Pest Control Tips For Spring Cleaning – Quick Tips On Where To Focus
Spring has sprung this year, and there’s no better time to start cleaning and preventing any potential pests from coming into your home, ruining the rest of the season. If you’ve got a free weekend or even a couple of hours of free time, there are some simple steps you can take to stop a potential home invasion by some creepy crawlies with these pest control tips for spring cleaning.
Your Kitchen And You
First, let’s look at the kitchen. It’s where the day begins and comes winding down – you or the family sitting down and enjoying a meal, you don’t want any more mouths to feed.
The Washington Post says keeping food from piling up, cleaning up loose crumbs, not letting water and dirty dishes piling up in the sink; these are all steps you can take to stop any bugs coming in looking for a free meal or an ideal spot to hang out. Kitchen ants, among the most common spring bugs, will go marching one-by-one all up your countertops, refrigerator, and food pantries.
A good tip is to go through those cabinets and clean up the loose crumbs or old food that may be festering around. Take some time to go through the food in your fridge and throw out anything expired or showing signs of rotting. Even certain expired spices can attract certain pantry pests like beetles, Indian meal moths and ants, of course.
The Bathroom
Another space that needs to be looked at is the bathroom – a sacred place for many. Since you’re going in there to get washed up, there’s bound to be a lot of water splishing and splashing around. Standing water, as it is in the kitchen, is the community pool for some bugs looking for a new home. It’s not only a habitat, but fresh water for pests to drink only compounds the issue.
Pestworld.org says cleaning up all the water consistently, as well as checking around the bathroom for any leaks or other moisture issues will remove that free utility for those pesky freeloaders. Pestworld also suggests taking everything out from under the sink and the medicine cabinet and cleaning up any debris or dirt, and give that shower curtain and liner a good wash. You’d be surprised with how much can accumulate in your bathroom and under counters even if you don’t regularly go in there!
Tight Places And Small Spaces
The last place we’re looking at is the basement, crawlspace, attic and garage. If you have any one it can vary from an entertainment center to a harbinger of perpetual storage and junk. The last thing you want in your house are dark corners that are cluttered, giving a hiding space to anything from spiders to mice.
Avoid using cardboard boxes to store items, and instead replace those with plastic bins with secure lids. While you’re there, also take a look around the walls to see if there are any cracks or crevices. Give those a good caulk to stop those low-key sly entryways for bugs into your home. Anything larger than a a dime can act as an entry point for larger pests as well, so get to patching wherever you can! It’s worth mentioning that this can also prevent water from leaking in and potentially ruining whatever you may have stored there.
General Pest Tips
General things to look at also include screens for windows – make sure those aren’t ripped or torn, replace weather-stripping and repair loose mortar around the foundation. You don’t want a proverbial open door for more bugs to come in, so taking a look at the plant life around them won’t hurt. Pestworld shows when you’re landscaping, be sure to trim bushes and branches around those windows and other entryways into your home. Those can be the welcome wagon for spring bugs into your home.
They call it “Spring Cleaning” for a reason: the winter is over, warmer weather is on the way, and that means more bugs will be out to play. Take some simple steps, a few at a time, and get your home or space cleaned and organized. A little work here and there, or all at once if that’s what you prefer, can limit the headache of a potential bug infestation later on, costing you big bucks to get the professionals in to thoroughly finish the job. We hope you’ve enjoyed these quick pest control tips for spring cleaning, if you have anything to add, please comment below!
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