Cockroaches outta my darkroom!

[arigram]

I do not like to share my darkroom with those pesterous critters.
There are so many products that claim that do the job but I don't really trust them. Any ideas?

 

[Dimitri]

Ari, it depends on the type of cockroach. If they are the common variety (large, black) then traps could do the trick, or even better spraying the floor and the door openings. It does work and will keep the place free for a month or more.

If on the other hand they are of the imported variety (american blond - light colored small sized), then you are in trouble. They are very difficult to exterminate and they resurface very quickly.

If things get too bad, go to a shop and ask for the stink bombs (μπομπάκια). Make sure that all openings are securely sealed and then ignite one and keep the room closed for 2-3 days. Then ventilate very well. Of course you can only do this if the darkroom is in a separate part of the house, since the fumes from the stink-bomb are poisonous.

 

[SuzanneR]

Boric Acid.

 

[shyguy]

use them to your advantage. catch them, glue rods to their backs and use them and dodging tools.

S.

 

[clogz]

Get a digicam, take pics of the critters and then show them the results on the display. They won't return.

Hans

 

[Jim Chinn]

As already stated if you use a fogging bug bomb make sure that you leave some windows open and if you have appliances with pilot lights you might want to turn the pilots off. Here in Omaha someone did not open windows and used one two many of the bombs in an older house and the pilot ignited the concentration. The house exploded and was destroyed.

 

[arigram]

As already stated if you use a fogging bug bomb make sure that you leave some windows open and if you have appliances with pilot lights you might want to turn the pilots off. Here in Omaha someone did not open windows and used one two many of the bombs in an older house and the pilot ignited the concentration. The house exploded and was destroyed.

Hot damn!
I want to get rid of them, but not to the point blowing up the building!

Thank you for your replies.
It is not an infestation or any dire problem, it is very rare that I will find one or two per year (the large dark red or black ones), but I admit that I have a phobia of them and when I do find one it creates quite a problem.
I imagine those methods are incase they have nested inside, but I believe they just happen to come along the drain pipes that once or twice a year and usually a single one.
Is there a device to keep them at bay?

And I have extensive dodging tools thank you, I don't think I would like to dodge with a cockroach. The shape isn't that helpful...

And I don't own a digicam.

 

[Bob F.]

And I have extensive dodging tools thank you, I don't think I would like to dodge with a cockroach. The shape isn't that helpful...

no, but their wriggling on the stick will prevent hard edges... OK, sorry, now I've made myself squirm... Akkk....

I suspect one of the sticky traps placed where they may enter will do the trick or block up any gaps around pipes etc with expanded polystyrene foam spray.

Bob.

 

[Dimitri]

Ari, I get the same problem at home. One or two every now end then. What I do is spray Baygon (or similar brand) down the drain and this stops them for a month or so. Unfortunately, if you do not fumigate the communal spaces (stairway, entrance, boiler room) they will keep appearing (you only need to fumigate once a year, but then you cannot use water for 72 hours, so unless you are away from the house for a long weekend, it is a waste of money) . They seem to multiply in the sewers and when they find an opening they surface and become a nuisance.

 

[arigram]

My darkroom is a seperate room on top of the roof of the appartment building that used to be a wash room in the past (the building dates before WWII) so Dimitri you would know what it is like.

 

[Jim Chinn]

I have had problems with ants and have used baits that the ants take back to the nest from a packet and then kills them there. Has done the trick with ants so perhaps a similar product would work in your case.

 

[Loose Gravel]

Another vote for boric acid, sometimes marketed as Roach Prufe. It sure worked like a champ at my friends house in San Diego. I hear the crystals scratch their exo-skeleton and then they absorb water. This kills them. When I build walls around my house, I leave boric acid in the walls. This keeps the ants to a minimum.

 

[arigram]

Ok, how do you use boric acid (assuming I can find it over here)?

 

[SuzanneR]

It comes in a powder form, and you put it by the door, maybe along the edges of the walls and floors. Years ago, I lived in a roach infested dorm in Brooklyn, NY when I was in college, and it really worked. Nothing else came close!

 

[colrehogan]

EWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jmdavis]

Ari,

Cockroaches are bad, finding a snake skin is worse for me. Particularly when I found it over the door of my darkroom (that part has an unfinished though enclosed ceiling.

Mike

 

[eric]

Ari,

Cockroaches are bad, finding a snake skin is worse for me. Particularly when I

What will work with spiders? I found a black widow on my patio last week. I'm sure this is something under my enlarger table.

 

[skahde]

Hi ari,

maybe this link is helpfull http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IG105

best

Stefan

 

[juan]

Again, boric acid.

Florida is the palmetto bug (as we call them here) capital of the world. In addition to the other suggestions, take off the covers from your light switches, electrical outlets, etc,. and put a couple of spoonfuls of boric acid into each. That gets the ones crawling in the walls.
juan

 

[kswatapug]

Bump the boric acid. One of my former hats was overseeing a housing area infested with roaches. We're talking turn on the lights to find the kitchen counters covered with a living rug that evaporated before your eyes. We took advantage of a remodel (walls off) to sprinkle boric acid between each stud in every room. Never saw another one. So Juan's advice of removing all the switchplate covers is a good start. If you can go so far as getting into the framing of the room, even better.

 

[blackmelas]

Ok, how do you use boric acid (assuming I can find it over here)?

Hey Ari,
You should be able to find boric acid at a good geoponos and it should be the least harmful to you. We often use it in the museum in Ancient Corinth for 'lesser' infestations. If we have greater infestation, i.e. rats, snakes, pine martens, and coachroaches, then we bring in the poison guys.
Best of luck,
James

 

[arigram]

Is boric acid in greek "βορικό οξύ" ?
Thank you all guys, I will enter into the offensive as soon as I am armed!

(boric acid is not known to b explosive when it is combined with Rodinal is it?)

 

[Dimitri]

Is boric acid in greek "βορικό οξύ" ?
Thank you all guys, I will enter into the offensive as soon as I am armed!

(boric acid is not known to b explosive when it is combined with Rodinal is it?)

Ari, I think you have to ask for it as "βόρακα", but I don't know about the packaging

In one site I saw it being offered in 5 kilo bags, which should last you for quite some time (and make you very unpopular in the cockroach kingdom )

 

[arigram]

At first I though of sticking the heads of cockroaches around the room as a warning to the others but maybe they wouldn't get it...

 

[Philippe-Georges]

Dear Arigram,
You would not belive it but, again, try Ballistol!
Yes, I am rerepeatingy myself but this time, again, I tried it and it worked.
Ballistol is not going to kill them but they do not like the smell.
This product allso exist in aerosols, so spray them out.