# Removing Can Labels for roaches or bugs?



## F15EWSO (Feb 18, 2011)

OK, I've searched some recent threads on provisioning in order to find the answer to my title and no luck. It is clear that cans stored in damp places will lose labels, that a sharpie is good insurance for keeping track of what's inside. The other day in passing it was mentioned to my better half that "removing the labels is critical b/c the roaches eat the glue and there are eggs on the cans and the apocalypse is nigh, and solar flares will be our demise etc etc (ok i'm exaggerating in the latter two)" Now in 40 yrs of shopping and living at home roaches have not infested my pantry. The stores where I shop don't generally offer old tin-cans with ridges and paper labels anymore. I looked at many of the cans in our storage and they now have plastic/mylar-ish labels that are self adhesive--no yellow cakey glue, they just sort of stick to themselves as it wraps around (eureka 21st century technology). I know that corrugated cardboard from some deep third world country should not come aboard for obvious reasons. 

Bottom-line are folks going through the effort of removing labels from cans in this day and age? Does anyone leave the labels and amazingly have a roach free boat like me? 


Thoughts?


----------



## CarolynShearlock (Dec 3, 2010)

I don't know of anyone who removes labels. Recently had a question on my blog about varnishing cans too (lots of old cruising books talk about that, too) and again don't know of anyone who does.

Now, I DO label the tops of cans so that when I put them in a top-opening locker, it's easy to see what's what instead of pulling each one out to look at it.


----------



## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

A number of supermarkets in the states (possibly all of the chains) do supposedly spray pesticide on all the stored canned goods. Coupla five years ago it made the news, with folks being reminded to wash their cans before opening them if they really wanted to be sure there was no pesticide tainting the can. I can't say if that's urban myth, but roaches are incredible critters, and yes, if the can has the usual "corrugations" in it, I could see a small roach slipping in there under the label, enjoying the glue, and laying eggs.

RFPITA to tear off all the labels though. Maybe do a reality check, peel some labels, look for eggs, either you'll get tired of looking for proof or you'll find it.

Never have actually seen a roach go under a can label, or found one under a can label, but then again...Maybe you could just autoclave all the cans in the pressure cooker? (G)


----------



## CalebD (Jan 11, 2008)

A good soaking in warm water ought to do the trick and get the labels off most cans. Pay particular attention to the ones with labels depicting actual food, like Chef-Boy-R-Dee stuff. The labels look good enough to eat if you are hungry enough.
Make sure that when you label stuff with your sharpie that it is nearly illegible because the critters (rats, mice, roaches) can read!


----------



## tdw (Oct 2, 2006)

The issue of roaches in labels and cardboard packaging is as old as the hills. With today's packaging its true that the problem is almost certainly far less than what it was but hey, how many roaches does it take ?

Me, I'm not going to varnish cans, nor remove non paper labelling but I won't allow cardboard boxes of any sort onto the boat without some kind of fumigation. Corrugated cardboard, third world or not, is of course an absolute menace cos the little bastards can lay their eggs in the corrugations. 

That said CS's note re labelling cans is good advice.


----------



## joethecobbler (Apr 10, 2007)

If them roaches want the labels off they can do it themselves I got enough to do already.
And as for varnishin' Hell, I spent enough money doin' the parkay floor,molding and brightwork . I'll be dammed if I'm gonna' varnish the pantry fixin's ! I just aint that yachty, and besides mamma says it makes the glass jars all sticky when they float around in the bilges.


----------



## Vasco (Sep 24, 2006)

Cockroach control is on every cruisers mind. Most anchor and don't tie up much so the danger is bringing them aboard. No paper bags and no cardboard. That usually does the trick. No need to take labels off cans. Just some sensible precautions and you should be bug free. Biggest danger is when the boat is laid up for the summer in Florida. We use Sun-Pacs when we store the boat. Keeps the boat free of mildew and, as a side benefit, kills anything and everything aboard. We make sure to air out the boat before boarding.


----------



## svHyLyte (Nov 13, 2008)

When we were doing a bit more cruising and wanted a long-lived supply of canned goods without rust or lost labels, we made up a double boiler, melted paraffin, and dipped the canned goods in the melted paraffin after marking the can tops and bottoms with their contents. It was a bit labor intense but it did work quite well as we eliminated the problem of rusty cans.

FWIW...


----------



## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

cocroaches FLY -- they do not come on board in paper. they FLY.
taking labels off spray cans is something i have never done. why?? the label will remain in tact long enough to know what is inb that can for 4 yrs. or more.
i live on board since 1990--there have been many changes in thing since then. 
i cruise my formosa--there is no reason why you cannot keep the labels on your cans. even spray cans.

there are many folks around her in boats. many have cockroaches. you need screens on boat to keep them out. i do not have a single one. i spray my boat and i make sure i dont attract cockroaches in darkness. they will fly to your reading light.


----------



## finding41 (Jul 19, 2011)

Huh. I just came across this topic. It's not something you find in the trailer sailor forums. 
Whats the big deal about roaches? They don't bite. (Not the ones I've met.) You can get rid of them with spray. 
I've seen some huge roaches in Mexico. Hard to miss them. I guess you can just ask the big ones to go away. The small ones...Psst.


----------



## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

finding41 said:


> Huh. I just came across this topic. It's not something you find in the trailer sailor forums.
> Whats the big deal about roaches? They don't bite. (Not the ones I've met.) You can get rid of them with spray.
> I've seen some huge roaches in Mexico. Hard to miss them. I guess you can just ask the big ones to go away. The small ones...Psst.


cucaroches DO bite, leaving festering wounds on kids....kids dont move to get tthe icky feel of bugs walkin gon ye to go away. they ar ebadly bitten by roaches--go to emergency rooms to find out this info. roache smor ecommoly DO chew wiring an dother nice plastic coatings for wiring, leaving you with short circuitry and fizzles and fires. 
roaches eat your stores and provisions. 
roaches fly.
i spray everything except foodstuffs with much success. just keep critters and kids out of the boat for an hour or two.


----------



## daydream sailor (Mar 12, 2012)

Anyone ever consider roach fried rice,we had a chain here called holy chow,
holy crap, the last time we bought food from them we got extra roaches at no charge.


----------



## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

Fried lice? What, you never saw Bladerunner?

You want no critters, you need to go to a Vegan restaurant, preferably run by Jains. Gonna cost you extra for that though.


----------



## SlowButSteady (Feb 17, 2010)

Just sprinkle a little boric acid in the bilge and the bottoms of your boat's lockers. Done.


----------



## whosedream (Mar 29, 2011)

I'm currently commuter cruising the Sea of Cortez...so have been anchored as well as in marina's. I have canned, boxed and fresh food onboard from mini tiendas, small grocery stores and mega stores.
Never had roaches or ants aboard. (I've had many flies & moths this summer.)
I've never removed labels from cans.
I do remove some cardboard packaging but that's saving space & keeping trash off the boat while I'm cruising. Trash can build-up.

I suspect this is an old wife's tale. (My wife hates when I say stuff like that!)


----------



## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

Boric acid is problematic. It does work, by electrostatic and mechanical action to cling to the bugs and then cut holes in their hide so they dry out and die. The problem is that if it gets damp, it doesn't do the static cling anymore. And if it stays dry, the powder can go airborne, get inhaled, do damage in your lungs. So as much as I love simple non-toxic reliable inexpensive ways to kill critters, I use roach baits instead. Works the same way, the critters take the stuff out of the trap and into their nests where they die the same way. Nothing to inhale, nothing to clean up, just change the traps & remove the carcasses as needed. Folks say "it doesn't work I don't see any dead bugs" well, you won't see the dead bugs unless you find the spots where they were nesting, but they'll still be dead.


----------



## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

with a boat having a wet bilge, as does mine, SPRAYING POISON WORKS. boric acid does not . it jut makes your critter ill if th ebilge water comes out of the bilge and into your house....dont ask....(wasnt my boat, thank gawds..)
i dont let em get into the boat--i spray lines, decks, docks, everything, hatches, ports--cowl vents...dorade boxes--wasps also nest in these in tropix....spray works. or you can get a huge wolf spider... or a gekko or an iguana......


----------



## emoney (Jun 2, 2010)

Seems like if a person sprayed his/her boat for bugs, like they would do for their home, a person would be just fine. Assuming, of course, that those same folks realized their environment and that south of the freeze line, bugs don't disappear in the winter. Plus, I don't wanna eat something that's been in a can long enough for the label to corrode away.


----------



## Navigator Wannabe (Nov 4, 2012)

Just a little reminder: You guys all DO know that many cockroaches can fly, right??

EEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkk!

But it is true, google it.



Vasco said:


> Cockroach control is on every cruisers mind. Most anchor and don't tie up much so the danger is bringing them aboard. No paper bags and no cardboard. That usually does the trick. No need to take labels off cans. Just some sensible precautions and you should be bug free. Biggest danger is when the boat is laid up for the summer in Florida. We use Sun-Pacs when we store the boat. Keeps the boat free of mildew and, as a side benefit, kills anything and everything aboard. We make sure to air out the boat before boarding.


----------



## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

you will be surprised how FAR they can fly, as well.....


----------

