7 Ways to Get Rid of Insects in Your House That Actually Work

We all want to keep our houses pest-free, but the chemical pesticides in stores are way too toxic and harmful for using anywhere near your home, family, and pets. If these chemicals can kill insects, surely they cannot be good for us and it’s better to use something natural and safe when it’s possible.

5 Fun Facts wants to show you these simple, easy, safe and effective tricks to get rid of household insects.

1. Cockroaches

Cockroaches are not only disgusting things to see in your house, but they also may carry very harmful diseases. There are many products you can get from the store but they are usually highly toxic. There are a few remedies that are cheap and safe, and most importantly, they work.

Chop one onion and add one tsp of baking soda, and put this mixture in the corners of your house. Reapply it daily and very soon you will find your house roach-free.

A simple yet effective mixture. Baking soda and sugarare able to effectively help kill roaches, and you’ll be able to notice a quick decline in the population as a result. You’ll need to know where the roaches are hiding out, so it’s important to make note of where you’ve seen these pests before planting the bait for them to eat.

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

• Baking soda
• Sugar
• A bowl or cup

Baking soda is not toxic in the same way as boric acid, and it will begin to mix with the roach’s stomach acid, causing it to die over time.

You’ll need to mix equal parts baking soda with equal parts sugar (1/4 cup of each is a good start). Now, all you’ll need to do is sprinkle them in the areas that you’ve seen roaches. You’ll need to leave this bait out and repeat your sprinkling of the mixture often to ensure there is enough to kill the roaches

Sugar isn’t the deadly portion of the mixture, but it will work to attract the roaches.

Boric acid can be purchased in stores or online, and this is one of the best killers of roaches, ants and a variety of other pests. This acid has been proven to be effective at killing roaches, and it’s one of the most widely used remedies for this purpose.

But boric acid isn’t safe for consumption, so you’ll need to keep it out of reach of children and pets.

This is a poison, and long-term exposure can cause you to become ill. Ingesting boric acid will result in poisoning as well.

Roaches will die if they come in contact with this acid, but there are a few points you need to consider when sprinkling boric acid in your home:

• Only a light dusting is required (too much, and it will be ineffective)
• Boric acid is not effective when wet

The goal is to have the roaches walk through the boric acid powder, which is difficult if the roaches are in tight corners or under the cabinets. Once you’ve placed the acid, the roaches will get it on their antennae, legs and body. During grooming, the acid will be ingested, which will result in death for the roach.

Fabric Softener Spray

A home remedy to get rid of roaches that takes a little action on your part. Fabric softener can kill roaches, but it can’t just be placed on the floor in hopes that it will get the job done.

Instead, you need to make a spray and actively spray the roaches you see out and about in your home.

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

• Natural fabric softener
• Water
• Spray bottle

You’ll want to mix three parts fabric softener with two parts water. For example, you can combine 3/4 cup of fabric softener and 1/2 cup of water together in a spray bottle and mix it up. A simple shake of the spray bottle before usage is really all that is needed.

The solution will be rather thick, so keep this in mind when going to spray.

When you see roaches, squirt them with the solution. If you see a roach skitter behind a piece of furniture, you can often squirt them with greater ease than if you tried stepping on them, for example.

Roaches breathe through their skin, so when the thick spray gets on the roach, it will suffocate them. This is one of the home remedies for roaches that works best if there is a massive infestation where you’re sharing every inch of your home with these pests.

Dish soap can be used in lieu of fabric softener, but we found it to be less effective.

2. Ticks

Tick repellent for humans

Mix 20 drops of rose geranium essential oil, 10 drops of sweetgrass essential oil, 5 drops of lavender essential oil, 5 drops of citronella or lemon essential oil, and one tbsp of rubbing alcohol, and dilute it to 100 ml with vinegar or water and transfer it into a spray bottle. Shake well and spray on your clothes before going outside.

Tick repellent for dogs

Dogs seem to always be targeted by ticks so check your furry friend frequently, especially after walks at the park.

Mix 20 drops of rose geranium and pennyroyal essential oil with 2 tbsp of almond oil and place a few drops of it on your dog or on their collar.

Do not use it on cats or pregnant animals.

3. Garden pests

4. Spiders

Even if you don’t get poisonous spiders in your area, you most likely would still appreciate knowing that they can’t come in the house. They can get absolutely anywhere and even the smallest ones are really scary.

This natural repellent won’t kill the spiders but it will keep them away because they don’t like strong smells. Add 5-10 drops of peppermint oil into a mix of 200 ml of water and 1/4 tsp of liquid detergent, shake well and spray the affected areas once a week until all spiders run away. The peppermint oil can be substituted with eucalyptus, citronella, lavender or tea tree oil.

5. Ants

Ants can be very annoying and suddenly appear from nowhere, oftentimes sneaking into places in your kitchen or pantry. If ants are making their way into your kitchen, there is a way to make it less attractive for them.

Apparently, ants absolutely hate the smell of cinnamon. Put cinnamon powder in the areas where you think the ants enter from. For more effective results, you can add some essential oil to the cinnamon powder. As a side effect, you’ll get a very nice earthy smell in your house.

Homemade bait for house ants

Borax will kill odorous house ants, and powdered sugar will attract them. Make a homemade bait by thoroughly mixing one part borax with 3 parts powdered sugar. Fill tiny containers (such as bottle caps) with this homemade bait and place them as close to the place where you suspect ants are entering your house. If you see trails of ants, place small containers of the mixture directly in their path. This prevents most of them from traveling all around your house if they have easy access to this sugary treat.

(Have pets or kids who might get into this powdery mixture? Try this instead: mix one cup warm water with ½ cup sugar and 3 tablespoons borax. Soak it up with cotton balls and place them in shallow dishes near ant trails.)

Resist the urge to kill all the ants you see. They will carry the bait back to the nest, unable to differentiate between the borax and sugar, and the borax particles will eventually kill the entire colony. The more bait carried back to the colony, the less ants you will have.

6. Dust mites

These things are so tiny that we cannot even see them with the naked eye, but unfortunately, it doesn’t mean that they’re not around. They live in household dust, prefer warmer places and their favourite food is skin flakes. So guess where they like to be? That’s right, on your bed!

Although dust mites don’t bite, many specialists believe that they can cause allergic reactions and skin irritations. Even if you are not allergic to them, you most likely would prefer not to share your house with these little bugs.

Mix 6 tsp of eucalyptus oil with 1.5 tsp of liquid laundry detergent in 1 bucket of water and soak the washable items — then wash it as normal. For anything unwashable, just spray and wipe it with a clean cloth. If you don’t like the smell of eucalyptus oil, you can substitute it with tea tree oil, which is just as effective.

7. Weevils

If you leave flour, cereal or rice unsealed in the pantry, you might end up with these unwanted bugs in your food. Weevils prefer grains and seeds but can also appear in flour or even pancake mix. You certainly don’t want chemical pesticides anywhere near your food but this trick can be a good solution.

Apparently, weevils really don’t like the smell of bay leaves or cloves. Drop a clove or a bay leaf on the top of your food and around the containers to keep these things away from your pantry.