Our lives were very different before this pandemic. Almost all the cleaning jobs in the house were outsourced and house-helps took care of the house. I rarely cross checked her work because my house always looked clean. Sometimes I even trusted her with my house keys while I stepped out for work. However with the lockdown, all the responsibility of sweeping, mopping, cleaning and cooking fell on my husband’s and my shoulders. The task of managing the household chores and the office work was overwhelming for both of us.

One fine day, my 4 year old insisted on taking out his portable bath tub to the garden. When I pulled it out from the store room, I saw cockroaches crawling out. The sight of cockroaches was so unnerving that I locked the room and ran out.

But that doesn’t solve the problem, right? We had to device ways to kill cockroaches at home. It is important to kill cockroaches in time, else they breed at rapid rates and make the infestation very serious.

Amidst this pandemic it was not at all possible to get professional pest control to kill cockroaches. It comes with its own disadvantages. The fear of exposure to strangers is real and then one is required to even empty the premises. Not to forget the pungent smell it leaves in the house. So this lockdown I tried the do it yourself pest control with HIT anti-roach gel.

This anti roach gel not just kills cockroaches but eliminates cockroach infestation by destroying their nests. So next day, I put almost 20 dots of HIT anti-roach gel in my store room. I also applied the anti roach gel along the hinges of doors and drawers to kill cockroaches completely. To my surprise, I didn’t have to use gloves to apply it because it comes in a syringe form which is very easy to use. Just click and apply the dots. HIT anti-roach gel alsodoesn’t have a pungent smell and you needn’t use scarf around your nose to do pest control at home.

The HIT anti-roach gel is made of special ingredients which attracts cockroaches. Once the cockroach comes in contact with the anti roach gel, it eats the gel, goes back to the nest and dies. It kills cockroaches that comes in contact with the dead cockroach, thus destroying the entire nest. And seriously, the do it yourself pest control to kill cockroaches couldn’t be easier and cheaper. The next day my store room was cockroach free and I heaved a sigh of relief.

After killing cockroaches, I had a big realisation that I had completely ignored certain corners of my house, and was oblivious of the importance of their cleanliness. I also learnt an important lesson that a house that looks clean is not necessarily clean.

We need to take care of cleanliness in every nook and corner of the house. Doing it all alone without the house-help sounds daunting, right? Read on how I learnt and discovered easy hacks to keep my house sparkling clean and do pest control at home without any hassle.

Hacks to keep the store room clean and pest free:

Since the cockroach infestation started from my store room, I began cleaning it first. Like in any other house, my store room was nothing less than a dump yard. Everything was just stacked and stored which lead to more and more dirt. I pulled out all the cardboard boxes from online deliveries that were uselessly lying there and everything else that hadn’t been used in the last 5 years and there was no possibility of using them in the near future too. Decluttering the store is a one-time task but one needs to keep it clean  for effective pest control results and to avoid cockroach infestation. Few points for easy management of store that I learnt in this lockdown:

1. Don’t store anything you are not going to use in the near future. Cardboard boxes, newspapers, old wooden pieces attract cockroaches and should not be stored for long periods of time.
2. Categorise shelves and sort your storage items. For eg. I stacked all the travel bags in 2 adjacent shelves. My son’s occasionally used toys on one, the newspapers on another and so on. This way my store remains sorted and I needn’t spend hours in decluttering it again and again.
3. Once a month, take a round of the store and declutter it incase you piled up stuff unconsciously.
4. Use few dots of HIT anti-roach gel in the corners of your store room and along the hinges of the door, once in every 45 days. This would keep the cockroachesaway.

Hacks to keep your kitchen clean and pest free:

Kitchen is the most important place in the house and it is the favourite spot for cockroach infestation too. Keeping it clean and doing regular pest control is important to keep the cockroaches away and keep your family healthy and fit.

1. Keep the kitchen top clean and moisture free

Pest control starts with cleanliness and the kitchen top is susceptible to a lot of dirt and germs. Most of us are in the habit of leaving peels on the slab while we do the rest of the cooking. I often used to leave the slab as is after rolling dough and cooking chapattis for dinner, because I used to be too tired by then. Particles of food on the kitchen slab is one of the prime reasons forcockroach infestation. So here is a hack that I adopted. Spread a newspaper sheet on the kitchen top while you chop, knead dough and cook, to avoid a whole lot of mess. Once the cooking is over, wrap up the sheet and throw in the dustbin. Kitchen top is clean in a flash of second.

2. Empty the sink and clean kitchen after dinner

Like most of us, even I left the kitchen sink loaded with dirty utensils and went off to sleep. But it can lead to serious cockroach infestation. You should always wash the utensils and sleep only after cleaning the kitchen, if you don’t want tokill cockroaches later.However, I am too lazy to do that, so here are few shortcuts I discovered to clean the sink and avoid cockroach infestation.

• Cook Food on low flame to avoid charring of utensils. And immediately after serving the food, pour warm water over the cooking pans. You don’t need to scrub them later. They get easily washed.
• Wash the small plates, spoons, bowls simultaneously to avoid piling up. However under time constraints just rinse the utensils with water to remove food stuck to the utensils and wash them the next morning or whenever you wish to. This way the food crumbs and organic matter won’t be sitting in your sink overnight and hence, no cockroach infestation.
• Wipe the gas top after every use. This prevents food and grime from sticking on the surface and you needn’t spend time and energy in scrubbing it later. Also clean under the gas stove. A lot of food crumbs sit there which might attract cockroaches.

3. Regularly empty the trash bin

• Dustbins are usually kept below the kitchen sink which is a little moist and warm. This provides perfect conditions for cockroach breeding. So regularly empty your dustbin and use one with a closed lid.
• Wrap all the food scrap in a paper and then put it in the dustbin. This makes it difficult for the cockroaches to locate food and attack it.

4. Keep a check on the water leakages and get them repaired on time.
5. Store food in closed containers and avoid any spills. In case of a spillage, clean up the place immediately.
6. Areas around gas cylinder, beneath the refrigerator, under the sink are areas prone to cockroach infestation. So,as a preventive pest control, use ananti-roach gel like HIT anti roach gel in these areas. It is an easy way of do it yourself pest control. Just 20 dots of HIT anti-roach gel around the kitchen would do effective pest control of your kitchen. Use HIT anti roach gel around your kitchen once in every 45 days.

Hacks to keep your bathroom clean and pest free:

Cockroaches love humid and damp areas and bathroom is one place which provides perfect conditions for cockroach infestation. Here are easy peasy tips to keep your bathroom dry, clean and do effective pest control at home.

1. If you have to kill cockroaches in toilet, always keep it dry. It is the first step for effective pest control in the bathroom. Now, a simple way of doing it is to get your family in the habit of using a wiper immediately after taking bath and leave the fan or exhaust fan switched on for a few minutes after using the bathroom. This would dry the bathroom without any effort and also the water that collects around the sink and below the toilet seat. However, if water is collecting due to leakages, then get them repaired right away.
2. Train the men of the house to use the toilet seat properly. The area around should not get wet.
3. Use a trash can with a lid and clean it regularly.
4. Keep toothbrushes and wet towels in the open and not inside cabinets. The moisture would build up in the cabinets and then pest control to kill cockroaches would become a task.
5. Use HIT anti-roach gel under the sink, hinges of drawers, doors and cabinets to kill cockroaches in toilet and evenavoid them.
6. Keep a small brush with liquid soap stored in it. You can use it to clean the sink and tiles around. It comes really handy and you can just grab it and quickly clean the sink whenever you see it getting dirty. Once a week is ideal to clean it.

Hacks to keep the living room clean and pest free:

In the lockdown, our family was spending a lot of time in the living room. We were snacking there, watching TV and even working on our laptops while our son played with his toys on the carpet. This is the time when our living room has been used the maximum. There were tit bits of food that gathered on the sides of the couch and sofa seats and even under the centre table and sofa sets. Here are few hacks I employed to keep the living room clean and safe from cockroaches:

1. Always serve the wafers, cookies or anything out of the packets in a bowl. My hubby is in the habit of finishing up the packet and tucking it in the side of sofa seat or belowthe corner of the carpet.He puts it in the dustbin only when he gets up from his work. This sheds few food crumbs here and there which attracts cockroach infestation.
2. Draw the curtains and open the windows in the morning hours. Before this lockdown we literally never opened the windows of our living room. We used to be so busy in our lives that it never mattered. Now that we were living at home for the longest time, we realised the importance of fresh air and sunshine in the living room. It released the moisture trapped in your room and made it fresh. Sunlight and fresh air is refreshing for the mind and even boosts the production of serotonin also known as the happy hormone. It also helps in effective pest control by keeping the room dry.

Maintaining a clean home is important not just for your mental peace and physical health but also to keep your home safe from cockroaches. A do it yourself pest control for cockroaches would be much more effective in a clean home. Though cockroach infestations are very common in Indian households, it is uncommon to findan effective pest control for cockroaches.

With HIT anti roach gel, I have found an easy and effective way of do it yourself pest control for cockroaches. HIT anti-roach gel doesn’t just kill cockroaches but destroys their nests too. This lockdown has been a learning experience for me in many ways. I never knew I could manage the house and even do pest control myself. Try the hacks and let me know how they worked for you?