5 Eco-Friendly and Pet-Safe Ways to Protect Your Home from Pests
Termites, ants, spiders, and rodents can all make their way into your home and ruin your life. Not to mention the diseases these pests can transmit. Fortunately, there are ways to keep pests out of your home without harsh chemicals or dangerous traps. Below are five eco-friendly and pet-safe ways to keep pests at bay in your home.
Use Door Seals
Door sealing is a simple method for preventing pests from entering and exiting through the gap under your door. Door seals are small pieces of rubber, vinyl, or foam that fit snugly against the doorframe and keep bugs from crawling underneath. Aside from keeping critters out, they also help control noise levels, light intensity, and moisture from escaping or entering your home.
Some that are particularly useful in the kitchen for blocking out pests and noise include:
- Door Wheel
- Floor Rubber Seal (FR Bumpers)
- Threshold Seal
- Floor Strip Cushion-Seal
- Rubber Cushions for Legs of Furniture
- Magnetic Door Catches and Screen Seals
There is also a wide selection of door seals available online, including those that incorporate magnets for added insect protection. These seals may be an excellent choice since they are eco-friendly and safe for your pets because they are physical barriers that do not use harsh chemicals.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is a natural pest deterrent that you can use in various ways, including homemade bait. To create the bait, spread some baking soda on small plates or pieces of cardboard. When pests come to feed, they will consume baking soda along with your food and perish.
This is especially effective for ants because they bring the powder back to their colony, killing other ants. You can also sprinkle baking soda directly onto ant mounds outside the house to destroy them.
Another household item you can use instead of baking soda is chalk. Spread chalk around any areas where you’ve noticed bugs congregating. It has the same effect as baking soda, but it is not harmful to children or pets.
If you want something a little less hands-on, try using black pepper instead of baking soda. Place small piles of black pepper where you see pests clustered, and they will completely ignore your home. You can use this trick on ants or any other crawling pest that may enter your home. The strong smell of the pepper interrupts their navigation system, so they don’t even realize your house is there.
Diatomaceous Earth
Another great eco-friendly way to keep pests away from your home is diatomaceous earth. It’s made of tiny fossils with small pointy tips that cut the exoskeletons of insects as they crawl through them.
They dehydrate in a matter of hours and die shortly thereafter. Sprinkle some diatomaceous earth around entrances and cracks where pests are likely to enter your home. It should keep away ants, cockroaches, crickets, earwigs, silverfish, bedbugs, and even snails and slugs.
Use Food Waste to Turn Away Pests
You can also use leftovers from the kitchen as natural pest repellents. If you have fruit flies, put some apple peels in a container with vinegar and leave them for a few hours. Because the mixture’s main ingredients are alcohol and sugar, the flies will flock to it and drown.
If ants are a problem, try putting leftover meat or fish near doorways where they can enter. You can also scatter cloves around areas where bugs congregate because they have been shown to repel cockroaches and silverfish. Another excellent idea is to fill a spray bottle with water mixed with orange and lemon peels and spray around entrances to repel insects.
Use Herbs that Repel Insects
Certain herbs produce natural chemicals that can be used as natural pest repellents. You can plant these around windows or other entry points for pests in your home to keep them at bay. For example, basil, tansy, tarragon, wormwood, dill, rue, lavender, rosemary, and thyme are all good ant repellents.
Another option is to create a bug-repellent herb garden with these plants in various pots and display them around your home. You can even plant some in outdoor planters along your window sills or near any point of entry for insects. Be sure to include mint, as it also acts as a good natural deterrent against ants and other crawling insects and mosquitos.
Keep Pests Out
Cockroaches, ants, and other pests can be a real annoyance in your home. To get rid of them, you must take the necessary steps. Door seals, food waste such as orange peels, and leftover herbs are eco-friendly ways to repel these unwanted guests naturally. Ensure to implement them correctly, so you don’t run into another issue.
