You could spend every weekend fixing up your home, shopping for nice accents and new furnishings, but if you’ve got a pest problem, nothing can cover it up. Although your efforts at great housekeeping aren’t totally wasted, you know you need to address the pests. Keep reading for helpful advice on how to get rid of them for good.

Do you have a problem with fruit flies? You can get rid of them with a little apple cider vinegar! Pour some vinegar into the bottom of a tall glass. Add a little bit of dish soap. The fruit flies will swim into the glass, but won’t be able to swim out, and will drown.

Ask your exterminator to use the most effective methods first. Many exterminators assume that you rather give the less potent methods a try first, in order to save money, but they very rarely work. You might as well just use the most effective method so that it is done and over with.

Sweep your kitchen and dining room floors and wipe your counter tops every day. Even small crumbs or bits of dropped food can attract ants, roaches and other pests. It is a good idea to empty the garbage each day. Trash can be a breeding ground for house and fruit flies.

If you believe that you have a bat in the house, leave a window open overnight. Try to pick one that is located close to where you think the bat might be. These pests follow the air current, so they should go right back outside if they have a way to exit the premises.

You should regularly inspect the plumbing of your home and make sure you do not leave any traces of water, for instance under the pots you use for your plants or on your kitchen counter. Humidity can lead to a fungus infestation and leaks will provide pest with the water needed to survive.

Is your home infested with ants? Sugar and borax can be mixed together to rid you of them. While the smell of sugar will attract them, the borax will kill them. Just mix a single cup of sugar and one of borax. Poke holes in the top, and sprinkle it around baseboards and inside cabinets.

If you are having a pest control problem, look to your cabinets in your home for where the bugs are coming from. Pests love these dark and damp areas. Clean all your cabinets thoroughly once a month. When you are spraying for bugs, make sure you hit these areas with a quality pesticide.

Before you attempt to get rid of any pests, you must identify them. Not knowing what kind of pests you’re dealing with can lead to using ineffective methods or methods that make the situation worse. By properly identifying the type of pests you’re dealing with, you can develop control measures that can get rid of them.

Remove dead trees and shrubbery. If you let these dead plants just sit around, you are begging for pests to hang out around your home. Instead, be proactive and remove them the minute you can. If it’s not a full tree, but simply a few branches, cut them off immediately.

Make sure that all of your windows are closed when you go to sleep at night or go on vacation. The last thing that you will want to do is to give the bugs outside a free entryway into your house. Seal all windows when you are sleeping or not home to reduce pests.

One of the biggest sources of pests entering your home is the type of mulch you use on the outside garden beds. If you are using wood chips, termites are attracted to this and will get inside your home from it being in close proximity. Use rocks and stone in your garden instead to eliminate this problem.

There are few things more unpleasant in life than walking into your kitchen for a bite to eat, only to see some unwanted visitors eating crumbs on your kitchen counter! If you want to minimize your chances of developing an ant problem, make sure to always put away any food immediately.

You need to decide just how much tolerance you have for certain pests. For instance, can you handle an insect in your garden or an ant in your kitchen every now and then? Most people can deal with this very small problem. However, you probably will not tolerate any fleas or ticks in your home. Once you are aware of the amount and type of pest activity you can tolerate, you can then develop a proper plan.

Most people love to putter around the house, making improvements and adding personal touches. Unfortunately for people with a pest problem, you can never really feel good about your home until you get rid of them. Hopefully this article has provided you with solutions you can use to get the pest problem under control, permanently!

Cool Pest Control Tips You Should Know About was originally published on Spring