Do’s and Don’ts of Pest Control

What are the dos and don’ts of pest control?

Do’s

• Properly identify your problem.
• Keep your home clean and well-maintained.
• Alert your neighbors of any infestation.

Don’ts

• Mix up pest control products.
• Leave traps and chemicals in children’s reach.
• Try to do it all on your own.

 

When it comes to pest control, we either decide to do it our own or hire experts to get the job done for us. There are people that prefer the latter because it is the most effective solution to any pest problem. Experts have the right skills and knowledge to get rid of these pests permanently. The methods they use also do no harm to our environment and our family, which is an important yet often overlooked aspect of pest control.

Then again, not all of us has the means to hire experts – they do cost a significant amount of money. So we settle for store-bought pesticides and traps while those who care more for the environment opt to make their own products. Although our own methods and products are nothing but temporary solutions, we still go through with it. For many, it’s what we’ve grown accustomed to and so we continue with the practice.

Whichever route we decide to go with, it is important to note of the do’s and don’ts of pest control and follow them strictly for the safety of our health and the environment.

 

Do Properly Identify Your Problem

There are as many pest control methods and products as there are kinds of pests. In order to ensure a successful extermination, you first have to identify what you are dealing with. Rodents, cockroaches, and termites – these are the usual invaders, but they aren’t the only ones.

 

Even if you’re hiring pest control experts, it’s still best to have a rough idea of the problem so that they can conjure up a solution faster and easier.

 

Do Keep Your Home Clean and Well-Maintained

Nothing attracts pests and insects like uncleaned dishes, food crumbs on the floor, overly filled trash bins, standing rainwater, and untrimmed, poorly kept gardens and lawns. These are things you need to remove from your home if you don’t want to share it with a few dozen kinds of pests.

It is also a necessary step in pest control because it keeps these creatures from ever coming back. You can also treat it as a preventive measure from having to hire pest control services or perform pest control on your own.

 

Do Alert Your Neighbors of Any Infestation

Whenever an infestation happens in your home – whether it’s termites, rodents, bed bugs, or cockroaches – it is your duty as a homeowner to inform your neighbors of the problem.

Speed is key to pest control. Once pest problems and infestations start, they can easily spread like wildfire and affect the whole neighborhood! When it gets to that point, it will be hard to completely rid of the problem and you don’t want fingers to be pointed at you for not immediately alerting people.

 

Don’t Mix Up Pest Control Products

In every sense and meaning of the phrase, do not mix up pest control products. Don’t use products meant for outdoors inside your home. Don’t switch up contents and containers. Do not mix pesticides and insecticides in hopes of creating a more potent solution.

Doing any of these can easily lead to accidents that may severely affect you and your family’s health. The easiest way to avoid this is to carefully read the labels and instructions and do as the manufacturer says.

 

Don’t Leave Traps and Chemicals in Children’s Reach

Leaving pesticides, insecticides, and traps around is a huge hazard especially if you have children in the house. The little ones are filled with curiosity and they will grab, use, and taste everything they can.

No matter how carefully you watch them, you can’t really know for sure what will happen once you turn your back even for just a minute. So, the best way to avoid accidents like this is to simply keep these harmful products out of their reach. If you need to lay down rat traps, then make sure they’re in a place where a child won’t accidentally touch it or set it off.

 

Don’t Try to Do It All On Your Own

As said in the introduction, DIY pest control is nothing but a temporary and convenient solution to your pest problems. There is absolutely no way to permanently get rid of these creatures besides calling in the experts and having them pick the problem by its roots.

Moreover, products bought over the counter can cause harm to the people in the household when not used properly. There are also cases where they exacerbate the problem instead of solving it.

 

Key Takeaway

There are many pest control do’s and don’ts to keep in mind to avoid doing harm to your family and the environment and also to ensure that the problem gets solved permanently. If you stick by the things written above, you can guarantee that pests will never bother you again and live a happy life knowing that you will never have to call in the experts or do your own pest control!