Your kitchen, with its heat, grease, spilled food, moisture, and water, and food source, attracts a wide range of pets such as cockroaches, ants, carpet beetles, and silverfish which are known to multiply at a fast rate.
Pest Be Gone, a renowned pest control Rocklin company that uses eco-friendly products, shares some tips on keeping your kitchen “unattractive” to insects and pests.
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Proper disposal of leftover food.
Dispose vegetable and fruit peels and leftover food to a covered garbage box to prevent cockroaches, flies, and mice from your kitchen.
Treat stored food infestation immediately.
Flour, grains, and pasta attract “stored food” insects like confused flour and dermestid beetles, rice weevils, and grain beetles. To deter these insects that can easily chew through plastic and cardboard containers, use airtight bottle or plastic containers.
If you discover the infestation early, i.e., before the food becomes badly infested, you can salvage content by heating or freezing it. You can either heat the pasta or grains at 130 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, or deep freeze them for at least four days. Once at room temperature, repackage them in an airtight container.
Meanwhile, badly infested food should be sealed and disposed of immediately to prevent reinfestation.
Wipe off all spills and crumbs.
Make sure that you immediately remove any spills, crumbs, and other food debris that attract ants, cockroaches, and mice.
Maintain good sanitation.
Moisture, spilled food, and grease can get into cracks, behind drawers, and under sinks and refrigerators, attracting pests into your kitchen. For this reason, periodic cleaning and vacuuming is recommended to discourage infestation.
While you can use store-bought products to clean your kitchen, DIY cleaning solutions such as those with soap, vinegar, lemon, and boric acid can also keep your place clean and “unattractive” to pests.
You must keep your kitchen pest-free because many foodborne illnesses like salmonella, E. coli, and listeria are spread by pests such as rodents, flies, and cockroaches.
Remove excess moisture.
Keep your sink clean and moisture-free by fixing leaking and clogged pipes, cleaning greasy drains, and washing your dishes after use rather than letting them pile up for long periods of time.
Seal your house.
You can prevent unwanted “creepy visitors” from coming into your home by sealing cracks and crevices of your house’s exterior with a silicone-based caulk. For additional protection, install a door sweep at the bottom of your door and repair broken windows and screens.
Caulking and door sweep not just protect your home from pests but also keep away dust and moisture and maintain a comfortable indoor temperature.
Inspect and store your food properly.
As soon as you arrive home from your grocery trip, transfer bulk-bin items like legumes, grains, and flour into airtight containers. You should also inspect your grocery for any evidence of pests such as droppings and gnawed packaging. Remember, pests often gain access to a home by “hitch-hiking” in groceries and packages.
Hire pest control services.
When the infestation has become out of control, you may want to consider hiring pest control services. Ideally, choose an environment-conscious company like Pest Be Gone that uses low-hazard chemicals and products that only kill the target pests and not “friendlier” insects (bees and ladybugs) and other animals.
If you have a kitchen pest infestation, contact this eco-friendly commercial and resident pest control expert at (916) 257-4942.