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6 Ways on How to Get Rid of Pests in Your Household
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6 Ways on How to Get Rid of Pests in Your Household

Do you have a pest problem in your home? If so, your home may be just too inviting. Pests like homes that provide shelter, food, and water. If your home is providing these things (unbeknownst to you), it’s no wonder you have a pest problem. This can be one of the most annoying things a homeowner can face. It may be tricky to get rid of these unwanted houseguests and you may need to try many different methods before the pests finally get the message and move out.
The following advice will instruct you on how to get rid of pests in your home. We hope these six tips will help you get rid of your unwanted houseguests and keep your house pest-free. If you find the problem is just too large to be fixed by these methods, it may be time to call in the professional pest control services to help.

1. Seal Up Cracks and Other Openings

First things first: make it as hard as possible for pests to even get into your home. How do you do this? Go around your home and do a little inspection. Where are they getting in from? Check out your screens, windows, and the space around your doors. You’ll likely notice a few cracks and other openings.

Remember that even the smallest spot can be problematic since pests are quite small and can usually wiggle their bodies into tight spaces. Once you have these cracks and other openings located, it’s time to repair them. For this, you can use caulking to close the gaps or add weather stripping around your front and back doors.

2. Target the Problem Area

If you have more than just a few pests and it seems like they’ve taken over a whole area, you need to target the problem area. If you have a bed bug problem, you’ll need to target your mattress and bedding. Rather than simply throwing everything away, cleaning the area, and starting fresh (which is also an option), you can go the less expensive route and purchase a mattress cover specifically made for bed bugs. These mattress covers will isolate the bed bugs and eventually kill them.

If your pest problem is a flea infestation, you’ll probably notice them on your carpet. To get rid of them, you’ll need to keep vacuuming the carpet and dispose of the vacuum bag outside of your house each time you vacuum. Once you do this enough times, it should get rid of the problem.

3. Store Food in Tightly Sealed Containers

Make sure your food is stored in tightly sealed containers. This way, pests won’t have access to food and will move on to another place that does. This includes anything you keep in your cupboards, like cereal, sugar, baking ingredients, pasta, and much more. Ants like sweets, flour beetles like chocolate, spices, dried fruits and many other foods.

Don’t make it easy for them by storing these things in the packages they came in as they are easy to get into. It’s also quite important to keep your floors, counters, and cupboards free of crumbs and other food items. Ideally, everything should be stored properly, and your kitchen and other areas of your home should be clean and free of crumbs if you want to keep pests out.

4. Make Sure There are No Damp Areas

You’ve probably seen some pests hanging out in damp, dark areas. This is because these areas provide a water source (and they’re comfortable!). To make your home less appealing to these pests, dry up any damp areas by repairing leaky faucets, pipes, drains – anything that’s creating the damp environment. Check other sources of leaks like your dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, and air conditioner.

5. Clean on the Regular

Like we previously mentioned, keep your kitchen and other areas of your home clean and free of food particles. Again, if there is no food or water around for pests to feast on, they’ll likely move on and take up residence somewhere else. As a general, cleaning regularly is a good way for how to get rid of pests in your household. Another good tip is to make sure you empty your garbage bins frequently as this can be a breeding ground for pests.

6. Use Essential Oils

Essential oils don’t just help you sleep at night and make for nice smelling baths, they also kill pests! Chemical sprays aren’t for everyone, especially if you have allergies, young children or pets. That’s why essential oils are such a great alternative – they’re non-toxic and smell great too. Some essential oils that help deter pests are lemongrass, which has insecticidal properties.

They also have eucalyptus oil, which can be more effective against sand flies than a lot of other natural products. In addition, lavender has actually been used as a bug repellent for centuries and helps control infestations of black beetles, flies, and fleas, and other essential oils. Who knew?