Keeping pests out of your home takes a combination of controlling the environment in your home and having scheduled pest control treatments. Prevention is a good goal to have so you won't need to deal with the destruction, odors, and germs that come along with house pests. For instance, here are six things you might be doing that make your home welcoming to roaches and other pests.
1. Leaving Dirty Pans And Plates In The Sink
If you have a pan with food stuck on it, you might fill it with water and let it soak overnight. However, doing so creates a nutritious and tempting broth for roaches. Roaches are attracted to both water and food, and when they come out at night, they can feast on dirty dishes left in the sink. Try to clean your dishes before you go to bed so there is no food or odors to attract bugs to your kitchen.
2. Storing Belongings In Cardboard Boxes
Roaches, and certain other bugs like silverfish, love paper and cardboard. Roaches are easy to carry home in paper grocery sacks because they like to hide under the flaps. They love cardboard boxes too, especially ones in your basement that might be slightly damp and not disturbed too often.
Consider getting rid of cardboard storage boxes unless you're getting things in and out of the boxes so often that roaches won't hang around. Instead, put your belongings in plastic totes so there is no attraction for pests.
3. Creating High Humidity In Your Bathroom
If your bathroom doesn't have a vent fan, humidity could build up and be a problem. Excess humidity and moisture is an attractant for many kinds of pests, including roaches. A tiny drip under your bathroom or kitchen sink is also a pest attractant.
Keep your bathroom dry by fixing drips promptly, hanging your bathmat to dry, and opening a window or door if possible when you don't have a vent fan.
4. Leaving Food Unsealed
Roaches aren't picky when it comes to the food they'll eat. Any type of food you leave out on the table, such as a bowl of apples or a pumpkin pie, will attract roaches due to their strong and enticing odors. Even pet food left out on the floor will attract roaches and provide a food supply that helps roaches thrive.
Try to empty your pet's food bowl at night when roaches are active if possible, and keep foods enclosed in airtight containers or in your refrigerator, so they don't attract bugs.
5. Being Lax About Housework
Bugs and mice don't need much food, so they're happy to feed off the crumbs you leave on the couch or in your cupboards. Although it's hard to keep up with housework when you're busy, a clean and decluttered home is a fundamental step in pest control.
A clean home has fewer hiding and nesting places, and it also has less food strewn about in the forms of crumbs, dirty dishes, or a messy garbage can.
6. Putting Off Pest Control Treatments
You probably don't want to live in constant fear of attracting pests, and you don't need to when you have periodic pest control treatments. Rather than waiting to call a pest control service when you're in a panic over a roach or rat infestation, have pest treatments scheduled throughout the year. By doing this, you can keep pests out of your house or get rid of them before they have a chance to multiply and become a nuisance and health threat.
Having pests in your home is more than just annoying. Many of the common pests that invade homes are actually dangerous. Rats can bite young children, spreading serious diseases like leptospirosis and salmonella. Cockroaches can spread E. coli, and many people are allergic to proteins in their bodies. Regardless of which pest is bothering you, it is important to get rid of it as soon as possible. Pest control companies can do a lot of this work, but it is also important to be informed. After all, you are the one who lives in your home and needs to take preventative measures against pests every day. Learn the basics here on this blog, and put them to use.