Table of Contents
Use Barriers and Repellents
Natural barriers and repellents can act as some sort of wall that prevents pesky critters from accessing your home. There are some plants that provide living barriers to certain types of bugs. For instance, plants such as spearmint, peppermint, and pennyroyal have the natural ability to prevent bugs such as ants and aphids. Consequently, you can plant them throughout your home and a number of bugs will automatically stay away.
You can also simmer cedar twigs in water, let it cool and then pour it over plants within your home. This is an inventive way of getting rid of corn earthworms, cutworms, and other pests.
Use Beneficial Insects
In addition to natural barriers and repellents, you can consider using beneficial insects that can prey on the unwanted bugs. You can lure some good insects such as praying mantis, green lacewings, and lady beetles into your garden by creating an attractive habitat. You can also purchase them and provide them with a proper habitat so that they can feed on unwanted pests.
The idea here is not all insects are bad pests. For example, you can use damsel bugs to prey on mites, aphids, caterpillars, and cabbage worms. The best thing to do is carry out some little research on beneficial insects that can help you deal with your bug problem. Using beneficial insects may take quite some time but it’s more effective and safer than chemical sprays.
Traps and Lures
We’re all familiar with mouse traps but traps can also be used to lure and trap other bugs within our homes. You can use food, pheromones or visual lures that attract the bugs to the traps and capture them without necessarily hurting other animals within your home. You can also use these traps to monitor the pests as they can help determine when the bugs emerge.
In most cases, these traps will kill the bugs. For instance, the sticky glue traps are non-toxic but deadly for bugs. Once a pest walks on the sticky glue, it can’t escape and will have to die.
Natural Homemade Remedies
Readily available in almost every kitchen, there are numerous natural homemade remedies that can effectively get rid of bugs without chemicals. In this section, let’s go through some of them and how they’ll make your home bug-free.
Bed Bugs
Dealing with a bed bug infestation is no mean feat. Generally, the best way to deal with this blood-sucking pest is by prevention. Here are some ways to get rid of bed bugs without chemical spray.
Diatomaceous Earth (DE) – Applying non-toxic diatomaceous earth is one of the best solutions to getting rid of bed bugs in your home. You should go for food-grade DE and not pool-grade DE.
Non-toxic Bed Bug Traps – One of the most important steps in eradicating a bed bug infestation is to do some research and determine where the bed bugs are. You can then use various forms of lure such as Co2, heat, and pheromones to lure the bed bugs to a sticky glue surface.
Vacuuming – Thoroughly cleaning and vacuuming your home is an integral part of getting rid of bed bugs without chemicals. It’s essential to vacuum every place including the mattresses, wall pictures, and every other place that bed bugs might use to hide.
Washing – Washing all your bedding and clothing in extremely hot water (120ºC) can help kill bed bugs and their eggs.
Cockroaches
Roaches are, without a doubt, one of the most annoying and hated pests that can infest your home. While the best defense against roaches is to have a clean kitchen and bathroom, here are some ways to get rid of them with chemicals.
DE – This is a safe alternative to chemical spray. Sprinkle it on areas were roach flock. Although DE is harmless to people, it can kill cockroaches in less than 48 hours. Keep in mind that dehydrating pests will look for water, so you should ensure that all water sources are blocked.
Boric Acid – Although boric acid can irritate your nose, it’s harmful to people and pets and also deadly to roaches. Just make sure you place it in areas that are inaccessible to children and pets.
Soapy Water – Spraying cockroaches directly with soapy water will kill them.
Catnip – This is a natural repellent of cockroaches. It has nepetalactone, which is toxic to roaches but non-toxic to pets and humans. Leave sachets of catnip in roach-infested areas. You can also make catnip tea and spray it around counters and along baseboards.
Other deterrents – Consider using slices of garlic and cucumber on roach-infested areas.
Dust Mites
Dust mites are microscopic and everywhere within our homes. While they do not cause serious issues, they can cause serious health problems for people with asthma and other allergies. Here are some ways to get rid of them without using chemicals.
Cleaning – Make sure that you regularly wash your bedding at 55ºC or higher. Most of the detergents will have no effect on the mites unless the water is very hot. Freezing can also kill dust mites but will not remove allergens.
Use dust mite bedding – These types of bedding are allergen-impermeable and will prevent dust mites. Make sure that the bedding do not have rips that may allow dust mites.
Tannin Acid – This has the ability to neutralize dust mite allergens and any other form of animal dander.
DE – Use it to dust your bedding and the surrounding area. It’s advisable to leave the house for about three hours after vacuuming.
Decluttering – Ensure that the bedroom is spacious and properly decluttered.
Reduce room temperature and dehumidify – Dust mites are known to thrive in humidity higher than 70%. In other words, dust mites thrive in warm temperatures. You should, therefore, dehumidify your home and keep it below 25ºC.
Flies
Flies not only bring with them the threat of germs and diseases but they are also a nuisance within your home. The first step to ensuring that you do not use chemicals is to prevent flies from entering your home. You can seal the doors, windows, roof vents or any other place that flies can use to enter your home.
You can then try the following methods.
Use non-toxic flytraps – The best way to eradicate fly infestation is by using a flytrap. They are readily available, non-toxic, and have pheromones to attract flies.
Basil – Placing an open container of basil and clover will discourage flies from landing near it.
Bay leaves and eucalyptus – Hanging eucalyptus and bay leaves by open windows and doors will discourage flies from approaching.
Mint – This is another effective fly repellent that can discourage flies from infesting your home.
Mosquitoes
You do not want to risk getting malaria, especially if you live in tropical areas where mosquitoes are available. You should, therefore, seal all the entry points by closing windows and doors. Some additional ways to get rid of mosquitoes without using chemicals include:
Removing stagnant water around your home – Mosquitoes need stagnant water to breed so you should eradicate this to ensure that they do not multiply.
Mosquito traps – These are safe and non-toxic ways to ensure that your home is free of mosquito.
Non-toxic repellents – There are a number of non-toxic repellents that you can use to eradicate mosquitoes.
Thai lemongrass – This is a natural and highly-effective mosquito repellent, thanks to citronella in it.
Rosemary – Throwing a little rosemary on fire, especially when barbecuing can repel mosquitoes.
Conclusion
Pests and bugs are annoying and we often look for ways to get rid of them. Unfortunately, chemical pesticides are very toxic to your family, pets, and the environment. It’s, therefore, better to use something thing natural and safer.
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