Reprinting special roach recipe will surely dish out death to those bugs

Dear Heloise: Could you please reprint the roach recipe? It has helped me in the past. Thanks for all you do. Trish in Houston

Trish, this question comes in over and over from readers plagued by roach problems. The “recipe” is to kill them, not cook them!

Roaches feed on kitchen scraps, crumbs, garbage, bookbinding, soap, paper, paint chips, wallpaper paste and other glued items. They are extremely hardy and can live without water for up to three weeks! They will be here long after we are all gone.

To banish roaches:

UClean under sinks and get rid of old, unused boxes.

UClean and check closet water heaters and areas behind and inside appliances (including washers, dryers, radios, wall clocks, TVs and stereos).

UCheck furniture or other things that have glue on them. Roaches love glue and can hang out on bookshelves, behind wallpaper or even inside pianos or organs.

UCheck your draperies, especially in the folds and pleats at the top.

UBe careful to watch for roaches when you bring home groceries in sacks or boxes.

If you have an infestation, first use a long-lasting insecticide spray, treating the bases of your walls and appliances, underneath sinks, in cupboards or on draperies.

Next, use a fogger product designed to kill cockroaches, following the directions exactly and placing the can on newspaper to protect carpets and floors.

Follow up with bait products such as Heloise’s Famous Roach Recipe.

Important: Always follow the directions on insecticides, and be especially careful how you use them if you have young children or pets.

Boric Acid Recipe

1/4 cup shortening or bacon drippings

1/8 cup sugar

8 ounces powdered boric acid

1/2 cup flour

1/2 small onion, chopped (optional)

Enough water to form a soft dough

Mix the shortening and sugar together until they form a creamy mixture. Mix together the boric acid, flour and onion, then add to the shortening-and-sugar mixture. Blend well, then add water to form a soft dough. Shape the mixture into small balls, or just drop blobs into open plastic sandwich bags to keep it moist longer. Make sure you label the bags clearly so that someone in the house doesn’t think you have made a tasty snack for lunch! When the dough gets hard, it is time to replace it. Place the boric-acid balls throughout the house: under sinks, dishwasher, refrigerator, stove and water heater, in the garage and behind outlets on your walls.

Keep the mixture away from children and pets, since it can be toxic.

This recipe is slower to work than some insecticides, but it keeps on working for longer and is effective as long as it is kept dry. Heloise

Dear Heloise: When traveling, I use the TV (with sound off) as a night light. It doesn’t bother me when I’m sleeping, but if I need to get up, I have plenty of light. Caroline Bleick, Aberdeen, S.D.

XSend a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate