Essential Oil Blend to Repel Cockroaches
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I’ve always wondered how to repel cockroaches naturally and I think I finally found my solution.
Where I live in the Canary Islands the weather is wonderful for humans but also for cockroaches, who absolutely love it. Since I was a little girl I’ve always been teary-eyed when it comes to insects dying (or any animal for that matter) and cockroaches are no different.
These ugly, brown, creepy-crawlers have also room in my heart. Last year I had an infestation of ants in the kitchen when living in Puerto de la Cruz and I spent all summer saving this pesky community from drowning, getting lost, getting stuck, being burnt, being killed by someone else, etc etc. It drove me crazy but I just couldn’t get rid of them and didn’t want to kill them.
Where I’m now in La Orotava cockroaches are the thing I’ve had to deal with (I had them in Puerto too but somehow they were under control). Well, at least there I could SEE them! In this transitory flat I have so many boxes from my moving to La Finca that I can’t really see the crawlers and so have to find a way to not kill them but also not have them.
Since my awakening I’m even more susceptible to crying when I see one of these creatures die. I also recently found out that if a cockroach has no head it won’t die immediately. Instead, it will live til it dies of thirst and hunger because it has no way of intaking food or water. This really broke my heart!! People are keen to hate them and kill them without any type of compassion (at least around me); everyone failing to see they are also creatures within their dream of life, they have rights like any other animal and we should (yes!) be kind to them. Does that mean allowing them into our homes to roam around freely? No (by the way our homes aren’t really ours, insects have been there before us so they belong more to them if you come to think about it).
But we can find kind, natural, loving and respectful ways of letting them know we unfortunately don’t want to be sharing our habitat with them.
So, since I’m keen on finding natural ways of living that don’t involve ANY type of cruelty what-so-ever, I was happy to find out I can use my wonderful essential oils to create a blend that can repel the creatures.
I looked here and here and came up with my own blend.
Essential Oil Diffuser Blend to Repel Cockroaches
Here’s what I’m adding to my essential oil blend:
- 1 part lavender essential oil (you can get it here)
- 1 part sweet orange essential oil (you can get it here)
- 1 part eucalyptus essential oil (you can get it here)
- 1 part peppermint essential oil (you can get it here)
Here’s a diffuser you’ll love if you haven’t got one.
I chose inexpensive essential oils as you probably won’t be using them for skincare as I do. I love the brand because it’s cheap and the oils have good reviews. They’re more than good enough for your diffuser and sprays.
1 part each means you would do equal amounts of each. So, for example, I’ll add 3 drops of each to my diffuser making it a total of 12 drops.
The goal is a roach-free home, and it looks like lavender, citrus, eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils are great for the task. I’m burning one right now as we speak (or as I write : ) )
Prefer a Spray Bottle?
At the moment I’m so busy moving I can only deal with burning essential oils into my diffuser but eventually I’ll have several spray bottles containing a mix of white vinegar together with essential oils to tackle different things (home cleaning, insect repellers, etc).
If you prefer to use a spray bottle over the areas then Brittney Morgan at Apartment Therapy recommends adding 10 drops of peppermint essential oil into a spray bottle with two parts water and one part white vinegar.
Because of the essential oils you should be using glass spray bottles (aff link) instead of plastic (well, and also for planetary reasons!).
**By the way, areas with cardboard boxes attract cockroaches as the material is organic which I think is the problem I’m having: “old boxes and piles of paper might not look edible to us, but roaches consider fibrous, organic materials a major food group. If you have a stack of boxes, especially if they’re sitting undisturbed in a dark space, you can be sure that roaches will find it attractive.” Source.
Amicable Co-Habitating in Different Areas
The idea is not to kill, but to enjoy different spaces. We humans are the real pest. I look around and see less and less green areas and more and more buildings. I watch as concrete destroys nature, turning green areas into grey areas, colonies of human beings multiplying and spreading like any disease does, taking over every little corner of the world without too much contemplation.
Cockroaches, like an entourage, just follow behind.
