Keep Pest Out Of Your Home

If you want to prevent a pest infestation or if you’re attempting to overcome a pest infestation you already have, the most important thing you can do is keep your home clean and tidy.

Pests enter your home looking for food and shelter. A messy home encourages pests in several ways. Leftover food, dirty dishes, crumbs, and unfinished drinks in your home look like a buffet meal to pests. They don’t need nearly as much food as you do, and just a little leftover on a plate is enough to encourage pests that found your home to stay and to breed.

A Pest Buffet

Messy homes also provide shelter for pests. Papers or clothes lying about look an awful lot like fallen leaves or other natural shelters that pests would seek out outside. Most bugs, particularly cockroaches, do not want to be seen by you. Clutter gives them plenty of hiding spaces to feel safe and comfortable in your home.

Cleanliness matters for other reasons, too. Vacuum regularly and wipe down your counters and cabinets with soapy water. Pests leave scents in the paths they walk and in their feces that attract others of their species. Yes, if pests are in your house, they’re pooping in your house. Vacuum your carpets to eliminate the feces that attract still more pests. Wipe down your counters and cabinets to eliminate the trails that attract more pests.

The most important habit you can adopt to manage pest problems is to always have the dishes cleaned and the kitchen garbage out before bed each night.

If you need to develop some new habits to get a clean house, consider the following video to help you start:

Simply keeping a tidy home will go a long way to discourage an infestation. If you’re already struggling with an infestation, get your home clean first, then move on to the next step.