you made it!
posted by praemunire at 7:37 PM on February 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

One trick I learned when a bizarrely active and wily roach got into my apartment and took up residence under my bookshelf is that you can and should pen them in with duct tape if you're worried they're going to make a run for your bedroom/other place you don't want them to be. Just block the route out of the room they're in with strips of sticky-side-up duct tape. Then, if they do try to escape when you spray them, they get trapped on the tape and you can either continue spraying or squish them with less fear.
posted by snaw at 7:00 AM on February 28, 2020 [2 favorites]