How do you control kitchen pests?
One of the most vulnerable spots or areas for pest activity is the kitchen in any home.
It’s easy to see why. The kitchen is where food is being prepared. Now pests get into homes for three primary reasons, food, water, and shelter.
So, it’s not difficult to figure out why you see these pests around.
You may want to know, ‘How do I keep my kitchen pest free?’. Read on.
Pest Control For Kitchen
Control measures vary with the type of pest. It’s common knowledge that different pests pose varying degrees of problems for homeowners. The kitchen is usually the ground zero of such activity.
In this article, you’ll find details on pest control for the kitchen and tips to take back control of your kitchen.
Ortho Home defense Max and Hot Shot Kitchen Bug Killer are popular products used in kitchen pest control.
Identifying the Problem
What’s the nature of your pest problem? Whether you operate a commercial kitchen or are worried about the state of your residential kitchen, the same pests are involved.
These include roaches, rats, mice, ants, spiders, and a whole range of others.
Although many of these pests are nocturnal creatures, you might come across them during the day. Also, a visit to your kitchen at night might reveal a whole lot about the extent of the problem.
This is especially evident when you turn on the lights at night.
With the problem identified, what you do next is highly important. There are lots of options available to you.
These are broadly categorized into preventive action, DIY pest removal, and calling for professional help.
Pest Control Strategies
Under this section, we’ll be discussing each of the pest control strategies mentioned earlier for kitchens. These include preventive control, DIY pest control, and professional treatment. How does each of these strategies work?
Let’s discuss them as follows;
i. Preventive Pest Control for Kitchen
Most kitchen pest issues are a result of your actions or inactions.
You may be oblivious of certain habits you have that promote or attract pests. Most of these have to do with the level of hygiene you maintain and how you store your food.
To keep pests at bay, you’ll have to block all entry points, regular cleanup, cover your garbage, proper food storage, and dispose of overripe fruits and vegetables.
Pet food and water shouldn’t be left overnight, and also fix faulty plumbing.
How To Prevent Pest Infestation In The Kitchen
-
Block All Entry Points
Pests are good at exploiting openings and spaces. They’re likely to have gotten into your kitchen through such.
Your drainage points, kitchen windows, broken walls, broken floor tiling, and roof tiles provide ample entry for these pests. You’ll need to have all such points fixed to keep pests out of your kitchen.
-
Perform Regular Cleanup
Improper hygiene is the single biggest contributor to pests in the kitchen.
Observing more frequent tidying of the kitchen area will do a lot to keep them at bay. Kitchen appliances have to be wiped clean, and all food crumbs and spills cleaned after every meal.
Also, you’ll need to do the dishes and clean countertops as frequently as possible. The goal is to make your kitchen area unsuitable or unattractive to these pests.
-
Cover your Garbage
Are your garbage and compost bins well covered at all times?
They need to be. Also, their contents must be disposed of daily to avoid pests coming around. Consider getting airtight containers to make entry impossible to pests.
-
Proper Food Storage
How you store your food will determine whether or not pests come around. Proper food storage is essential.
You should avoid leaving food items in the open and look for containers into which leftovers will be emptied and well stored. Your fridge will serve the purpose of storing some food items.
-
Dispose of Overripe Fruits & Vegetables
Some pests find overripe fruits and vegetables very attractive. They’re ready for consumption and should either be eaten or disposed of at this stage.
Keeping these out in the open is an open invitation to pests to come around for a feast. Your fridge will be a great place to store these overripe fruits temporarily.
-
Stop Leaving Pet Food & Water Stay Overnight
Do you have the habit of leaving pet food overnight? It would help if you stopped that because they’re easy targets for pests. Ensure that your pet food and water are removed before going to bed.
Also, the area should be wiped clean of all food particles as these can still draw pests out.
-
Fix Faulty Plumbing
Your plumbing systems are bound to develop faults at some point. During such times, there’s a need for basic maintenance.
The leak from faulty plumbing in the kitchen or anywhere else is a ready invitation for pests as they love moisture. Have these been fixed to eliminate moisture conditions?
ii. DIY Pest Control for Kitchen
Almost every homeowner has performed some DIY pest control in their kitchen.
This is usually the default action before a pest management service is called when the situation worsens. Sometimes, DIY pest control may serve your needs, and at other times, it simply won’t.
This method involves using home remedies or insecticides to combat the pest problem.
Home remedies might work in some cases and not be effective in others. Several reasons can be given for that, including that you may not have applied the treatment properly.
Examples of home remedy treatments include the use of readily available products like vinegar, baking soda, diatomaceous earth (DE), and many others.
When using over-the-counter insecticide products, you should carefully follow the use instructions for best results.
iii. Professional Pest Control for Kitchen
Professional pest control for the kitchen tends to be the most reliable form of combating existing pest issues in the kitchen.
Remember, we earlier said preventive action is the best only for situations where your kitchen isn’t infested yet. It’s also applicable after the successful pest treatment.
Reputable pest control services have experience and the right equipment and supplies to exterminate pests from your kitchen.
Whenever you contact these service providers, pest technicians visit your home for a thorough inspection of your kitchen. The result of such an inspection determines what treatment approach you will use.
These are the basics of pest control for the kitchen.
Even the smallest pest problem can quickly degenerate into a full-blown infestation. By taking urgent action, you prevent that from happening.