How to Prevent Cockroaches In Your Wardrobe? (10 Methods)

Finding cockroaches in your wardrobe can be pretty disgusting. 

I mean, just the thought of having those fat, brown insects climbing all over your clean clothes can make anyone feel sick. 

So what can you do to get rid of cockroaches and keep them away?

The best way to prevent cockroaches from getting inside your wardrobe is to keep your bedroom clean. If the roaches still don’t leave, you’ll need to use a pesticide or another deterrent to keep them away. 

10 Methods For Keeping Roaches Out Of Your Wardrobe 

Below, I’ve listed some of the top methods to help you get unwanted roaches out of your wardrobe, and keep them away for good. 

When coming up with a plan, remember that you will probably have to use several of these methods in order to eliminate these pesky critters from your wardrobe: 

Method One: Keep Your Bedroom Clean 

A roach’s primary mission in life is to find food and water. 

Therefore, they try to stay close to any potential food and water sources. 

This is why the main way to get roaches out of your wardrobe is to maintain a clean bedroom. 

Also, remember that even if your bedroom appears clean to you, there may still be enough food there to sustain a roach colony, since roaches don’t need much to survive. 

Plus, roaches may even eat some things you wouldn’t expect, such as fingernail clippings and dead skin cells, which accumulate in dust. 

If you want to starve the roaches out of your bedroom, be sure to give it a thorough cleaning by doing the following tasks: 

• Vacuum your carpets and rugs
• Sweep and scrub hardwood floors 
• Wash all hard surfaces, including nightstands, walls, and of course, your wardrobe 
• Remove dust 
• Wash your bedsheets and blankets 
• Empty and clean your trash can 
• Wash dirty clothes 
• Clean any other surfaces that may hold grime or debris, such as baby toys and hair brushes

Method Two: Don’t Leave Food Or Dirty Dishes in Your Bedroom 

This tip goes hand-in-hand with the one above, but I’ve placed it in its own category because of its importance. 

When you leave dirty dishes in your room, including cups of water, you’re giving the roaches plenty to consume. 

That’s why it’s essential to clean up dirty dishes immediately after use. 

Or, better yet, don’t eat in your bedroom at all so that you don’t leave any crumbs around. 

You also should not store any kinds of food in your bedroom, unless you keep it sealed in sturdy, insect-proof plastic containers. 

Even packaged food can attract roaches, since they can chew through most food wrappings, including cardboard and thin plastic. 

If you follow this advice, roaches probably won’t want to live in your wardrobe, and will migrate elsewhere. 

Method Three: Don’t Place Your Trash Can Next To Your Wardrobe 

Cockroaches love trash cans because they almost always contain something they can eat. 

In order to keep roaches out of your wardrobe, you should not keep your trash can nearby. 

Otherwise, roaches will want to set up camp in your wardrobe so that they can get into the garbage more easily. 

Method Four: Declutter

Roaches like living in cluttered spaces because they provide them with plenty of hiding spots. 

Therefore, if your wardrobe is crowded and full of clutter, cockroaches will be more likely to gravitate toward there. 

Spend some time going through all of the items in your wardrobe and decide whether you can throw anything away, or move it to another part of your home. 

And while you’re at it, it’s a good idea to declutter your entire bedroom so roaches have fewer places to hide. 

If the roaches can’t hide, they won’t want to stay in that area, since it’s easier for you to spot and kill them. 

Method Five: Try Pesticides 

If you’re looking to eliminate roaches from your wardrobe, and kill them while you’re at it, you’ll need to use pesticides. 

Typically, roach insecticides come in two forms: spray and powder. 

Either one will work, but the powder form is better for use in your wardrobe because it is less likely than a spray to get on your clothes.

In order to use a powder insecticide inside your wardrobe, you just need to sprinkle some of it in any open areas where roaches frequent, such as the bottom plank that sits under your hung clothes. 

Just don’t put the insecticide on your clothes because that will cause irritation when the clothing comes in contact with your skin. 

Method Six: Try Bait Traps 

Bait traps use bait to lure cockroaches to either a hidden insecticide or to some kind of adhesive. 

Among these sorts of traps, bait stations are the most common. 

Bait stations mix food with pesticides so that the roaches get poisoned when they eat the contents of the trap. 

However, the roaches do not die immediately. 

Instead, they go back to their nests to die so that other roaches will consume the corpses and then they become poisoned as well. 

You may try buying some of these types of traps and placing them in and around your wardrobe. 

Method Seven: Try Essential Oils Or Herbs 

If you don’t like the idea of using pesticides in your wardrobe, there are other means of deterring roaches you can try. 

For example, you can use essential oils that are known to repel roaches inside your wardrobe, like peppermint and thyme.

You can also place herbs nearby that roaches don’t like, such as ginger, cloves, and bay leaves. 

Method Eight: Eliminate Sources Of Moisture

Having a bathroom connected to your bedroom is convenient, but you also need to remember that roaches will love the moisture that comes from there. 

It’s important to ensure that you cut down on the amount of moisture coming out of the bathroom. 

One way to do this is to check the pipes in your bathroom or bedroom to ensure that there are no leaks. 

If you find any, you need to repair them immediately. 

It’s also advised to use a different bathroom to take baths or showers if possible, so that the extra moisture doesn’t linger in your bathroom and attract roaches to your bedroom. 

If you can’t get rid of moisture in your bathroom, it’s a good idea to move your wardrobe away from the entrance to the bathroom to help prevent roaches from making your closet into a home. 

Method Nine: Don’t Leave Pet Food Or Water Bowls Near Your Wardrobe 

Just as roaches will eat human food, they will also munch on pet food. 

If you leave pet food or water bowls anywhere in your bedroom, you need to move them away from your wardrobe, or ideally into another room altogether. 

Method Ten: Call A Pest Control Service 

If you’re unable to get rid of roaches on your own, or your problem has gotten out of hand, you’ll need to call a professional exterminator to address the issue. 

Just make sure you inform them that roaches are hiding in your wardrobe and any other spaces where you have noticed them. 

Will Roaches Lay Eggs In My Clothing?

If roaches have made their way into your wardrobe, there is a chance they may lay eggs in your clothing. 

Cockroaches like to lay their eggs in dark, secluded areas, which makes wardrobes an ideal spot to nest. 

Roaches also prefer to nest on materials that can absorb their smell, and clothing does a pretty good job of doing that. 

How to Identify Roach Eggs 

If you’ve seen any roaches around your clothes, you need to check if they’ve laid any eggs in them. 

To do so, you’ll need to know how to identify them.

Here are some characteristics of roach eggs: 

• Tiny, about one-half to one-fourth the diameter of a penny 
• Light or dark brown, or red 
• Cylinder-shaped (many look kind of like a clutch purse)
• Have small ridges on one or more sides 

Conclusion 

Overall, the best way to keep roaches out of your wardrobe is to maintain a clean bedroom. 

Roaches like to hide in places that are near a food or water source, so if you take away those things, the roaches are likely to leave.