How To Stay Pest-Free In Busy Times

For teachers and families with children, the school year is undoubtedly the busiest time of year. There are so many tasks and appointments taking up our time these days. Between the meetings, pickup and drop-off times, practices, field trips, and performances, it feels like there’s no time to solve the random problems that pop up. As if they can sense our stress, pests always seem to make their appearance at the worst possible time for us.

Pest problems occur when these critters invade our homes and yards because they found something they love. Whether it’s ants tracking crumbs in the kitchen or bed bugs enjoying a tasty meal of our blood every night, pests are relentless in their pursuit of fulfilling their basic needs. The easiest way to avoid a full-blown invasion is to do your best to prevent pests from invading in the first place! Let’s discuss the best ways to keep a pest-free home, even in the busiest times of year.

Use Airtight Containers

If you take anything away from this list, let it be the fact that multiple pests are drawn to open food and will do everything it takes to get inside. By storing your pantry items in airtight containers, you consequently keep them safe from hungry pests. Ants, roaches, rodents, and pantry pests all love our food and easily make their way inside flimsy packaging. Use glass or acrylic containers with secure lids to keep your pantry items fresh and protect them from pests.

The food items that we recommend you transfer into airtight containers are:

Rice
Pasta
Cereal
Chips and crackers
Baking essentials (flour, sugar, etc.)
Dry pet food (you can use a lidded Rubbermaid plastic trash can for this!)

Have Proper Trash Management

It’s a scientific fact (maybe) that the more people live in one house, the faster the trash can fills up. Regardless of how many people live in your home, it’s essential to take out the trash as soon as the bag is full. A trash can full of smelly garbage is appealing to disgusting pests, like roaches and flies. Use strong trash bags and a lidded or concealed trash can for the kitchen garbage, and take it out before it’s overflowing. As for the big outdoor trash cans, store them away from the house and keep the lids closed when not in use.

Eliminate Extra Moisture

The house’s bathrooms are constantly occupied during a busy season of life, what with everyone getting ready for the next meeting or appointment of the day. If the ventilation in your bathroom isn’t the best, the humidity might be an attractant for moisture-loving pests. Roaches, earwigs, and silverfish all prefer to live in humid settings. Turn on your bathroom’s exhaust fan — make sure your kids use it as well — while using the shower to eliminate as much humidity as possible. Check the plumbing for leaks and get any current leaks fixed ASAP.

Clear The Clutter

Who has time for intensive organization when your family is always on the go? Although many pests (rodents, roaches, etc.) love living in clutter, you don’t have to keep a spotless house in order to prevent pests. The key is just keeping dirty or used items in their designated areas instead of leaving them scattered everywhere. For example, make sure all dirty clothes are kept in the basket or hamper, not strewn across the floor. Also, keep all dirty dishes in the kitchen sink and try to wash them as soon as you can.

Keep The Floors Clean

Speaking of the floors, an easy way to keep your house tidy and keep pests at bay is to keep the floors clean. All of the crumbs, dust, and hair that collects on our floors are appealing to ground-dwelling pests, such as ants and carpet beetles. You don’t have to do a deep-cleaning of the floors every day (unless you want to). A basic vacuuming, sweeping, or mopping about once a week should do the trick in eliminating these pest attractants. Also, make sure to sanitize the counters often in order to eliminate any bacteria and crumbs.

Mow The Lawn

Yard work isn’t usually the priority when life gets busy, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less important! If you were to ask us, the most important yard chore to do consistently is mowing the lawn. When the grass is overgrown, ants, spiders, and ticks can hide within the tall blades. Once a week is a good routine for the warmer months, and you can lengthen the time between mows once the weather cools down. On weekends that are less busy, you can also trim back plants and tree branches from the house to eliminate these “pest highways.”

Do The Laundry

We mentioned it earlier, but keeping the dirty clothes contained and doing the laundry on a regular basis are easy ways to eliminate pest attractants. It can help to do a load of laundry each day that you’re home for long enough to do it, rather than saving the mountain of clothes for the weekend. Also, don’t let stained clothes sit for too long without treating the stains. Crickets, roaches, and carpet beetles all enjoy food-stained clothing. Plus, you don’t want the stains to set in and ruin your favorite clothes!

Sanitize School Items

Finally, don’t forget about the bags your kids take to school every day! Backpacks and lunch boxes can hold a lot of bacteria when they’re not cleaned often. Some backpacks can be thrown in the washing machine, so check the tags to see if that’s an option. If you can’t wash their backpacks, sanitize the outside with an antibacterial wipe once a week. Also, keep lunch boxes in the kitchen and make sure your kids don’t leave any food inside for days on end. Roaches and fruit flies love rotten foods, so sanitize and clear out the lunch boxes often.

Green Is Here To Protect Your School Year

Now that school is in, life is a whole lot busier for many households. The last thing you need to worry about is a pest infestation, so why not leave the time-consuming process of pest control to the professionals at Green? Our licensed technicians provide long-term solutions for current pest problems to keep the issue from popping up again in the future. We are dedicated to protecting your home from all kinds of pests, from ants to rodents to termites. Every treatment plan is completely customized to solve each pest issue at hand because pest control isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. Contact us today to learn how Green Pest Services will keep your home pest-free this school year!

Citations

Back to school pest control. (2024, January 29). Catchmaster. Retrieved August 21, 2024, from https://www.catchmaster.com/blogs/blog/back-to-school-pest-control?srsltid=AfmBOooVz6OGIVl55gxYMr9radHYL5r6CtjbXGPku8RIJHypOVTVBu-M

Eco Lips. (n.d.). Back to school pest control: How to keep bugs out of your home. Bug Soother. Available at https://bugsoother.com/blogs/news/back-to-school-pest-control-how-to-keep-bugs-out-of-your-home?srsltid=AfmBOornxXzY_evR7RR-SM3mMXtGPSGonxa4bgGQZyfDmvBynv2PCmmK (Accessed on August 21, 2024).

Michael, R. (2018, September 5). 8 tips to avoid back-to-school pest problems. Defense Pest Control. Available at https://www.defensepestcontrol.com/blog/2018/september/8-tips-to-avoid-back-to-school-pest-problems/ (Accessed on August 21, 2024).