One of the most common household problems is Pests, they can be both a health risk and a great annoyance. Dealing with pests in your home can be difficult and annoying. Moreover, using chemical pesticides can be harmful to the environment as well as to your health.
There are many safe, natural, and environment-friendly pest control methods, in this article, we shall learn some easy and effective ways to prevent pests from invading your home.
1. Keeping Your Home Clean-
One of the natural and effective ways to control the pests in your home is to keep your home clean. To avoid the pest problem, you must keep your house tidy and free of waste by vacuuming, sweeping, and mopping. Moreover, removing clutter and keeping surfaces clean helps prevent pests like rats, and cockroaches from hiding in your home.
A dirty environment attracts food supplies, water, and shelter, which in turn attracts pests including ants, cockroaches, rats, and insects.
2. Use Natural Pesticides-
Using natural pesticides is an effective and eco-friendly way to control pests in the home without the use of harsh chemicals. Spiders and other pests can be avoided with natural remedies like vinegar, citrus peels, and peppermint oil, as these remedies produce smells that pests do not like.
Dilute a few drops of Peppermint Oil in water and spray it around your home, also you can take cotton pads and add a few drops of oil on them and keep them in the corners of the room.
Citrus Oils are another natural pesticide you can use like orange or lemon oil, as it helps to keep pests like fleas, and ants away. Mix 10-20 drops of citrus with a glass of water and add a few drops of liquid soap. Mix it well and then spray in the area where pests are seen.
3. Night Cleaning-
Night Cleaning can be another effective and important step in keeping the pests out of your home. Pests like cockroaches, ants, and mice are more active at night, so cleaning your kitchen before bed can help prevent them from finding food and shelter in your home. Make sure to clean all surfaces including countertops, stove, sinks, and floor.
Keeping your surroundings neat and clean during the night can help you and your family live in a healthier environment and also avoid insect problems.
4. Proper Maintenance of Your Outdoor Space-
Keeping your outdoor space clean, and maintained helps in reducing the chance of pests entering your house. Pests like insects, mice, cockroaches, etc may use your outdoor space as entry points before making their way indoors. You can minimize the risk of having pest problems inside your home by maintaining a neat and clean outdoor space through regular maintenance such as trimming bushes, mowing the lawn, removing waste or debris, and many more.
If there are food sources in outdoor areas like fallen fruit, improperly stored garbage bins, and leftover foods, then pests get attracted to them, so by cleaning them all you can stop the flow of the pests to your outdoor and indoor areas.
5. Decluttering Space-
Decluttering space plays an important role in preventing pests by removing the hiding spots, reducing food sources, and many more. Pests can hide in disorganized or messy spaces, like piles of clutter in closets, basements, and rooftops, being the perfect habitat for pests like spiders, cockroaches, mice, or ants. For this, you need to remove the hiding places for them by organizing the messy area.
6. Soak the Dishes-
If you are facing a pest problem, then avoid leaving the dirty dishes in the sink overnight, or if you don’t have time to wash the dishes at night, at least remove all the waste food from the dishes, and soak them in water, doing this will help you in controlling the problem of pests in your indoor.
7. Use of DustBins with a Lid-
Another important step you need to do to control the pests is to use a dustbin with a lid, as pests are attracted to food craps and other waste, so a covered dustbin can help to keep them away. Also, you have to empty the dustbin regularly, as a full dustbin with leftover foods can increase pests.
It is also important to clean the dustbin regularly to eliminate any bad smells from food that might attract pests.
8. Seal the Entry Points-
As pests can enter through the smallest of openings, it’s important to seal them, look around your house for any holes, gaps, or openings, and seal them using sealant, or cement.
9. Vinegar-
Vinegar is an effective natural ingredient to prevent pests in your home because of its acidic nature and strong smell. Mix equal parts of water and vinegar and use it to clean floors and countertops, as the smell of Vinegar is known to repel the pest like ants.
Its natural and nontoxic features make it a safe and ecofriendly option to chemical pesticides, benefiting your family, and also the environment.
10. Cover your Food Items-
To control or prevent the pests in your home, you need to make sure that no food items are exposed. As pests are attracted to food, mainly when the foods are easily available, therefore always make sure to keep the foods in sealed containers or in the refrigerator.
11. Use Neem Oil-
Neem oil is a natural insecticide that disrupts the life cycle of pests like aphids, ants, and beetles. To make a neem oil spray, mix 1-2 teaspoons of neem oil with a quart of warm water and a few drops of liquid soap. Shake well and spray directly onto plants or affected areas.
12. Maintain a Dry Environment-
Many pests get attracted to wet environments as they require water to survive, so by keeping your home and surroundings dry, you can prevent the flow of pests such as cockroaches, ants, and many more.
In all, this not only helps in preventing pests but also enhances the overall health and beauty of your living space.
13. Skirting-
Another effective way you can keep pests out of your home is by placing skirting under your kitchen cabinets. Pests like mice and cockroaches often prefer shelter in warm and dark places, so making a space under your kitchen cabinets will be the ideal place for the pests to hide. Skirting boards will seal the gap and close the entry point for the pests.
14. Garlic Spray-
Garlic spray is one of the effective and natural ways to control pests in your home and garden. Garlic has a very strong smell that pests usually avoid. To prepare this solution,
- Peel about 10 cloves of garlic, and smash them. Boil the normal water in a small container.
- Add the smashed garlic to the boiling water, and let it boil on small heat for about 10-15 minutes.
- Next, let it cool, and filter the garlic water in the spray bottle.
- Shake it thoroughly, and your garlic spray for pests is ready to use.
15. Eucalyptus Oil-
The last method you can try at your home to avoid pests is Eucalyptus Oil. It is a natural ingredient for pest control due to its strong smell. To prepare for this,
- Take a spray bottle, and add a few drops of eucalyptus oil.
- Shake well, and spray where you usually see the pests in your home.
- Also, you can add a few drops of eucalyptus oil to a cotton pad, and leave it in the corners of your home where you find the pests.
By following these steps, you can effectively keep your home pests-free and enjoy a clean and hygienic living space.
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