Harris Roach Tablets, Boric Acid Roach Killer with Lure for Insects (4oz, 96 Tablets)

***UPDATED REVIEW - OCTOBER 16, 2020, PLEASE READ IN ITS ENTIRETYWe've been dealing with an infestation for long enough that I was ready to burn my house down and be done with it.After getting these, I immediately placed a few around my kitchen, I didn't even go through additional steps to clean, I just wanted something down before I laid down to take a nap.TWO HOURS LATER......out of the nine tablets I placed, three were completely covered with roaches, three were already gone, two were crushed and the other two had enormous chunks chewed out of them. But what got me the most was the sheer lack of interest in me when I was checking on the tablets, normally when a roach sees a human they are high tailing it off whatever they're on. The ones eating the tablets could have cared less that I was even there. It was almost like they were gorging themselves on the tablet.I know it's going to take more time to get rid of them all, but I am extremely happy with what I saw, I mean, two hours later! That was the best thing I saw and I finally feel like I'm going to get rid of these things once and for all.***It's now been almost two weeks since the start of our application of these tablets and I wish I could tack on a few more stars to my original review. The sheer number of roaches we have been seeing has been in a drastic, steady decline over the last few days and thought I would take the time to offer up some tips that worked for us, not to mention take care of some of the negative reviews I read.First and foremost, this is war. If you have roaches, spreading roach bait around and then not following up with it will not give you the results you need. If your kitchen is dirty, clean it and leave nothing untouched, it needs to look as clean as it did the day you moved into your house/apartment/condo. If you have a steam cleaner, break it out and steam everything, including your appliances, walls, ceilings, floors. Take everything out of the cabinets and steam clean them. Rewash your dishes, you've GOT to remove every single roach trace that you can and you've GOT to get rid of any food that will be more enticing to them than the tablets. If you see brown spots, those needs to be eradicated, those spots are actually roach feces. They not only eat it but it signals to other roaches that there is a nearby food or water source. Bleach will do, steam is better, both will be a great knockout punch.Roach nests are easy to spot but hard to find, if you see more than six roaches hanging out in a corner, that's a nest. Destroy the nest and the roaches will scatter. Steam and bleach, I can't say that enough because it disrupts their 'signal' spots and causes them to run.By doing all of this, you are going to stir them up and it's going to be a full-on invasion, but that's what you want. They're going to scurry around looking for other places to nest, food and water sources. Once you've cleaned your kitchen from top to bottom, place the tablets. Put them in your cabinets, under your appliances, anywhere that you've seen the highest traffic of roaches, but away from pets and children.In our early days of the tablets, we would place tablets and go back in a few hours later and they were gone, they ate the entire tablet. When you see one tablet missing, immediately replace it with a fresh one. Inspect the other tablets multiple times a day if you can, if they start to look like Swiss cheese and you don't see a lot of roaches on it, replace it with a new one and dispose of it properly.This kind of kill is NOT instant like some of the negative reviews seem to believe, this is a slow death situation. If you see a roach crawl over a tablet and not eat it, it doesn't mean it's not working. Boric acid is a fine, fine powder and the second it touches it, it signed its own death warrant. Boric acid works three ways, a physical death because it eats away the waxy coating that roaches have on them to protect them, then burrows in deeper to dehydrate the roach. They also track that powder with them all the way to their nest as well, so they're killing the nest, too. When they eat the tablet, it starts to disrupt the roach's digestive system and neurological system. After they eat it and you see one walking around drunk or actually doesn't run from you a day or two later, that's the acid killing it from the inside out. I've had roaches actually walk up to me and hang out like we were best friends. I squashed and killed it, but that just let me know the acid was working.You're going to see roaches crawling around for a while, but you'll start to see the numbers diminish. If you see a roach that looks like it has a square shaped hind-end, you need to kill it immediately and dispose of the body, that's the female and the oblong attachment is actually an egg case. I've purposely started to target any female with an egg case, doesn't matter where or when I see her, she's toast, so consider this move as well. If you destroy a female with an egg case, you're destroying the line. Don't let her live if you can help it and if you spot an egg case without a female, squash it immediately. Once she drops that case, you're literally down to hours before roaches inside break through the case lining. One of those egg cases holds up to 80 eggs, a viable female roach reproduces multiple times and lives for a year. I'm not going to do the math, but just one female roach can be responsible for THOUSANDS before she dies.Once you start seeing dead roaches, sweep them up, put them in the trash and take the trash out. Roaches are cannibals, they'll eat their own if there are no food sources. Stay on top of this just as much as staying on top of the tablets.Last but not least, if you get a box where the tablets are broken or there is a lot of powder at the bottom of the box, don't throw it out and leave a negative review! There's still roach bait, there's still boric acid, it's still going to kill roaches, your application is just going to change. Take out the tablets that are in good shape and use them, then take the powder and dust into corners, under your appliances, find a way to use it but don't throw it out and be sure to wash your hands afterward.We are absolutely sold and are firm believers in this product, we've bought two more boxes and I'm telling you, the roaches are dying, I walk through my kitchen multiple times a day and I find dead roaches. Don't let the negative reviews deter you from using this, take my tips to heart, follow the directions on the box and I guarantee, the roaches will die. Be patient, be vigilant, believe in the product.

Palmetto bugs. If you live somewhere between Richmond and Miami you know all about these vile creatures. Palmetto bugs are what you call them when you find them in your house, when you see them in someone else's house, they're called roaches. In central North Carolina, they're everywhere. 1.5-2 inch long flying cockroaches. You know a bug is big when you can *hear* it's footsteps when it's running.For 17 years in my house I've battled these Smokey Brown roaches. There are good years and bad years for them. We've had a lot of mild winters lately which translates into more bugs. They don't infest houses like German roaches, they mostly live outside, but they're opportunistic, and where there is food and water, they will go. They're somewhat seasonal, and late July through mid October is typically the worst time of year for them. I'd find at least one per night in my garage (we keep our recycling bin in there), sometimes up to a half dozen of them. Several nights per week, I'd find one in my kitchen late at night when I turn the lights on. Occasionally one would come out of my chimney in my family room (usually when company is over, of course) When I lift the cover off my grill on my back porch, a dozen scurry out. Once in a blue moon, I'd even find one in the dead of winter.I've never liked the idea of spreading harsh toxins or nerve agents around my house where I or my kids or my pets or my food could come into contact with it. Professional pest services are hit and miss, and they're not going to care for your house like you do, some might work, some wont, but either way you're out hundreds of bucks. I also didn't want wildlife, birds, reptiles and amphibians that might eat a poisoned bug to be affected. That sort of hamstrung my options. I've put borax/sugar and diatomaceous earth all over the place before. That worked great for ants, but didn't make a huge dent in the roach situation.A few weeks ago a flying insect hit my head at I was sitting at my desk one evening, and as I flailed and yelped like a baby I saw a giant palmetto scurrying away. That was the last straw. I either had to fix this problem, or move back North. General Sherman never surrendered or showed mercy, and I wasn't about to either, so I did some research and came across these tablets that seemed to get a lot of good feedback.I placed about 20 of these tablets around my house at various places where I suspect they get into the house from. A bunch in my garage, under kitchen sink, under the dishwasher, on my back porch, and inside my mostly unused fireplace. After the first night the tablet that was close to my garage door, which I suspect is where most of the palmettos came from, was 75% eaten. I placed a few more tablets in the same spot. It's been around a week since placing the tablets and I have not seen a single adult roach inside my house except for one that was 90% dead. It's hard to describe how miraculous that is. I have not gone an entire week in August without seeing bugs in years. All of the tablets show signs of being nibbled on. Some are almost gone after a week. I've probably seen 6-8 newborn hatchlings in that time, but those were certainly from eggs laid somewhere nearby before the tablets were there. Those should stop too once all the eggs are gone.The tablets smell like wet dog butt, but I rated them 5 stars, because whatever that smell is, the roaches cant get enough of it. You can only smell the smell while in the packaging though. Individual tablets are not strong enough that you can smell them in your house.I was really surprised at how well these worked, given that I've tried all sorts of things in the past. Boric acid is safe for other wildlife, and unlike many other insecticides it's not a nerve agent capable of affecting mammals and humans. The organophosphates used in many insecicides is in the same family of chemicals as VX and Sarin gas used in chemical weapons. These tablets have none of that. Boric acid is a primary component of laundry soap. While it's probably not a good idea to eat large quantities of it, exposure to it is completely safe, it's mostly toxic to insects.The price of these things for what they do is amazing, I've spent 10-20 times as much on other products over the years that never worked well.I've spent a decade never letting my food touch my countertop in the summer, because I never knew if there was a palmetto-party on it the night before, now I feel like one day soon, I'll be able to treat it like a normal countertop.

Since moving to this rental home in Palm Beach Gardens Florida, I have been freaked out by these huge roaches every time I put on the light in the kitchen. Horrible, ugly, dirty roaches, nearly two inches long. Ugh!!! They would even pop out of the dishwasher and the pots and pans drawer!! I bought this box of roach tablets after doing some research and placed 3 tablets on the floor in different parts of my kitchen and 2 in the drawers. It's now nearly a week later. Beginning the second day, I saw the tables had been nibbled, and now, a few days later, when we go into the kitchen in the morning we see one or two dead roaches and nearly all the tablets except for one have been totally eaten. Best of all , if i go into the kitchen in the middle of the night, I am not terrified I'll run into one. LOVE THIS PRODUCT. GET IT.