Kitchens tend to be any home’s hub. Yet, there are a few unwelcome pests that we’d rather didn’t gather in space where we cook, eat and store our food.
Rodents, pantry pests, cockroaches and fruit flies can easily find their way into your kitchen and quickly get to work spreading bacteria, contaminating your food and generally ruining the kitchen.
How to Prevent Pests in Your Kitchen
There are a few preventative measures you can take to ensure your pantry and kitchen remain as pest free as possible, including:
- Always wipe up spills and crumbs on countertops, shelves, tables and floors right away.
- Store your food in airtight containers and regularly get rid of rubbish, preferably in sealed bags.
- Only ever buy food that comes in sealed packages and is not damaged.
- If you have packages and canisters of dry food, such as rice and flour, add a bay leaf to the container. The pungent scent of the bay leaf often repels a range of kitchen pests.
- Carefully keep tabs on expiration dates on your baking ingredients.
- If you tend to keep fresh fruit on your kitchen counter, check it over often for any signs of decay or over-ripening. It is better to throw out fruit, preferably in outdoor rubbish bins to prevent pests’ eggs from hatching in your indoor rubbish bins.
- Never allow dirty dishes to pile up or stand in the sink for any period of time, rather wash dirty dishes immediately.
- Never leave your pet’s water and food bowls to sit out for extended periods of time.
- If you have damages screens on exterior doors, repair them right away and install door sweeps.
- Be sure to regularly check for and eliminate moisture sites, such as clogged drains and leaking pipes.
- Seal crevices and cracks on the outside of your home and all around your kitchen, especially around water pipes and stove pipes.
- If you are battling with a pest infestation in your home, visit https://gopestfree.com/ as they have effective pest control products that can help solve the issue.
Kinds of Pests to Watch Out For
- Cockroaches
Cockroaches scurrying around under the fridge or into corners in the kitchen are simply gross. They spread several different kinds of bacteria and their droppings and saliva contain allergens.
- Rodents
Rodents are simply disease-carrying, sharp-toothed pests that invade millions of homes each year. Both rats and mice spread viruses and salmonella bacteria, and they can bring a slew of diseases into the home, including lice, fleas and ticks.
- Fruit Flies
Contrary to what you may have heard, fruit flies don’t come from inside decaying fruit and they’re not miraculously born from rotting fruit. They actually detect yeast that is typically produced by decaying fruit – even from extreme distances. Once they identify a potential target, they get to it easy enough and enter through the most miniscule of crevices and cracks.
- Pests in the Pantry
Pantry pests usually gather around your pantry cabinets and food, such as chocolate, candies, dry cereals and flour. The most common pantry pests include ants, moths and beetles.
Watch out for these pests and follow the above prevention tips to prevent them getting into your kitchen.
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