21 Simple Ways To Make Your Home Pest-Free Without Harmful Chemicals

What does summer mean to you? To most, summer means pool time, cookouts, county fairs and camping trips. But, if you‘re like me, summertime means one thing: bugs. Anytime I go outside during the summer, I am fighting swarms and swarms of insects that want nothing more than to feast on me, and THAT is NOT my idea of summer fun!

Many people use chemical insect repellents that contain DEET. However, these repellents are packed with chemicals which are detrimental to our health and can lead to other health issues. So, the best thing you should do is use a natural way in order to repel insects. There are many natural ingredients that are completely safe to use and can provide better results even than the chemical insect repellents. So, check them out!

Natural Ways to Repel Insects

Cedar

Natural cedar is an effective way to keep the moth problems away. Moths have a natural aversion to cedars which means that placing cedar blocks or shavings in your dresser or closet can prevent these little bugs from chewing through your clothes.

Citrus Peels

The peels of the citrus fruits can be used for rubbing the areas of the house that are more likely to have spiders, like bookshelves or windowsills.

Lemon Eucalyptus Oil

According to the experts, lemon eucalyptus oil can provide the same results as DEET when it comes to repelling mosquitoes. Moreover, it can be used to prevent deer tick bites.

Garlic

Eating plenty of garlic can help you to keep the mosquitoes away. When your body secretes the garlic, bugs will sense it, thus staying away from you. If you don’t want to experience garlic breath, you can also sprinkle garlic powder around your house!

White Vinegar

White vinegar can be very effective in the case of ant problems. All you have to do is put some white vinegar in a spray bottle and spray the areas of your home where ants may appear.

Herbs

Plant some fragrant herbs around the front and back door of your house in order to keep bugs from getting into your house. You can try basil, catnip, garlic, mint, citronella, lemongrass, and even bay leaves!

Keep A Clean House

Keeping your house clean is an excellent way to stay away from pests. You should dust, vacuum and wash all the surfaces with soapy water regularly!

Cinnamon

Cinnamon can also help you to protect your home from bugs. According to the experts, if you sprinkle the cinnamon in a line around the bugs’ point of entry, be sure that they will not cross the line! Another interesting fact is that sprinkling cinnamon in kid’s sandboxes can also keep the bugs away!

Baby Powder

Baby powder can be more effective than DEET! Just sprinkle baby powder around your home. This will effectively repel those annoying pests, trust me!

Chalk

It seems that ants are afraid of chalk. Well, not afraid, but they avoid walking through chalk. So, if you want to eliminate ants from your house, just draw chalk lines around your house, and see the amazing results!

Cucumber Slices

You should slice a cucumber and leave it on your kitchen counters. Ants do not like the cucumber, so they will stay far away from your kitchen!

Dryer Sheets

Putting a dryer sheet in the pocket while you are camping, gardening or hiking can keep mosquitoes, gnats, and many other insects away!

Onion

You should slice up some onions and toss them in a bowl of water. This will make the bugs run far away! In order to protect the plants in your garden, you can use onion plants in the garden as “companion plants”.

Sugar And Baking Soda

It is a fact that cockroaches are attracted to sugar. You should take equal parts of sugar and baking soda, mix them and sprinkle in areas where roaches can appear. The sugar-baking soda mix will affect their digestive system and eventually kill them.

Vanilla Extract

You can prepare an insect repellent that does not smell like onions or garlic! You should mix the vanilla extract with water, and add lemongrass extract, lavender, or mint extracts. This insect repellent will smell good and will effectively keep the pests away!

Wear Light Clothing

It is very important to avoid dark colored clothing and consider wearing light-colored clothing. Mosquitoes are attracted to dark-colored clothing, so obviously your fashion choices can help you to protect yourself from the bugs.

Relax

When we stress or sweat, our body releases pheromones and hormones that the bugs are attracted to. So, try to calm down, because you are becoming a target to the bugs! Also, instead of exercising outside, make sure to do it inside in your air-conditioned home!

Soybean Oil

Even though soybean oil is commonly used in cooking, recent studies showed that it can be used as an insect repellent as well! The results of the study showed that insect repellents made with soybean oil managed to keep the mosquitoes away for 94.6 minutes, which is significantly more compared to other plant-based repellents!

Citronella

Bugs do not like this lemony grass-like plant at all! Citronella is found in many outdoor candles, lanterns, and torches. It is one of the most effective natural insect repellents. You can use the candles, apply the oil on your skin, or plant citronella grass outside of your house.

Use Unscented Toiletries

Bugs are naturally attracted to fruit and flowers and fruit. This means that if you are using strawberry-mango shampoo, you are more likely to be their target. If you have a huge problem with bug bites, make sure to use unscented or fragrance-free body products!

Get Rid of Standing Water

The fact that mosquitoes prefer to live in standing water indicates that you may be unintentionally inviting them to come in your house. So, you should remove any containers that might be harboring stagnant water. Also, make sure to keep your grass trimmed short. This will protect you from those little pests!