How To Tell if Your Furniture Has Roaches

Roaches are a menace! They are pesky little creatures that are smart enough to hide in places you wouldn’t check.

They tend to leave behind fecal matter, eggs, musky or pungent smells, and bacteria.

Typically, roaches are fond of dark and hidden spaces close to food and water. In this case, the kitchen and bathroom become their target areas.

However, as furniture has small, dark, hidden crevices, these make the perfect hideout spaces for these roaches.

Let’s dive into how you can check your furniture for roach infestation without further ado.

6 Ways To Tell if Your Furniture Has Roaches

Below we will discuss six signs that will help you identify whether your furniture has roaches:

1. Droppings

The most common sign of a roach infestation is the presence of fecal matter.

Roaches eat just about anything and then leave behind droppings which can cause your furniture to stink. Their fecal matter resembles coffee grounds, pepper, and even rice grains.

However, the droppings are just 1 mm wide. Thus it is challenging to spot fecal matter, especially if you don’t know what it looks like.

Consider using a magnifying glass to detect the presence of these droppings. The size of the fecal matter depends significantly on the size of the roach.

2. Smear Marks

Smear marks are yet another common sign of roaches on your furniture.

Roaches tend to leave behind streaks, especially if water is present. These streaks are long, dark, and irregularly shaped. And are found in places where roaches are active such as your furniture.

The smear marks are sometimes on the surface of the furniture. You can easily wipe them off using a disinfectant.

3. Stench or Unusual Odor

When roaches infest any place, especially furniture, that place starts to stink.

The smell emanates from the pheromones residing in the droppings that the roaches leave behind. The smell also comes from the chemical releases when the roaches communicate.

This smell also attracts other roaches leading to the exponential growth of the infestation. It causes an increase in the pungent and musty odor.

You can identify the smell as a damp, unpleasant odor that can sink into just about any surface.

The smell can fill the room and cause breathing problems, affecting indoor air quality. Moreover, the pungent smell also affects the taste of the food, making it indigestible.

4. Eggs

Egg casings are also something roaches leave behind. So the presence of these eggs is a sign of roach infestation.

Roaches breed very fast because of their short lifespan, so they leave a lot of egg casings. The casings are called an ootheca.

The egg’s casings are oval and very long. These casings are also brown and can hold at least 30 eggs or nymphs at a time.

5. Shedding Skin

Roaches shed skin, so you might find some shredded skin in your furniture if it is infested.

As roaches go through life and become adults, they shed a lot of skin.

On average, roaches shed skin about 5-8 times.

6. Property Damage

Roaches also incur damage to your furniture. This is especially the case with wood furniture. Decaying and rotting wood becomes soft and, therefore, easier to eat.

Moreover, roaches can digest cellulose to eat wood and other matter from trees, including paper and cardboard. This means that your wooden furniture is a feast for these insects.

Furthermore, roaches can also eat paint, so it might not be beneficial to paint furniture if you have a frequent roach infestation problem.

Besides that, the mattress and bedsheets are a source of sustenance for them. Dead skin cells, hair, and food crumbs attract roaches.

How To Eliminate Roaches From Furniture

Roach infestation is a big problem, so it urgently needs a solution. You can take some measures to eliminate the roaches from your furniture. These include:

1. Using insecticide
2. Using boric acid to bring out the hidden roaches
3. Removing and vacuuming egg sacs
4. Removing food crumbs and particles

The thing with roaches is that if there is even one of them, there are many more.

Shine your flashlight, and you will find a family of roaches vacationing in your furniture.

Therefore, if you find one, start using remedies to remove them before it becomes a problematic infestation.

Summary

Roaches are a severe problem and should be dealt with as such!

They can damage your belongings, stink, litter your house, and ruin your food items.

Above all, roaches hide in places that are out of sight. Since they are tiny, it is not easy to spot them.

However, there are some surefire signs of knowing if your furniture is infested, which we have mentioned above.

Find these pesky little creatures and get rid of them once and for all!