DIY Pest Control Tips

Are you finding unwanted pests in and around your home? When it comes to maintaining a pest-free home, you can always call a professional like Trusted Pest Management, or you can try to tackle the issue yourself. There are many DIY options available, often using items around the house. Here are some tip on how to maintain a pest-free home.

For Common Pests

Ground coffee can do so much more than provide you with your morning kick-start, it can naturally repel ants. By sprinkling coffee grounds in the cracks near your windows and doors, it will provide a barricade against ants that is both effective and hardly noticeable.

For bigger pests, such as rodents, a cocktail including one tablespoon of peppermint castile soap, a dash of cayenne pepper combined with eight cups of water will keep them away from your home. Simply spray around the edges of your floors, between any floorboards, and it will work lie coffee grounds to ants.

Cockroaches need a spicier alternative to ward them away from the house—2 tablespoons of very hot sauce (such as tabasco) mixed with a litre of water and sprayed on problem areas will see them disperse in no time.

Bigger Problems

Sometimes, when dealing with pests more serious than your typical house ant, the remedy requires extra creativity. Termites, while being commonly found in many houses with wooden foundations, can cause irreparable, or costly, damage to your home. To rid your home of termites, a combination of four tablespoons of grape jam, three tablespoons of cat food and a tablespoon of a low-toxicity acid and spread over problem areas or potential nesting places, so long as these are out of reach of household pets. The worker termites will consider this food and use it as offerings for the queen and her offspring. The colony will gradually die, though the supply of the bait might need to be topped up for each batch, as well as in the warmer months when they are more likely to repopulate.

If bed bugs have decided to bite, there is a simple remedy that will let you sleep through the night. Combine a teaspoon of both peppermint and rosemary oils with two cups of water, and thoroughly spray your mattress, the floor surrounding your bed, even your sheets for good measure (before washing them).

If your pets are feeling the pain of pests, particularly fleas, you will likely find them in your home as a result. Sprinkle carpets and rugs with baking soda and salt, leaving overnight and vacuum the following day, removing fleas thoroughly. To give your pet some relief from itching and skin irritation without chemical shampoos, a few sprays of diluted lemon juice will kill any fleas and freshen their coat.

As you can see, the key to pest management can usually be found within household items. However, once a pest situation becomes severe or unmanageable, or the fixes detailed above are no longer having the same success, you are best to call a professional exterminator.