Easy Ways to Naturally Get Rid of Bugs in Pantry
June 30th, 2010 Posted in Pantry & Linen PestsThe pantry is like a haven for pests.
Food crumbs, open containers and more attract all sorts of insects into your home. Once they decide to settle in and stay a while, it can be difficult to get rid of them for good.
But don’t fret. Here are some easy ways to rid your house of pantry bugs, naturally.
Interested?
Identify the Problem
The first step to effective home pest control is identifying the problem. There are many pantry bugs, and each one infests certain foods.
First signs of infestation are normally small brown bugs crawling around in open packages of food.
This is not the only sign of infection, however. Unopened and open packages of food alike may also contain insect eggs, larvae and/or pupa, which will further spread your bugs in pantry problem.
Checking for holes in new food packages helps to ensure insects have not begun to attack your food. Keeping containers sealed also helps to prevent infestation.
5 Quick and Easy Home Pest Control Methods
1. Clean Like Crazy
Frequent pantry cleaning with help prevent bugs from entering your pantry, but it will also help to get them out if they’ve already invaded.
Eliminating the food sources, like spilled honey, loose crumbs and hidden piles of bird seed (often stored by mice) will starve the bugs in the pantry and force them to relocate.
When cleaning, use the vacuum to suck up bugs and spilled food products in hard-to-reach areas. Look for holes and cracks as well, because this is where many bugs will nest.
After vacuuming, scrub the pantry with soap and water to further remove food residue. Also be sure to dispose properly of the vacuum bag, because live bugs may find their way out of your vacuum and back into your pantry, if given the chance.
2. Throw It Out
If you’ve found infected food, do not hesitate to throw it out.
Once eggs are laid, the infestation will spread rapidly. The faster you dispose of the insects and their eggs, the quicker you will get rid of the problem.
3. Use the Freezer
Freezing potentially infested foods will kill any eggs, larvae or insects that may be inhabiting the food. Just pop these foods into the freezer for 4-5 days, and you will prevent infestation.
This is most effective with new foods, and acts as a preventative measure.
Check out this video to see the technique in action.
You can also set the oven at 140° and “bake” the infected foods for an hour.
4. Repel with Bay Leaves
Putting bay leaves in and around your pantry will repel bugs. Many of the bugs in the pantry, like the weevil, hate the smell and will leave because of it.
This is certainly a quick fix to your pantry problem.
5. Spray EcoSMART
For additional control and prevention, use EcoSMART home pest control.
Spray into the cracks and crevices of your cupboards to kill any hidden pantry bugs.
While this formula is safe for use around pets and children, ingestion could cause nausea. That said, be sure to spray this when the pantry is cleaned out and empty.
After spraying, allow drying time. Vacuum afterward to pick up any dead insects.
Use these 5 easy tricks, and you’ll solve your bugs in pantry problem in no time.
Natural pest control has never been so easy.
