Home is everything we want it to be – our little safe haven. Nothing will decimate that sense of autonomy quite like a line of ants on the kitchen counter – or worse, a cockroach scuttling under the fridge. I had a mom visit once, for a few months and she was in the bathroom when a spider crawled across the floor. It was like she needed to burn the house down and move! That night she slept with a cotton ball of peppermint oil next to her bed, for real.
Sure, you can call an exterminator—been there, spent too much—but that’s often not necessary. Half the time, there are some super simple things you can do first, that do not require you to spray a ton of chemicals all over your house or write a $200 check for someone to tell you that it was the crumbs. (which is rude, but fair).
So before you start to freak out, here are 11 dead-easy and tried-and-true methods to keep them out of your home. No hazmat suit needed.
Cockroaches need water to survive, so a water roach trap is the easiest way to capture them. Simply fill a jar with water and leave it in an area that’s prone to roaches. Once the roaches climb in the jar, they will be unable to get out.
Speaking of roaches, there are a few things you can do to make your home unappealing to them. Roaches thrive in dark, damp places, so ensure that you air out your house regularly and deal with any water leaks. Get rid of excess debris or boxes of junk, as these make perfect homes for roaches.
And one more tip about roaches: They absolutely hate strong smells. Fill a spray bottle with Listerine and a few drops of peppermint essential oil. Spray the solution along baseboards, under furniture, under your kitchen sink, and any other places you’ve seen roaches in before.
Ants despise strong smells, especially that of cinnamon. Use powdered cinnamon or cinnamon essential oil to coat cotton balls, then place the cotton balls along your windowsills, near door frames, and anywhere else you suspect ants are getting in from.
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