Cleaning Roach Feces
Studies have shown that roach feces may cause a host of health problems, including allergies, asthma, Salmonella Typhi, Poliomyelitis, and Dysentery, among other issues. For information from the CDC regarding these issues, click HERE. Simply cleaning roach poop may not be enough to deter or prevent these issues, as agitating the feces may cause portions of it to become airborne. Here are some tips for cleaning roach poop and disinfecting those areas affected to make the areas safer to inhabit.
1. Identify Areas of Infestations
Areas of large roach infestations are generally easy to spot. Small specs are generally present and those specs are often dried feces. Specs are easier to spot on light colored surfaces, such as white doors or casings. However, in certain areas, such as inside cabinets and drawers, the specs may not be as visible. Feces may be on the bottom of drawers, on the backs of drawers, in the cracks of the corners where the cabinets are joined, behind the cabinets (not visible unless the cabinets are removed from the wall), behind quarter-round molding, etc. If you are unable to see the specs, the chances for properly sanitizing those areas are drastically reduced. Take a look at the picture on the left. A renter left a sheet on a door frame to separate rooms in a home. The house became severely infested with roaches and bed bugs and the picture shows the severity of the roach poop.
2. Cleaning and Sanitizing Strategies
When possible, saturate the specs of roach poop with a broad-spectrum disinfectant. Read the disinfectant label to see how long the product must remain wet on the surface to work properly (normally a minimum of 10 minutes). Applying a disinfectant to the surface and allowing it to work for the duration of the dwell time will reduce the likelihood that the dried feces will become airborne. You should wear a disposable N-95 respirator and disposable gloves at a minimum to reduce your exposure to airborne fecal particles, but a half-faced or a full-faced respirator is preferred. Get a medical evaluation and a respirator fit test by a properly trained instructor before wearing a respirator.
3. Accessing Tough To Reach Areas
If you suspect there are areas of infestation that you cannot see or access, there may be a few things you can do to make those areas more sanitary. If the areas of infestation occur where a wall and a floor meet, there is generally molding that covers the junction. You may want to pry the molding away from the wall, even if it is temporary, and generously apply disinfectant to that area. However, to make sure you are not introducing mold into areas (not all disinfectants prevent and/or kill mold), thoroughly dry those areas before re-applying the molding. You can use the same technique if molding exists in areas around cabinets as well. You may have to touch up the paint around the molding where it was removed, as paint can sometime crack from the molding or from the wall when the molding is removed. You should also exercise extreme caution when handling the molding, as the molding will likely have many nails holding it to the wall, potentially making it brittle in those areas. Infestations may have tens of thousands of individual pieces and the image to the left is a roach poop picture (extreme).
Remove drawers from counters completely if possible. Check the sides, backs, bottoms, and tracks for specs of feces. Thoroughly cleaning roach poop and allow to dry before placing the drawers back in their original spots.
4. Use HEPA Air Purifiers in Infested Rooms
Air purifiers or air filtration devices are great ways to improve indoor air quality. HEPA air purifiers generally have one or more filters and filter out air particles as small as .03 microns (generally, potentially dangerous respirable particles such as mold, lead-based paint, and asbestos fall in this category). Air filters can filter out many of the airborne contaminants if properly sanitizing them isn’t effective or possible.
Ask your pest control professional how to properly sanitize areas affected by roaches after the pest control is successful. Or, contact a local extreme cleaning specialist. Many extreme cleaning specialists know how to properly sanitize areas affected by large roach infestations.
For more information on advanced biohazard remediation companies who specialize in cleaning roach poop, visit American Bio Recovery Association at https://www.americanbiorecovery.org/. For additional information on advanced biohazard remediation companies that specialize in cleaning roach poop, or for additional pictures of roach poop, visit roach poop cleaning.
About the Author
Mike Young owns Palmetto Commercial Services, an extreme cleaning company located in Columbia, South Carolina. PCS has cleaned and disinfected several hundred homes, including over 700 hoarded homes. Mike has earned all 3 IICRC Master Certifications, American Bio Recover Association CBRT certification, several crime scene cleanup certifications, multiple meth lab remediation certifications, HAZWOPER certification, environmental disinfection certification and more. PCS has won multiple cleaning awards, including The State’s Best Cleaning Company 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2021, Post and Courier/Free Times Best Cleaning Service 2019, 2020 and 2021, Top Rated Local’s Best Janitorial Service 2019, 2020 and 2021, Lexington Life Magazine’s Best Restoration Service 2021 and 2022, Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Business Ethics 2017, Columbia Metropolitan Magazine’s Best Commercial Cleaning Service 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, and SC Best in Business Best Janitorial Service in SC, Best Floor Cleaning Service in SC and runner up for SC Company of the Year 2021. Mike writes multiple cleaning service SEO blogs for cleaning companies to help them improve their online presence. PCS is routinely cleaning roach feces homes and teaches other companies how to do so.
