14 Common Household Critters And How To Remove Them From Your Home

Jun 12, 2018

Warm summer days often invite some unwelcomed guests to your home. Those guests come in all shapes and sizes and are usually hard to get rid of. No, I am not talking about your aunt and uncle. Instead, I am talking about those pesky insects that make their way into your home unannounced. You may find them hiding out in the most unexpected places. 

Hiring an exterminator can cost hundreds of dollars. To save you time and money, we have put together a list of some of the most common household invaders and how to get rid of them. 
 

Coachroachs can damage your home and negatively impact your health. Roaches can carry bacteria that could contaminate your foods, trigger allergies, and cause a virus like polio. To get rid of all cockroaches in your home you will need to go directly to the root of their headquarters. Boric acid is safe for humans but deadly for roaches. 

Centipedes love food just as much as the next guy (or gal), so to prevent them from reaching you your pantry, trap them with cayenne pepper. Peppers contain capsaicin, which is what gives vegetables a spicy taste. Centipeds hate all foods that have a spicy flavor. 

Ants come and go in large armies, so squashing them one by one is not an effective means of removing all ants from your property. To get rid of a large number of ants in your home quickly, you will need three ingredients: sugar, boric acid, and warm water. 

You will need to mix one cup of sugar with three tablespoons of boric acid. Slowly add some warm water to the mixture. Finally, dip a cotton ball into the solution and spread it on a nearby wall (preferably near an outlet). The boric acid will tear apart their digestive system. 

Many spiders are harmless, yet some many Americans are afraid of these creatures. You can keep spiders away from your home by place orange peels in every room. Spiders hate citrus scents. 

Fruit flies seem to appear out of nowhere. They are small, harmless bugs, but a pain to remove from your home. Fruit flies like to hang around moist structures and fermented foods. But even after you thoroughly clean your house, they can continue to come back. There are two life hacks you can use to get rid of fruit flies. 
 

• Mix vinegar and soap in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Then poke a hole in the plastic so the flies get trapped.
• Introduce them to your oven with lemons. Once they land on the lemons, shut the door and turn the oven to broil.

Bed bugs hide around mattresses, bed frames, carpets or any other object that keeps them hidden. These pesky parasites can carry dangerous diseases, so it is essential to get rid of them as soon as possible. To get rid of bed bug you will need to thoroughly clean all surfaces of your home and then tightly cover up all cracks in your furniture. 

Rodents can carry all kinds of diseases, so if you like their company, well you shouldn't. Setting up traps around your home rarely works. Instead, sprinkle cat litter around areas you think they nest. Small rodents hate the smell of cat litter. It reminds them of their predator. 

If bug spray didn't contain so many chemicals, it might be more appealing. A safer alternative is placing herbs and plants around your lawn and in your home. They hate the smell of lavender, basil, and lemongrass. 

Ladybugs might be the one bug on this list that you don't entirely hate. With that said, you should not welcome them in your home. They hate citrus smells, so any oils with lemon should scare them off. 

Earwigs like to hang out in damp areas. They can damage some of your crops if you have a garden. Consider using cedar essential oil to scare them away. 

The first thing that may come to mind when you think about ticks is Lyme disease. The number of reported Lyme disease cases is increasing each year. To help get rid of ticks, you can spread cedar chips around your yard. 

To keep moths off your property, keep your porch lights on as much as possible. Also, keep some lavender or bay leaves in your kitchen drawer. 

The best way to keep dust mites out of your home is to keep every room in your house clean. Wash your sheets and clothing on a regular basis. 

Lice may not appear as often as some of the other pesky bugs mentioned in this article, but they do make an appearance from time to time. You can use garlic, baby oil, tea tree essential oil to prevent them from entering your home. 

Have any of these life hacks worked for you? What do you use to get insects out of your home? 

If you enjoyed this article and found it useful, consider sending it to a friend that may be trying to get rid of insects in their home!