There is nothing pleasant about finding roaches in the refrigerator. It is both unsanitary and not safe for your health since cockroaches can spread various diseases and bacteria on your food. If you notice one pesky pest in your fridge, this is the high time to take measures. Don’t leave roaches to their fate and let them spoil your food and mood. Instead, read my detailed guide on how to eliminate these insects and never meet them again.
Guide on How to Get Rid of Roaches in Refrigerator
- Inspect your fridge for any signs of roaches.
- Clean it thoroughly with a food-grade, non-toxic cleaner.
- Seal the cracks around your house.
- Use glue traps, baits, or insecticidal dust and monitor the progress.
- Avoid any pesticides in the liquid form.
Why are there roaches in the refrigerator?
Cockroaches have their roots in tropical or subtropical areas. Before they came to your fridge, they had gotten used to warm favorable conditions. Therefore, the motor compartment of your refrigerator might seem like a hospitable environment to them.
Regardless of whether you keep your fridge in order, or it is somewhat cluttered, you can see a fridge cockroach nest. However, they prefer dark and humid areas with grime over sanitary ones.
Cockroaches can eat various things such as meat, candies, leather, and even wallpaper paste. They can even feed on other roaches. They leave excrements and saliva on the food, as well as a repulsive odor.
How can they enter your refrigerator?
There are several ways these pests can get into the refrigerator. Since you can fix some of them on your own, let’s view these entrance points:
- Gaps in the door. Even if you close the door tightly each time you take food out of the fridge, insects still can get inside if the rubber seal is loose;
- Cracks and crevices in the outer shell. Cockroaches can enter your fridge from its back or underside components if there is a minor opening.
The cold doesn’t scare these pests since they can survive the low temperatures. Their egg sacs can preserve for a couple of months at 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
How to get them out of there
Though you might think that leaving your refrigerator without food for some time can help you get rid of pests, alas, I have the bad news for you. Roaches can survive an entire month without food and a week without a single water drop. Thus it is essential to know the effective methods to eliminate them once and for all.
Here are more details on how you can turn your refrigerator into an unattractive place for cockroaches. I’ve compiled step-by-step instructions that will guide you on the way to the fridge without roaches.
Step 1: Inspect your fridge carefully
First, you should do a thorough visual inspection of your kitchen device and the areas that surround it. You might need to pull it out from against the wall and look underneath it: Roaches commonly hide there. If you find any cockroaches nearby, you should identify the enemy to understand which species you’re dealing with.
Step 2: Do thorough cleaning
This is when you need to apply certain efforts to ensure the refrigerator is completely “insectless.” Clean any food particles you see to prevent them from building up. If you find any egg cases on the refrigerator surface, you should remove and destroy them. This is the exact sign you deal not with an occasional guest but with an entire infestation.
Sanitize the inside of your fridge afterward. Ensure that the cleaner you apply doesn’t feature a strong scent and is food-grade. Don’t forget to empty the pan that serves as a collector for condensed water beneath your refrigerator.
Step 3: Seal the cracks
I advise you to inspect not only the refrigerator but the kitchen area and the entire house and look for any cracks larger than an ⅛ inch. If you find them, seal them with the proper caulking. Seal any gaps around the electrical outlets by applying caulk to them.
Step 4: Place sticky traps to catch roaches
If you want to use insecticides inside the fridge, it’s better to restrain yourself from doing it. It can significantly harm your health. I advise putting traps around the fridge to cope with the infestation. Their working principle is as follows: When roaches step on a sticky trap, they cannot escape. Alternatively, you can place cockroach repellents without toxins in the chosen spots.
Step 5: Check the traps daily
Monitor the traps you have put into strategic spots on a daily basis. Their sticky surface will immobilize roaches. Check the progress every day. You can remove the traps if you don’t find pests there any longer.
Nota bene: Avoid liquid pesticides
Optionally, you can replace glue traps with non-liquid pesticides. The reason to avoid any pesticides in the liquid form is that they can short out the motor of the device and damage the coils. If you don’t want to place traps around your house for some reason, you can use dust or bait instead.
If you choose insecticidal dust, apply it around the fridge and replace the powder daily. When this powder contacts a cockroach, it gradually wears away the insect exoskeleton. It will further attack its nervous system or deteriorate the ability to absorb water over the following two weeks.
FAQ About How to Remove Cockroaches From Refrigerator
If you aren’t excited about seeing a single roach in your kitchen, it’s necessary to arm yourself with as many details as possible to keep these pests away. You might find the necessary information in this FAQ section.
Can roaches survive in a refrigerator?
Yes, these pests are extremely viable. You might not have known but they can last without their head for a week. Because they are cold-blooded creatures, they can easily survive in the cold. However, these insects don’t thrive there but occasionally visit this favorite spot for food.
Can roaches damage a refrigerator?
Yes, roaches on the refrigerator can damage the device as well. The refrigerant system can suffer from a roach infestation. The cooling system becomes soiled, and you can find the tiny roach feces around the corners, cracks, surfaces, and wires of the refrigerator. You can find that the device system doesn’t function seamlessly anymore.
Can roaches survive in the freezer?
If you have a roach-infested fridge, you might wonder whether these pests can penetrate your freeze and prosper there. Luckily, roaches don’t survive more than 24 hours in a freezer. Sub-freezing temperatures kill their cold-blooded bodies after a day of exposure.
Can I spray the Raid under the fridge?
I would rather turn to other low-risk control strategies when it comes to food storage spots. Any spray insecticide you apply in the house disperses in the air, and you breathe it in. Thus using the aerosol under the fridge is potentially harmful. I advise glue traps, baits, and dust-form solutions.
Roach-Free Refrigerator: Mission Complete
I hope this guide has helped you clarify how to get rid of roaches in the refrigerator. You can cope with these pests without addressing professional services. Various products such as baits, traps, and powders can help you control the infestation and prevent it in your home.
Don’t forget that liquid solutions can damage the motor of your kitchen device. Make sure you find no roaches in the placed traps and feel the relief.
How have you spotted roaches in the fridge? Is it the first time you have seen this pest around your house? Please, share the solutions you might have already used with us.
Also read:
- What to Pour Down Drain to Kill Roaches: Bye-Bye, Cucaracha!
- Bed Bug vs Roach: Key Differences Screened
- Cockroaches Outside My House at Night: Exorcize Night Guests
- How to Get Rid of Roaches in Walls: Complete Roach Control & Prevention Guide
- How to Get Rid of Roaches in Car: No Passengers Allowed
- How to Keep Cockroaches Away at Night: Your Bed Is Your Fortress
- How to Prevent Cockroaches in Bedroom: Protect Your Sleep
References
- Have their roots (Ruth Schuster):
https://www.haaretz.com/science-and-health/2018-02-08/ty-article/scientists-figure-out-the-origin-of-cockroaches/0000017f-e51d-dc7e-adff-f5bd92690000 - Last without their head (By Charles Choi):
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-cockroach-can-live-without-head/ - Low-risk control strategies (A. Sheffield):
https://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/roach/roach6eng.pdf
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