Maybe you saw one in the
bathtub at night and squished it. Maybe you
turned on the kitchen light one evening and caught a glimpse of little
brown
torpedoes rushing to hide behind the
refrigerator. However
you found out, now you know: you have an
infestation.
So how do you get rid of them? Especially if you share a wall with
another apartment and the neighbors are total slobs?
Fancy chemicals won't work, because one of those suckers hiding in
your wall is immune to it, and she'll survive and breed and you'll
be right back where you started. It's the same sort of problem we see
with antibiotics. (See the dangers of antibacterials.)
What you want is boric acid. It comes in powder form, possibly
even in a bottle that you can squeeze to propel the powder out.
Put it in the corners, under the fridge and stove, behind the
shower, any place you think they might be hiding. They walk through
it and it sticks to them, slowly drying them out. Meanwhile they go
back to the nest and spread it there, killing others. It's just too
simple for them to be immune to!
If you have pets or small children, you need to make sure to put
it in places they can't get to. But that's okay, because the roaches
will still go there!
If you want to be really nasty, mix it with powdered sugar before
spreading it around, and they'll think the whole thing is food and
scarf it down! But that's not necessary.
So throw away that Raid or Combat or whatever else you've got.
They not only won't eliminate your infestation, they'll force the
roaches to evolve, thereby improving the whole population! The
old Far Side cartoon that shows roaches dancing in front of a
mushroom cloud won't be too far off from the truth!