With all the hard work that you put into keeping your home in order, the last thing that you want to find indoors is a swarm of pests. From harmless mosquitoes to terrifying cockroaches, these pests can wreak havoc on the hygiene and cleanliness of your home while also leaving you feeling stressed and frantic. However, there are a few things you can do to keep these creepy crawlies out of your home!
How to Get Rid of House Centipedes
House centipedes are extremely common in homes that are dark, warm, and fairly humid. Here are some ways to get rid of them:
- Closing Any Openings: These creatures tend to enter your home through various cracks and openings that you may not be aware of, so having your home professionally checked and sealed will help keep these pests away from your home. Pay close attention to areas that are more likely to attract centipedes, particularly dark spots around your home, as these creatures are sensitive to light.
- White Vinegar: If you happen to come across a house centipede, immediately spray them with undiluted white vinegar, which will kill them on the spot.
- Pest Control: Certain pests serve as food sources for centipedes, like termites, cockroaches, bedbugs, mosquitoes, and more. By eliminating these pests, there’s a lesser chance that your home will seem attractive to house centipedes.
- Insecticides: If you’re looking to go down a more commercial route, you can always invest in an insecticide. There are many different formulations that you can choose from, like aerosol sprays, emulsifiable concentrates, or powders. Make sure that you read the instructions properly before applying them to any areas around your home.
How to Get Rid of Houseflies
All it takes is a small opening, whether an opened window or door, to let houseflies infiltrate your home. You must eliminate houseflies as soon as you see them because they have a very fast reproduction rate. If you don’t want to have a full-on infestation on your hands, here are some ways that you can eliminate houseflies:
- Eliminate Food Sources: House flies are generally attracted to the smell of food inside your home, as well as the odor of decaying organic matter, such as the smell that comes from your trash cans. Make sure that you don’t leave either of these things out in the open for too long to avoid attracting house flies.
- Electric Zappers: While this will require you to spend a bit of money, electric zappers are effective at eliminating house flies completely. Electric zappers produce ultraviolet light that attracts flying insects towards them. Upon contact with the light bulb, the house fly will be zapped and killed immediately, making this an effective solution in residential spaces.
- Citronella Candles: Citronella is a well-known scent that repels a wide range of insects, including house flies. When you light up a citronella candle inside your home, the citronella oil actually releases a subtle smell that disguises and covers up the human scent, effectively keeping mosquitoes and flies away.
- Essential Oils: Most house flies are repelled by the strong scents of essential oils, so you can consider this option as a way to keep them away while also making your space feel much more relaxing. Scents like lavender, lemongrass, mint, and eucalyptus will be great for this, and you can either have these in a spray or a diffuser.
How to Get Rid of Drain Flies
You’re most likely to find drain flies around your sink drains, as well as other places with stagnant water. Just like any other fly, these pests only need a small opening to enter your home, but they’re not as good at flying, which means you’ll see them often leaping to get around. Here’s how you can get rid of them:
- Baking Soda and White Vinegar: A great way to keep drain flies away is by ensuring that your sink drains are cleared of any blockages and debris. You can do this by pouring half a cup of baking soda down before following it up with a cup of white vinegar. Plug the drain and let these two ingredients do their job and clear up any gunk. To finish, pour down some hot, boiling water to wash everything off.
- Boiling Water: If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to clean your drain pipes, then all you need to do is flush them down with some boiling water before going in with a metal pipe brush. Aside from ensuring that everything’s flowing smoothly, the boiling water will also remove any stubborn biofilms that may be holding on, which will help repel drain flies as this serves as their food source and breeding ground.
- Vinegar and Dish Soap Trap: In a shallow dish, create a solution by mixing apple cider vinegar and some dish soap. The scent of the vinegar will attract the drain flies, and the dish soap will trap them.
How to Get Rid of Ants
While ants aren’t the worst insects to have in your home, especially since they help eliminate more harmful pests like bed bugs, fleas, and more, there is still a chance that you’ll have an infestation in your house. If you’re looking to get rid of ants, here are some methods you can try:
- Block Openings: With their small size, ants can easily slip through the cracks and crevices in your home. After identifying any potential entry points, you can create a barrier by scattering cinnamon, cayenne pepper, chalk, or cornmeal along these openings, as they produce scents and odors that ants can’t stand.
- White Vinegar: Another way to prevent ants from entering your home is by spraying any opening with some dilute white vinegar. We all know that white vinegar comes with a very distinct and pungent odor, and this will do wonders in keeping those ants away.
- Citrus Fruits: If you want to keep ants out of your home but don’t want to deal with any nasty smells, then you can put some citrus peels into a food processor or grinder and scatter this fine powder in areas where ants may enter your home. Fruits like lemon, lime, and oranges will do fine for this method. In rare cases, ants can even fall victim to what’s known as an ant death spiral, a bizarre phenomenon where they follow each other in a continuous loop until they die of exhaustion.
How to Get Rid of Cockroaches
No one wants to find a cockroach in their house, especially when you think about all the bacteria and germs that they may be carrying. Here are some ways that you can get rid of cockroaches inside your home:
- White VInegar: Combining white vinegar with some essential oils can act as a powerful repellent against cockroaches. Simply spray this along any openings that cockroaches may enter through or any hotspots that you know they frequent.
- Soapy Water Spray: This is an easy but effective cockroach killer. After adding a good amount of dish soap to a spray bottle of water, use this to spray and attach any cockroach that you may see. While the cockroach may still continue to run away, rest assured that it will immediately die after a few minutes.
- Hairspray: As unconventional as it may sound, hairspray is actually a great way to kill cockroaches on the spot. The sticky formula will instantly immobilize the cockroach and make their wings and legs stick together, which will slowly suffocate them.
These are some simple and easy ways to get rid of pests, but remember that the best prevention measure is to have a regular household cleaning routine that keeps your house consistently hygienic. Even simple tasks like regular vacuuming will do wonders in keeping these pests away, but, understandably, you may not have that much time to spare each week.
Fortunately, there are professional cleaning companies like Luce Singapore that can take care of the long list of chores for you. With highly skilled and well-trained professional cleaners, you can say goodbye to these unwanted pests without having to lift a finger!
