Pests such as rodents, ants, termites, and cockroaches can do a lot of damage to your home. To make matters worse, many tried-and-true pest control methods involve the use of poisons and traps that can be harmful to your family, your pets, and the surrounding environment.
When you have a severe pest problem in your home, you might be tempted to go with any effective solution you can find and just weather the consequences if it turns out to be dangerous just to be done with everything. Fortunately, you don’t always need to go to those extremes. There are ways of keeping your home safe from pests that won’t harm your family or the environment. Here are some to keep in mind.
1. Essential Oils
Essential oils are very effective in keeping pests away from your home. The oil and method you use will depend on the types of pests that you have in your home, but in most cases, you simply have to dilute the oil with water and spray it where you’ve seen unwanted visitors. You can also soak cotton balls in essential oils and place them near doors, windows, or any other potential entry point into your home.
As for the types of oils you should be using, lavender, peppermint, and eucalyptus are effective against many types of pests such as flies, cockroaches, and spiders. Tea tree oil works well if you have a cockroach problem, and citronella is known to repel mosquitos. Peppermint, lemon, citronella, and eucalyptus are also great at keeping mice and rats away.
While you can buy bottles of essential oils yourself, many pest control companies use repellent pouches containing concentrated oils and other substances that keep insects and rodents away. These pouches can be used in most indoor environments, and they are perfectly safe around humans and pets.
2. Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth, or DE, is a substance composed of the fossilized remains of aquatic organisms called diatoms. It’s an all-natural substance that doesn’t harm the surrounding environment or your pets, but it will effectively kill insects that you don’t want in your home or your garden.
When insects come into contact with DE, the substance absorbs the fats and oils from their exoskeletons, which dehydrates and kills them. Simply dust some food-grade DE onto dry soil or on the underside of plants in an area where you suspect insects are getting into your home. This is especially effective against ants, cockroaches, bedbugs, and fleas.
3. Sticky Traps
If you want an effective way to get rid of pests without poison, sticky traps are incredibly effective. Sticky traps attract insects and rodents and hold them fast with a strong adhesive. They’re a great way to deal with flies and other flying insects, and they can catch mice and rats when you place them along baseboards or under sinks.
The one downside to using sticky traps to catch mice and rats is that it subjects them to a slow death if you don’t find them in time. If you do find a live mouse in a sticky trap, you can always release it by using vegetable oil to remove the adhesive.
Grab some cotton swabs, a bottle of vegetable oil, and gloves to protect yourself. Take the trap and the mouse outside, and apply a small amount of oil where the mouse is stuck to the trap with the cotton swabs. Once enough of the adhesive is gone, tip the trap to the side, and let the mouse go.
4. Pheromone Traps
If you have a problem with moths or other pantry pests, pheromone traps can help reduce their populations. These traps use pheromones to target male insects and disrupt their mating cycles. It doesn’t kill the insects outright, but it will reduce their populations without resorting to harmful chemicals or potentially dangerous traps.
5. Beneficial Insects
If you have an insect problem in your garden, try introducing beneficial predator insects to control their populations. Ladybugs are great for controlling aphid populations, and praying mantises will eat practically anything they can catch. You don’t want to use this pest control method inside your house, but it’s a great way to maintain a healthy ecosystem in a garden without resorting to dangerous chemicals.
6. Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is another great weapon against many pests in your home. You can dilute it with water and spray it where you find insects much like you would with essential oils, or you can use it to make an effective fruit fly trap. Pour a glass about half full of apple cider vinegar, and place a few drops of dish soap in it. The vinegar will attract flies, which won’t be able to escape the glass thanks to the dish soap.
7. Calling an Eco-Friendly Pest Control Service
If all else fails and you have an infestation that will not go away, contact an eco-friendly pest control service in your area. Eco-friendly pest control has become much more popular in recent years, and many companies offer services that don’t rely on chemicals that could harm your family, your pets, or the environment.
Many of these methods are similar to the ones outlined above, but they are far more thorough and used by professionals. Many pest control professionals will also help protect your home from future infestations by blocking potential entry points and showing you how to keep your property safe from pests.
Eco-friendly pest control companies will also know how to safely remove and relocate valuable pollinators like bees from walls. They will be able to tell you the right season to remove mice, bats, and other animals without separating parents and children. Many eco-friendly companies can do exclusion traps to remove rodents and other larger animals without killing them. They can then recommend places where you can seal the entry points in your home.
Contact Green Home Pest Control for Your Pest Control Needs
When it comes to eliminating pests from your home, it’s always best to enlist a professional service. A professional will get rid of any infestation in your home while protecting it from any future invaders. If you have a pest problem in Phoenix, Tucson, or the surrounding areas, Green Home Pest Control will assist you. Green Home Pest Control is an award-winning, locally owned pest control service that has served Phoenix, AZ and the surrounding areas since 2009.
We make sure to use safe pest control methods. We provide residential and commercial pest control solutions to take care of ants, rodents, termites, scorpions, bedbugs, and much more. We also provide inspections to make sure that infestations that you may have had do not come back.
At Green Home Pest Control, your satisfaction is our goal. We will make sure that your home and your family are safe from pests and any harmful chemicals often used in infestations. To learn more about our services in Phoenix, Tucson, or the surrounding areas or to schedule a visit to your home, contact Green Home Pest Control today.
