Does Listerine Mouthwash Kill Roaches?

Cockroaches are a problem, but pesticides and chemical-based repellents can often have harmful side effects on children and pets. You may be looking for a safer, homemade cockroach killer or repellent. If so, there’s a surprising and common substance in your home which may do the trick.

Listerine mouthwash will kill a cockroach if sprayed directly onto it. If you combine it with other liquids and apply the mixture around your home, it could act as a very effective cockroach repellent.

Read on to find out how to use Listerine as your secret weapon against these disgusting pests.

Does Mouthwash Really Kill Roaches?

Cockroaches can carry diseases such as Salmonella, Typhoid, and E. coli, so getting rid of them is a must. Some people recommend using borax for this task. But others claim that Listerine kills roaches just as well or better than borax while being safer to use around children and pets.

Because the scent of peppermint repels cockroaches, which is a key component of mouthwash, then it could serve as a perfect solution to your cockroach issue. Spraying mouthwash throughout your property could help keep them out. The advantage of employing mouthwash as a pest control strategy is that it’s safe for pets and small children but also cheap and usually readily available in your home.

Listerine Mouthwash will kill a cockroach if you spray it directly onto the insect, but that’s an impractical use for a large infestation. Creating a spray formula to use as a widespread deterrent may be the best way to use mouthwash against roaches.

How Do You Make Spray Out Of Listerine To Kill Roaches?

Creating this spray is a very simple task:

1. Pour equal amounts of water and Listerine into a spray bottle (water is an important ingredient because it helps to carry the taste of the Listerine throughout the environment)
2. Add a few drops of a washing-up detergent (this is optional and will make the spray more effective with most detergents containing borax)
3. Give the bottle a good shake and spray it throughout the house.
4. Be sure to spray in areas cockroaches have been seen or are prone to frequent such as under furniture, inside cupboards, and under kitchen countertops.
5. Repeat twice a day, each morning and evening, until you stop seeing cockroaches in your home.

Listerine And Peppermint Oil Spray To Repel Roaches

In addition, it’s also possible to combine Listerine with peppermint oil as an even more powerful cockroach repellent.

Peppermint oil includes methanol, which has both therapeutic and pest-killing properties.

So combining Listerine with peppermint oil makes your anti-roach mixture even more potent than just using mouthwash alone.

How To Create The Listerine And Peppermint Spray

Follow the instructions in the previous section to mix water and mouthwash in a spray bottle, but instead of adding soap, add 10 drops of peppermint oil.

Spray this liquid throughout your home to kill roaches and keep them from coming back for several months.

If you want quick results, spray directly onto the cockroaches you see in your home. But if you want to deter them from your home and keep them away for several months, then it’s better to spray around the perimeter of your house and in places where roaches usually live.

Where To Spray The Listerine Mixture

If you can see and get close to cockroaches, spray them directly with the formula you have created. This can’t always be possible though as roaches are quick to scurry away to hide.

For maximum effect, you should try to spray your anti-roach mixture in areas where roaches tend to hide and congregate such as:

• Behind kitchen appliances like the refrigerator and oven
• Inside kitchen cupboards, especially under sinks and dishwashers
• Inside drawers and cabinets
• Underneath countertops and behind stoves
• In the corners of rooms
• Along the edges of carpets and rugs
• In the basement or any other location where there’s a lot of moisture build up

Spray a protective layer around the exterior foundation of your home to keep roaches from entering. Cockroaches need a moist environment to survive, so preventing dampness in your basement will make it less attractive to them.

Since this mixture kills roaches and is safe for use around children and pets, you can spray it wherever you need without worrying about whether or not it’s harmful.

How Does Listerine Kill Roaches?

Listerine is a mouthwash made to eradicate bacteria. It contains at least 26 ingredients, but the two main active ingredients that kill roaches are:

Thymol – a phenolic antiseptic

Methyl salicylate – a wintergreen extract with natural pest-killing properties

Both of these components have been shown to be very effective against cockroaches. They both have a strong taste that cockroaches can’t stand, so they invade your home to avoid it.

The Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Alabama has done extensive research into how mint oil is toxic to German cockroaches and American cockroaches. The mint component gives Listerine cockroach killing characteristics.

Thymol is an irritant to the insect’s breathing organs, which can cause death by suffocation. When eaten orally, methyl salicylate affects the German cockroach’s central nervous system and causes paralysis. Methyl salicylate is also an irritant to the American cockroach’s breathing organs.

The combination of these components sends cockroaches into shock, resulting in their death.

How Long Does Listerine Take To Kill Roaches?

Roaches die within hours if they come into contact with your anti-roach mixture.

You’ll probably see dead roaches everywhere in the first few days after spraying, but this is normal because it takes effect quickly.

After this initial eradication process, you should continue to use your Listerine-based cockroach killer for several months in order to keep your home roach-free.

If you want quick results, spray the mixture directly onto the cockroaches you see in your house. If you’d rather kill them before they come into your home, spray around the outside of your house to create a protective barrier.

How Does Listerine Repel Cockroaches?

Several essential oils have odors that roaches despise. They serve as an effective deterrent against the roaches and keep them away from your property.

The ingredients that give Listerine its distinctive odor are effective cockroach deterrents because roaches hate the smell. They avoid coming near homes with this strong fragrance, which further prevents them from nesting in your walls or anywhere else on your property.

Minty mouthwash has a strong odor that repels cockroaches, other odors that can do this are:

• Citrus
• Mint
• Wintergreen
• Cinnamon
• Coffee
• Lavender
• Eucalyptus

These scents are extremely overpowering for roaches so if used in combination it is more likely to keep them away more effectively, working to create the most unpleasant environment possible for the pests.

Another household substance that you may want to try is bleach, which can kill a cockroach if they inhale or drown in the substance but is rather difficult to apply around your home and not the most ideal solution, so if Listerine is available – we would always suggest trying that first.