Natural Pest Control Methods for Your Home
Posted by lindseyshoe
No matter how clean your house there is always the chance that you will be bothered by insects, otherwise known as bug and every time I see one called a pest. There are several environmentally friendly ways to repel and even kill bugs dead without the use of chemicals. Find out how you can care for your home, your family and stop these bugs from being pests in your home.
No matter how clean your house there is always the chance that you will be bothered by insects, otherwise known as bug and every time I see one called a pest. There are plenty of effective chemical based insect treatments, both over the counter and professional, but if you are trying to “go greener” or have small children or pets you may be concerned about the effects of these insecticides. There are several environmentally friendly ways to repel and even kill bugs dead without the use of chemicals.
Some common household pests and how to treat naturally for them:
Ants: There are a variety of ants from carpenter to sugar so treatments vary.
For outdoor treatments: try planting mint around your home. While most humans enjoy the aroma and the mint plants are attractive to look at, the scent repels most ant types. You can also try pouring boiling water down ant holes, but you will have to do this several times to kill the colony.
Other suggestions include using bay leaves or cloves around window sills, behind canisters and other places that ants may be entering or roaming in your home.
Using one of the all purpose natural product below will kill ants: Mix sugar water and baking soda, sprinkle DE around the areas they come in or leave out a bowl of cream of wheat. They will eat any of the above and make their way back home, dying along the way.
Bed Bug: With the recent news articles about an infestation of bed bugs this may be a concern for you, especially if you do a lot of traveling and hotel stays. Did you know that they can live in places like airplane, buses or taxis?
There are several ways to handle these pests that think your body is an all you can eat buffet.
Repel them with herbal sachets in your suitcase, purse or briefcase. To make sachet use:
1 Cup dried Eucalyptus leaves
½ Cup dried rosemary
½ Cup dried lavender buds
10 Large cloves
Tie it up in muslin cloth available at cloth and hobby stores.
Bed bugs don’t like heat, so throw linens, curtains, and clothing in a dryer for 20 minutes on high heat. You can also use high heat and steam cleaning on beds, bedding, and curtains. The heat kills them.
You can also use a bed bug spray made of:
1 Cup Water
10 drops lavender essential oil
10 drops rosemary essential oil
10 drops eucalyptus essential oil
3 drops essential oil of clove (optional)
Place in a fine mist spray bottle, and shake well before using. Be sure to use gloves to protect your skin when working with essential oils and keep away from pets and children.
Cockroaches: From the brown banded to the Oriental, no one likes these pests, which can survive nuclear fallout.
Natural remedies to rid yourself of these pests include mixing baking soda and sugar together then leaving out where you may be getting cockroaches, like the garage or basement. They eat this mixture and then die from “poisoning.” Other natural, but toxic treatments include using DE or Borax.
Traps can be made of empty wine or soda bottles. Place them at an angle, up against a wall or surface with a little fluid left in the bottle. They will crawl into the bottle but be unable to crawl out. Other traps can include a box or other hard surface, food crumbs or bread pieces and petroleum jelly or fly paper to make them stick. These traps can be used for other pest too.
Fruit Fly: Pesky little things can barely be seen. They head straight for the bananas and fruit artfully arranged in your fruit bowl. Try using fly paper and storing fruit in the refrigerator.
Silverfish: Found in dark corners and damp places such as bathrooms these invertebrates feed on glue, book bindings, paper, photos, and even cotton, linens and silk.
Dehumidifiers get rid of the humidity in your home, making it uncomfortable living quarters for silverfish who like the damp.
Termites: Sometimes referred to as “white ants” but they are not antis. To some the most frightening and expensive pest damage occurs as a result of termites eating away at the soil feeding on the soil and dry wood of a home.
All purpose natural products good for eliminating pests:
Sugar and Baking Soda
Diatomaceous earth
Cream of Wheat
Borax
Vinegar
Each of these products has been reported to work against several different types of pests. You can leave out the powdery products or make them into a paste using butter or water. Vinegar can be sprayed directly onto surfaces and acts as a repellant.
Try planting Mint, Pennyroyal, Rosemary, Rue and Thyme in and around your house to get rid of insects inside your home. To keep insects from entering the home seal cracks, replace broken screens and do some general maintenance, including checking vents and even holes in the walls from installation of shelving or other heavy items. Drains can also allow pests to enter. Keep foods sealed and covered and clean up after cooking and eating. After all, prevention is better than treatment and extermination.
3 Responses to “Natural Pest Control Methods for Your Home”
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Hey Jim!
here are a couple ideas for you:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2291485_build-great-fly-trap.html
http://chestofbooks.com/home-improvement/woodworking/Community-Shop-Projects/Fly-Trap.html
Hope that’s helpful for you!
Warmest,
Jonathan -
Anonymous says:
Hi Jonathan,
Thanks for the tip! I will certainly try sugar and baking soda in our shack in the mountain. The area is a habitat of all sorts of ants and I ran out of remedies on how to discourage them from claiming our spot. Spraying them with chemicals has not been very effective so far. There is also the question of contamination from such application.
Elmer
do you have any plans for fly trap made out of screen, into a cone shape? they get in , but not at top. my dad made one thanks