To many people, pests have been part of their lives. They flit and fly around the house, leading to health complications. Common pests that take up residence in our homes are mice, spiders, flies, cockroaches, and many others. Whenever you come across an insect lurking around, it is not necessary to start hunting for harsh chemicals to get rid of them. Some chemicals smell awful and can be toxic to your household, exposing your children and animals to danger. However, you can consider using the natural ingredients available in your house to solve this problem once and for all.
The following are five natural solutions you can use to control pests in your house:
- Homemade Fly Traps
It isn’t very pleasant to see flies over your food and fruits. However, you can control this by getting an empty soda bottle and using a permanent marker, make a cutting line around the bottle just below the neck and cut along the line with a sharp knife or a razor blade. Remove the bottle top, turn the top upside down, and slide it inside the bottom to look like a funnel.
Remove the “funnel” and add sweetened water (from sugar, honey, syrup, or overripe fruit). Add drops of vinegar to keep bees off since they are attracted to sweet things. Once the flies come across this, they will zoom in to sip sweetened water. Once they get inside, their wings will get wet and won’t fly back.
- Essential Oils Sprays
Essential oil refreshes the air and uplift moods. Besides, you can use essential oils like peppermint, eucalyptus, and spearmint to control pests such as roaches, ants, mosquitoes, spiders, flies, bed bugs, and dust mites. These oils are typically found in concentrated form and can be mixed with water and sprayed on the affected areas like carpets, sofas, beds, mats, and rugs. You can also make cotton balls, soak them with these solutions, and leave them to areas you may think these pests are crawling.
- White Vinegar
White vinegar is one of the best cleansers you can use to keep away pests. For instance, HGTV confirmed that the strong smell from vinegar makes ants repel, preventing them from forming navigation trails. However, it attracts fruit flies and can trap them. You can also use it to clean places you last saw crawling ants by mixing two cups of water and ¼ cup of vinegar, then adding a few drops of eucalyptus or peppermint oil.
- Salt
Salt is a valuable ingredient to keep off fleas and ants. Once you see ants around your compound, sprinkle them around your doors and windows to prevent them from coming in. Also, use salt on the carpet and rugs to dispel fleas. Sprinkle salt on your pets and their beddings with finely grounded rosemary leave to deter fleas.
- Onions
To keep spiders away, finely slice your onions, take a bowl of water, and toss them inside. Place your bowl to a place you oftenly see spiders, and within no time, spiders will get out of your house.
You can use several ingredients to put a barrier against crawlies getting into your house. For an instant, you can use pyrid insecticide aerosol, a natural botanical insecticide, to kill various crawling and flying insects. The good news is pyrid aerosol can be used both indoors and outdoor, and it does not contain any harmful propellants that can cause harm to the environment.