5 DIY Ways to Get Rid of Pests From Your Home
What’s worse than discovering you have a pest problem in your home or garden? Using toxic, environmentally harsh chemicals to clean up the problem.
However, this doesn’t have to be the only way to remove these pesky critters from your home.
Just taking some time to create Do-It-Yourself remedies will ensure pests stay away, in a less toxic and more financially sound way.
As a homeowner, you want to make a stand against pests ahead of time. You want to get your hands on these five DIY ways to keep your home free of the annoyances that pests cause.
DIY initial pest prevention
To prevent pest problems from initially taking over your home, you should develop some DIY cleaning remedies and follow simple practices.
After every meal, you should clean your counters of crumbs and any leftover food. Not doing this attracts the pests to your home in the first place.
Create a basic cleansing spray made of half water and half vinegar.
You should follow basic practices like making sure not to leave out unsealed food or drinks, securing your trash with a lid and taking it out regularly, and clearing your garbage disposal.
Keep your garden blooming with home-made sprays
You put in lots of blood, sweat, and tears to create your dream garden and there’s no way you’re going to let pests ruin it.
A simple way to ensure your plants are growing strong is using a DIY insect spray. All you have to do is blend mint leaves, garlic cloves and a dash of cayenne pepper.
Boil this liquid and let it sit until you’re ready to give your garden a spray.
Any concoction with pepper in the mix is great for keeping insects away.
Trap ants with borax, sugar, and coffee
You know the deal — you come home to find ants have taken over a box of cereal in your pantry.
You can cease this horror with two DIY remedies: coffee grinds and a mixture of borax, sugar, and water.
If you find that ants are present near doors or windows, take some coffee grinds and place them around these areas.
Use a variety of essential oils for certain bugs
Essential oils aren’t just used for relaxation and health reasons, they can actually deter pests and insects from your home.
Specific essential oils will get rid of certain insects, check out a list here. For example, peppermint keeps spiders and ants away while lemon eucalyptus gets rid of mosquitoes.
Whatever you’re trying to rid, mix 2 1/2 teaspoons of the oil with 1 cup of vodka in a spray bottle to spritz around the garden or house.
Apple cider vinegar for fly season
With the beginning of summer comes fly and fruit fly season, but this doesn’t have to be a problem when you use the right remedy.
Simply pour a small amount of apple cider vinegar in a shaker container that bugs are able to get in, but can’t escape. You could also cover a container with plastic wrap and poke holes in the wrap.
This substance stops fruit flys from the constant buzzing and leaves your fruit happy and healthy.
Use these five DIY treatments and you’ll be well on your way to a more pest-free home. However, if these methods don’t do the trick, try a rodent exterminator.
After all, this is your home we’re talking about. You shouldn’t have to worry about insects and other pests invading.