Hacks

The Ultimate Guide To Bug-Proof Your Home Naturally So It’ll Be Free From Cockroaches

2016-08-05 , 6:24 pm

Last Updated on 2023-02-14 , 4:22 pm

A cockroach zipping across the floor, a silverfish in the shower, a mosquito buzzing past you in the living room. We can all agree that insects, bugs and other creepy crawlies do not belong in a home.

They not only create unsanitary conditions but they are also plain annoying. Insects like fleas can be dangerous in the house because they transmit serious diseases like typhus and tapeworms, while lice may cause some very bad itching or insomnia. Mosquitoes carry and transmit diseases like malaria, encephalitis, West Nile Virus and yellow fever.

Pesticides are the most common thing to use to discourage insect pests, but these chemical compounds may be more harmful to you and the environment than the insects or bugs. Read on for some ways to keep your home free from annoying insects without the use of environmentally harmful chemicals.

Let’s start with ways to discourage bugs from coming into our homes.

Eliminate clutter

Insects and bugs love a good snack and are always looking for ways and places to survive. A cluttered home is an open invitation to insects, bugs and pests. Eliminating clutter is as easy as cleaning up spills and crumbs, wash dishes right after a meal, take out the trash regularly and store outdoor garbage cans far from the door.

Also, recycle old newspaper, cardboard and boxes and don’t leave food and water out in the open or overnight. So, as you clean up and get rid of clutter, you are also eliminating easy breeding ground for insects and bugs. When you keep your home clutter-free, the crawlies will move out and leave you in peace!

Keep your garbage properly

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. The garbage bin at home can actually be a great magnet to cockroaches and other pests. To prevent bugs from feasting on your trash, proper storage and handling of trash is important.

If you have any food scraps in the bin, tie them up in proper garbage bags and do not leave it exposed overnight. Exposed garbage will invite all sorts of curious unwanted guests that may give you a fright when you want to throw out the garbage on the next day. Other pests like rats and cockroaches also love to roam near your bins at night once the lights are off.

Seal up openings

Insects and bugs have an uncanny way of finding even the smallest hole to get into your home. Some ways of sealing up openings like installing mosquito nets at open windows, keeping your toilet bowl covers down, using mortar or cement to patch wall holes and cracks will help discourage mosquitos, rats, ants and cockroaches.

Clear away damaged wooden furniture and replace any wood ceiling pillars to avoid termites. Replace and repair damaged sections of the roof. Rats, wasps and bees are quite commonly found in faulty roof cracks. So, do regular checks in these areas in your house or apartment and seal them up. The following are some most common home invaders and the home-made formulas that can help you get rid of them.

Mosquitoes

Get a formula with at least 26% oil of lemon eucalyptus, or essential oils like lavender, peppermint, or citronella and spray them on clothes or on the skin to ditch these irritating bugs. Another way is to stay in the fan zone because mosquitoes are pretty weak fliers. Turn up the fan speed to keep buzzing mosquitoes at bay from your fresh blood.

Ants

To get rid of ants, you will have to detect its nest. So be a kid again and trace the ants to its home. Once detected, give it the lemon treatment. Squirt lemon juice at the openings and squeeze lemon juice into any holes or cracks where the ants are getting in. Lemon is also effective in getting rid of fleas and roaches.

Start by mixing 4 parts of lemon juice with 2 litres of water and mop or wash your floors with the mixture. Another option is to use ground cinnamon or cloves to keep ants out. Crush them up and mix with a solution of half white vinegar and half water and spray away to remove the ant trails. Salt and pepper works too, just sprinkle them and create barriers.

Houseflies

Put up some flypaper in the kitchen or at places where flies tend to visit. Alternatively, you can make your very own fly trap. Get a jar, some sugar water and a paper funnel. Pour the sugar water into the jar and then put the funnel, wide side up, in the top of the jar.

The flies will smell the liquid, be attracted to its sweet scent and fly into the jar via the funnel. Once in, they won’t be able to figure out how to fly out. Or just keep a good old fly swatter and smack them away (keep in mind that houseflies can spread bacteria and diseases like food poisoning and dysentery, so do wash your hands thoroughly after that).

Cockroaches

These pests hate boric acid. So use borax to thinly line the perimeters of rooms and existing cracks. Whole bay leaves can also deter cockroaches. They also dislike chalk. To prevent a roach infestation from expanding, use chalk to fill possible entry points, including gaps between walls or tile, small crevices and entry holes. You can also get roach glue strips and place them at strategic areas to catch them.

The best way to discourage insects and bugs from invading your home, is to start by keeping your home clean and storing food properly in sealed containers. If you are out and about your home, iprice recommends that you spray on some natural herbal insect repellent to protect yourself from insect bites.

As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure.