Urban Survival Guide: Natural Ways to Get Rid of Household Pests and Insects

Nowadays there are numerous insecticides and pesticides on the market that you can buy and use to get rid of bugs and pests. Then again, why should you use these store bought products when there are cheap natural alternatives? Besides being cheaper, natural methods also prevent you from possibly harmful chemicals contained in most pesticides and insecticides. Below are a couple of ways you can get rid of those bugs bugging you and pests pestering you.

Mice/Rats

Black pepper is a spice with tang that gives food that extra punch it needs. However, most people can’t tolerate its smell because it makes them sneeze. Mice and rats can’t tolerate it too. Sprinkle black pepper in places where you may encounter rats and mice. It will keep them away.

Ants

Cucumbers are a great ingredient to add to salads. In addition, cucumbers are a great remedy for reducing eye puffiness and wrinkles. And that’s not all cucumbers can do. Cucumbers can also be used to keep ants away. Apparently ants can’t stand them. Keep ants away by placing cucumber slices near ant holes or places ants like to frequent.

Cockroaches
Cockroaches are tough creatures with firm resolve. They just never say die. Did you know that cockroaches can survive nuclear holocausts?! They are tough bugs, aren’t they? However, you can kill these tough critters by using a simple home-made solution of soap and water. Just mix a bit of detergent and warm water in a spray bottle and shake well. Upon spotting roaches, spray them aiming for the roaches’ head and abdomen. The solution will kill the roaches by blocking their breathing pores causing them to suffocate.

Spiders

Deter spiders by using lemons. Spiders are repelled by the smell of citrus. To get rid of them, rub the peels of a lemon on the areas where spiders are commonplace like the corners and crevices of the house or any other place they frequent. On the other hand, you could mix equal parts water and lemon juice in a spray bottle and spray areas prone to spiders with the solution.

Bedbugs
Forget all sorts of insecticides you’ve seen on the market. The best way to get rid of bedbugs is using hot water. Not only does hot water kill bedbugs, but it also destroys their eggs too. And you really want to get rid of their eggs, because bedbugs reproduce fast! Bedbug eggs take about 6-17 days to hatch and a single pregnant female can cause an infestation of more than 5,000 bedbugs over a 6 month period. Yikes! To get rid of bedbugs pour extremely hot water along the lining of your mattress and the crevices and frame of your bed.

Houseflies
Flies are pesky and indefatigable creatures. They tirelessly buzz around you’d think they are on steroids. Worse still, they are incredibly swift so swatting them isn’t an option. To deter houseflies, use cloves. To make this solution even more effective, cut a lemon into half and stick several cloves into each half and watch them buzz away.

Mosquitoes

According to vampire legend, vampires hate garlic. Vampires are closely associated with bats, but perhaps mosquitoes are a distant relation to them. Mosquitoes detest garlic. Ward off mosquitoes by eating more garlic. Apparently garlic disorients mosquitoes and stops the mosquitoes target finding receptors from working well, thus preventing them from locating you as a suitable blood source. If this sounds far-fetched, sleep under a mosquito net to avoid contracting malaria. Besides, prevention is better than cure.

Snails & Slugs

One of the most well-known and effective ways to get rid of snails is to make beer traps.
Place a container of beer (Guinness is best for this, but you can use whichever!) in your garden and leave overnight. The snails will be attracted to the smell of the beer and climb into the saucer/bucket, where they will become intoxicated by the alcohol, fall in and drown. If you aren’t keen on wasting perfectly good beer on your garden snails, you can also make similar traps using grape juice or water mixed with 1/2 teaspoon of yeast and a tablespoon of sugar.

That’s not all. There are lots of other natural remedies too! Other remedies include:

Herbs: Herbs like lavender, mint, bay leaves and basil ward away flies.
Vinegar: It can keep away flies and gnats. Use it to keep your dog pest free.
Baking soda: It can keep away spiders and kill rats by suffocating them.
Cinnamon: It can deter various creatures like ants and moths.

Any that has worked for you and we’ve left out? Let us know!