Do you ever turn on the kitchen lights in the middle of the night and find cockroaches scuttling away? They can be a huge nuisance, but they are very sneaky. If these little pests are in your kitchen, they will probably be in more spaces like the microwave or fridge.

Follow these tips to make your kitchen an unwelcome zone for them to visit.

Keep your food covered

Keep leftover food covered even if you refrigerate it. In addition to preventing bacteria from harming your food, storing non-refrigerated food in airtight containers prevents cockroaches from spreading bacteria to your food and causing diarrhoea or food poisoning.

Throw away rubbish

One of the main reasons cockroaches thrive in kitchens is because of the presence of bin contents. Make sure that you take out the contents of your bin every night and place it in an appropriate outside rubbish bin. If this isn’t practical, ensure your kitchen bin is sealed with a lid.

Don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink

Leaving your dirty dishes in the sink overnight is giving out an invitation to unwanted pests. Wash them as soon as you’re finished eating because as food remains accumulate, they attract cockroaches. If you can't wash them, rinse or soak them in soapy water.

Cover cracks and disinfect floors

Cracks in flooring and other corners of the kitchen are prime hiding places for cockroaches. Be sure to seal off every crevice you find. Dirt on your floor can also attract these pests, so be sure to clean it up daily.

Even a clean kitchen can have a cockroach infestation because they can fly in from outside. They can also be hiding in packaged foods that you bring into the house.

Cockroaches are present in many second-hand appliances too. If these pests enter your kitchen, they are difficult to get rid of.

To help you keep cockroaches out of your kitchen, it is advised to keep a cockroach killer spray on hand, such as Mortein Instant Power Aerosol, which is an effective way to control pests. The spray kills cockroaches two times faster than other repellents. And with Mortein's new quick spray technology, you can get rid of those sneaky critters from your hidden kitchen corners too.