It’s happened to all of us. You wake up one morning, drag yourself to the kitchen, get your favorite mug down for that first cup of coffee, and you see it – a cockroach scuttling across the floor.
Even if you don’t mind the sight of bugs and other pests outside, spotting them in your home is never a welcome surprise.
Now, it’s virtually impossible to protect your home from every single bug that might make its way through your doors or windows. However, by using a few pest control tips, you can ensure that you see far fewer of them.
Listed below are 8 of the best household pest control tips, so you can keep your home rodent and insect free.
1. Keep Your Home Clean
One of the best DIY pest control tips we can give you is to keep your home clean at all times. Just about all pests, but especially insects, are attracted to crumbs and other debris, as they make an excellent food source.
Be sure to vacuum and mop your floors and wipe down any surfaces often. Not only will this rid your house of potential food sources but it will also make your home an unwelcome place for pests, as you’ll be disturbing areas they might consider setting up shop.
As you’re cleaning, pay special attention to the kitchen and bathrooms. Your kitchen is likely where the majority of crumbs and food debris are lurking, but your bathroom is important as well. This is because drains accumulate gunk that attracts pests.
Using harsh drain cleaners too often can damage your pipes. So instead, use a mixture of baking soda and vinegar – it performs a foaming action that cleanses your drains.
If you have a garbage disposal, use citrus peels from oranges and lemons. Put the peel into the disposal and turn it on. This will clean the blades and leave your sink smelling fresh!
2. Maintain Your Outdoor Spaces
Keeping the inside of your home clean is vital, but you also need to maintain your outdoor spaces. The first step is to trim trees, shrubs, and bushes that grow near your house.
You should also have three to six inches of space between your house and the nearest plant bed. Putting soil too close to your foundation will allow ants to nest in your siding.
A distressed or neglected yard will attract ants and other pests, so it’s important to keep up with your landscaping, however much you dread doing it. Rake up leaves and debris, pull weeds, and keep your grass trimmed and healthy. Minimize bare patches in your yard as well, as these are a breeding ground for anthills.
If you live in a cold climate or enjoy the occasional campfire on a cool night, don’t store your firewood too close to your home. Firewood should be kept five feet away from your home at the very least, but further away if possible.
To discourage insect infestations in your wood, don’t lay it on the ground. Instead, keep it in racks above the ground.
3. Inspect Your Outdoor Furniture
Every now and then, take the time to inspect your outdoor furniture for insects. Check the chains of swings and the corners of chairs and benches for spider webs, egg sacks, wasps nests, and other pests. When you see them, remove them if you can.
You should also have separate furniture and toys for indoor and outdoor areas. Toys and furniture that have made their way outside should stay there. If something got outside that shouldn’t have, spray or wipe it down before bringing it back in.
4. Eliminate Any Standing Water
The last step of keeping the pests outside of your home under control to minimize their numbers inside is to eliminate any standing water. Common sites of water buildup include underneath gutter spouts, around your air conditioning unit, and inside outdoor toys and playground equipment.
If the space under your gutters accumulates standing water often, you might need to consider installing a drainage system, such as a french drain, to rid your yard of the excess moisture. Standing water around the bottom of your air conditioning unit typically means it’s leaking. Give your HVAC company a call as soon as possible to repair your unit.
5. Block Entry Points
A clean home and a well-kept yard won’t keep pests out if there are spots in your home that allow easy entry. Make your home difficult for pests to enter by checking that all of your windows and doors are secure.
Ensure that none of your window screens have holes in them and check around the edges of your windows and exterior doors for gaps. Your window screens should have at least 200 holes per square inch to keep pests at bay.
If you notice that light or air is getting in through your windows or doors, you might need to replace your weather stripping. That said, if your weather stripping appears to be in good condition, you might have a more difficult problem on your hands. Warped or broken windows and doors should be repaired.
Once you’ve inspected the points of entry on the exterior portions of your home, it’s time to inspect the interior.
Remember, your kitchen needs the most attention. Check your cabinets, refrigerator, and stove for signs of pests regularly. If you find any gaps in the trim along your walls, pipes, vents, or cables, seal them.
6. Put Vinegar to Use
Vinegar is a bit of a wonder product. It has a variety of household uses, including homemade cleaners, keeping cut flowers fresh, and even deterring insects.
Because ants, in particular, hate vinegar, it plays a part in many ant pest control tips. As you probably know, ants leave a trail behind them that makes it easier for their fellows to find food.
Vinegar is perfect for washing this trail away. Dilute white vinegar with water, then add a few drops of your favorite essential oil for fragrance to eliminate ant trails.
It’s important to note that this mixture will only destroy the ants’ trails, not the ants themselves. If ants have already nested in your home, you’ll need to exterminate them by other means.
Vinegar is also useful if you’re dealing with a fly problem. Fruit flies can be an absolute nightmare for your kitchen, but a little apple cider vinegar will get rid of them in no time.
Pour the apple cider vinegar into a small bowl and cover it in plastic wrap. Then, punch a few small holes in the plastic. The vinegar will attract the flies, and they will get into the bowl, but won’t be able to escape.
7. Keep Trash in Check
If food crumbs and debris invite pests into your home, you can be sure that trash is an even bigger welcome sign. Obviously, you can’t keep your home free of trash and recycling all the time, but there are steps you can take to dispose of trash in a way that doesn’t attract pests.
First, ensure that all of your trash cans have tight-fitting lids. The idea is to keep smells in, and bugs out. When you’re cleaning your home, don’t forget to hose off the area in which they sit and remove any spills or debris right away.
With recyclables, it helps to have a tight-fitting lid as well. But if you were provided with an open bin, take care to rinse everything off before throwing it inside. Droplets of soda and juice will call insects right to it.
8. Use a Pest Control Service
Sometimes, even our best efforts aren’t quite enough. If you’re suffering from a major infestation or simply want a little help getting rid of the occasional insect, give your local pest control service a call.
Pest control companies have a thorough understanding of the different types of pests and how to remove them from your home. Your local company will also be able to give you more in-depth information regarding the pests specific to your area. Pest control in Eagle, for example, will have all the advice you could need about ridding yourself of common pests in Eagle, Idaho.
Many companies offer a range of services to choose from. So whether you’re looking for a one-time visit or a quarterly inspection and treatment, you should be able to find what you need.
Make Use of These Pest Control Tips for a Bug-Free Home
Nothing ruins a morning like spotting a cockroach, spider, or trail of ants inside your house. By using these pest control tips, you can ensure this happens very rarely, if ever.
Remember, the most important thing you can do is keep your home clean and crumb-free. Be sure that you’re not putting out the welcome mat for pests by leaving a window open or a door cracked, and give your local pest control service a call if you’re feeling overwhelmed.
For more tips on keeping your home clean and fresh, take a look at our blog!
