making them an excellent choice for DIY Pest Control baking soda is an effective desiccant that dries out insects like ticks and fleas when applied directly to their bodies. vinegar is a natural repellent that can keep them from returning once they have been removed from the area.
It's most effective against ants, spiders, and mosquitos. You can keep spiders from entering your home by spraying vinegar around your property's perimeter and entryways. For ants, vinegar breaks the pheromone trail they use to communicate, making it harder for them to navigate and enter your property.
There are many types of bugs that baking soda works on but two main culprits… ants and roaches. Both ants and roaches are controlled quite well through the use of baking soda.
Similarly to bed bugs, baking soda will kill cockroaches by drying them out. In order to ensure they are exposed to the baking soda, simply mix it with white granulated sugar to attract the bugs and place the mixture in shallow dishes where you have seen the cockroaches.
Both apple cider vinegar and white vinegar are a good base for an insect repellent, as they deter flies and, combined with specific essential oils, will deter mosquitoes and ticks as well.
Many pests don't want anything to do with vinegar. It's known to help repel ants, spiders, and other pests. You can also use vinegar to remove scent trails created by foraging ants. This can confuse ants and make it harder for them to return to your home.
Vinegar Spray
Vinegar is used in many homemade cleaners, however not many people know, that vinegar is an excellent bugs and spiders repellent. Prepare a solution of 1 part vinegar and 1 part water, and spray around your home.
Those most closely associated with repellency are citronella oil, eucalyptus oil, and catnip oil, but others include clove oil, patchouli, peppermint, and geranium.
One of the easiest homemade bug sprays, simply mix one cup of white vinegar with three cups of water. You can also add half a teaspoon of dishwashing soap to help the solution adhere. Shake thoroughly and apply to the affected areas.
To avoid serving freshly baked treats sprinkled with bugs to your family and friends, take a moment to check your baking supplies for signs of bugs. Even new, unused bags of flour, sugar, baking soda, and other products purchased from the store may contain pantry pests.
In addition to being a great cleaning agent, vinegar is effective in deterring many types of pests. Ants despise the smell of vinegar, and vinegar will wipe out the scent trails they leave around the house to navigate.
#2: Baking Soda Is a Convenient Home Remedy for Cockroaches
A concoction of baking soda and sugar is an effective cockroach killer and controls the multiplication of these pests. Sugar acts as a bait to attract cockroaches and the baking soda kills them.
Although mixing vinegar and baking soda is not considered dangerous, you should still avoid mixing these in a container. Vinegar is acidic and basic soda is basic, so the by-products are sodium acetate, carbon dioxide, and water that are not toxic.
Trap Fruit Flies and Aphids With Vinegar
Fruit flies and aphids find the smell of vinegar irresistible.
Fruit flies are drawn to the smell of fermentation, and apple cider vinegar is one of their favorite fermented smells. The apple cider vinegar works to draw the fruit flies into the trap, where they climb through the holes in both layers of foil, but cannot get out easily.
Lemongrass, citrus, peppermint, eucalyptus, tea tree, citronella, catnip, and lavender oils all possess properties that repel bugs. The oils can be used individually or combined to make a simple anti-bug potion. Mix about 1 cup of water with 25-30 total drops of oil into a small spray bottle.
Out of the three types of insect repellents, DEET insect repellents are “by far and away the most effective,” Markowski said. “It's kind of the gold standard if you will.” DEET was developed by the U.S. Army in 1946 and was approved for public use in 1957, so it's been around for a while.
EUCALYPTUS. Everyone knows Eucalyptus Oil is great for relieving cold and flu symptoms, but it is also a very effective insect repellent. Research shows that this pungent oil is more effective against sand flies than any other natural product.
They are attracted to the odor of the carbon dioxide that we exhale. Bees and gnats can also be attracted to the smell of our breath. Sweat is another body excretion that attracts insects.
Spiders really don't like strong scents such as citrus, peppermint, tea-tree, lavender, rose or cinnamon. Add 15 to 20 drops of your chosen essential oil or a couple of capfuls of Zoflora fragrance to a spray bottle filled with water, and spritz around the house.
The only difference between cleaning vinegar and the distilled white vinegar is their levels of acidity. White vinegar is usually 95 percent water and 5 percent acid. By contrast, cleaning vinegar contains up to six percent acid and is around 20 percent stronger than regular white vinegar.
Have a fear of spiders? Just spray some WD-40 on places where spiders and other insects can get in, such as windowsills and door frames. It will keep the spiders and other bugs out.
Vinegar: Mix equal parts white vinegar and water in a spray bottle and spray it directly onto any spiders you see. Vinegar contains acetic acid which burns the spider upon contact.