A
female
age
36-40,
anonymous
writes:I live with two messy lazy men. Recently they have begun to clean up around the kitchen a bit more, but they are still leaving dishes in the sink, crumbs on the counters and floors, and I'm still finding (and cleaning) sticky nasty spills off of the appliances and floors on almost a daily basis.I always clean up after myself...and almost always clean up after them too. I usually am not OCD about these sorts of things, but I am beyond disgusted because we now have a small problem with roaches and they aren't doing anything to help prevent it from becoming worse. I've tried talking, pleading, passive aggressive behavior, and flat out aggressive yelling to try to communicate with them...nothing works.I do not live in a filthy home. I vacuum multiple times a week. I do laundry a few times a week. I take the trash and recycling out daily. But I'm not getting any help with these chores, and the boys are oblivious to the messes they make, the crumbs, wrappers, foil, and food containers they leave out, and they are completely oblivious to the little baby American cockroach nymphs (and even worse, the occasional adult or large nymph) I've been killing for the past 6 months in the kitchen, and now inexplicably the explosion of them in my bathroom.So, what was an outdoor roach problem this season (a well known issue in my area of the world as even the rich people had problems with infestation in their impeccable homes) has become an indoor problem for me...they are in the walls...they have to be...the kitchen and bathroom are rooms apart and we don't see them elsewhere.I can't bug-bomb or spray pestacide in the home because I have a bearded dragon as a pet. Additionally, the bait traps only seem to attract and kill the occasional large adult roach. What can I do before this gets completely out of control? What can I do to get these lazy man-boys to just tidy up after they use the kitchen to eliminate food sources?I am about to throw out everything under my bathroom sink and seal up all the cracks I can find where they could possibly be gaining entry to that room...but then what? I am allergic (respiratory inflammation issues) to these vermin, and they harbor nasty illnesses. I don't mind doing all the work to prevent them from coming in, but it just feels so pointless to spend another 20 or so hours cleaning, repairing, and sealing off entry points, when they won't help get rid of food sources for the ones that are already here. Please, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Reply to this Question
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Fancy yourself as an agony aunt? Add your answer to this question! A
male
reader, C. Grant  +, writes (8 January 2012):
 An effective home-made remedy for roaches is a mixture of half borax and half icing sugar. This slowly poisons the roaches that eat it. And since roaches are cannibals, it poisons the ones that eat the deceased. Put small amounts of the mixture in out of the way places -- at the back of cupboards, behind appliances, etc.
As for your housemates, it would seem that you've really not on the same page, so you might consider making different arrangements. Nagging is no way to live.
A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (8 January 2012): Let your bearded dragon out to feast on them
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A
female
reader, masquerade711 +, writes (8 January 2012):
 The first question would be, are you the only one listed on the lease/rental agreement? If so, simply make a demand to them (in writing) that they can either:
a) clean up after themselves (and outline what that looks like, because men are pretty clueless with housework for the most part); or
b) Pay an increased amount in rent to you in exchange for you doing the extra work that you're doing now
As for your roach problem, I would call an exterminator. And make them pay for half of it. What is their reaction to the roach problem? Do they even notice?
I'm interested to see how this turns out...
masq
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