🪳 How to completely eliminate cockroaches in your kitchen? A super detailed cockroach prevention guide for Hong Kong homes

Hong Kong people are no strangers to the term "xiaoqiang" (Little Cockroaches) – they are unexpected kitchen visitors, night marchers, and tenacious survival experts .
No matter you live in public housing, private buildings, tenement buildings, or even high-rise units, as long as there is food, water, and a crack, cockroaches will find a way to appear 🏠.
As the editor, I've compiled online tips, advice from pest control companies, and my own tried-and-true methods to teach you how to achieve **long-term 'zero cockroaches'** using a three-step approach: "Prevention 🛡 + Extermination 💣 + Blockage 🚪."

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1️⃣ Understand the types and characteristics of Hong Kong cockroaches

There are two main types of cockroaches commonly found in Hong Kong:

• German cockroach
  It is thin (about 1-2 cm), brown-yellow, and moves very quickly. It is most commonly found behind kitchen cabinets and appliances.
• American cockroach
  They are large (about 3-4 cm) and dark brown in color, and are often found at sewer openings, garbage rooms, and old stairwells.

🔍Habits focus :

• It likes warm, humid and dark places.
• They like to eat grease, starch, sweets, and even cardboard and plastic bags.
• It is nocturnal, hiding in crevices during the day and coming out to forage at night.
• The reproduction speed is fast, and one egg case can hatch 30-40 larvae.

📌The editor has something to tell you : If you turn on the light at night and see one or two, there may actually be dozens or even hundreds of them hiding in the dark behind them.

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2️⃣ Prevention: Prevent them from settling down

（A）Keep the kitchen absolutely clean

• 🍽Clean countertops and floors daily to avoid residual rice grains and oil stains.
• 🗑Seal the kitchen waste and pour it into the trash can downstairs before going to bed.
• 🧽Clean the range hood filter regularly , as grease is a favorite food for cockroaches.

(B) Cut off the water supply

• 💧 Dry the dishes before going to bed, and let the wet rags dry or put them in a sealed bag.
• 🔧 Repair dripping faucets and leaking pipes.
• 🪴 Do not allow water to accumulate in the saucer at the bottom of the flower pot.

(C) Block the entrance

• 🛠 Use insect-proof silicone to seal cabinet gaps, cracks in wall corners, and pipe openings.
• 🪤 Add an insect-proof net or odor-proof floor drain to the drain outlet.
• 🚪 Add windproof strips to the door gaps to reduce the risk of cockroaches crawling into the corridor.

📌Editor ’s note : Many old buildings in Hong Kong have interconnected sewer pipes. Even if your home is very clean, your neighbor’s cockroaches may “move in”, so sealing the seams is a long-term strategy.

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3️⃣ Destroy 💣: Use effective methods to "eradicate"

(A) Cockroach gel bait

• Common brands : Bayer (Maxforce), cockroach killing gel, Advion.
• Principle : cockroaches eat the drugged bait → return to the nest and die → their companions eat the corpse and become poisoned → a chain reaction of killing occurs.
• usage :
  • Squeeze into dark places such as cabinet corners, behind refrigerators, and under stoves.
  • Avoid placing it in direct sunlight or in a location where it can be easily washed away by detergent.
  • Check and refill every 1-2 months.

(B) Cockroach House (Sticky Board)

• Suitable for monitoring cockroach activity range.
• Disadvantages: Only a small part is stuck and the disease cannot be cured completely.

(C) Insecticide spray

• Good for instant kills, but doesn't solve the nest problem.
• Pay attention to food safety and ventilation when using.

📌Editor ’s experience : I used to only use spray, but the result was that I would “kill whatever I saw”, but the number kept increasing. Later, I added gel bait + sealing, and the number was significantly reduced.

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4️⃣ Block: Build a long-term defense

• 📅 Check the consumption of bait every month and replenish it in time.
• 🧼 Regularly clean the floor, including removing the refrigerator and cleaning the back of the washing machine.
• 🌬 Keep the kitchen dry and use a dehumidifier on humid days.
• 🛡 If the entire building is infested with insects, you can work with your neighbors to eliminate the pests together for a more lasting effect.

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5️⃣ Popular online remedies (with varying results)

• Baking soda + powdered sugar 🍬: Sugar attracts cockroaches, and baking soda will produce gas and cause death when it enters the body.
• Cucumber peel : It is said that the smell can repel cockroaches, but the effect is usually only short-lived.
• Tea leaves + mothballs : Limited insect repellent effect, more suitable for preventing ants.

📌Editor 's Note : Home remedies can only reduce the number of infestations, not completely eradicate them. For complete eradication, professional baits and seam sealing are a long-term solution.

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6️⃣ When should you hire a professional pest control company?

• 🪳 You often see cockroaches moving around during the day (which means there are a lot of them).
• 🏚 Cockroaches appeared in large numbers from the ceiling and wall cracks, and it is suspected that there are nests in the pipes throughout the building.
• 🧪 Tried medicated bait and sticky traps for several months but still no improvement.

Professional companies will use industrial-grade baits, fogging, or spraying, and help you identify the source of the insects. A single treatment can last for several months, but daily protection is still necessary.

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💡 Editor's Summary

To completely eliminate kitchen cockroaches in Hong Kong, you must:

1. Prevention : sealing, cleaning, cutting off water supply
2. Kill 💣: Bait as the main method, spray as the auxiliary method
3. Resistance : Long-term maintenance to prevent moisture recurrence

Simply put, killing them once does not mean permanent removal . Instead, you need to make the home environment "unfriendly" to cockroaches so that they will move away automatically🚫.