How to get rid of insects with natural remedies

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Here are some tips on how to get rid of insects using natural remedies, without jeopardizing the health of pets and even more so people.

The best way to avoid seeing insects in your home is to not attract them. Take out the garbage in a timely manner and keep it in a closed container, immediately remove it from the table after eating.

However, this is often not enough to never see the pesky critters. Here are some ways to get rid of insects without buying chemical repellents.

Ants

These tiny creatures can deliver many unpleasant minutes in the country or at a picnic. Here's what will help keep them out of your food.

Cleanliness in the kitchen

Wipe off sticky spots and crumbs from kitchen tables and surfaces, cover the sugar bowl and bowl of honey.

Cucumbers

Spread a cucumber peel around the kitchen or where ants enter - it repels many species of ants.

Mint

Leave a few bags of dried mint or mint tea where the ants enter.

Block the entrance

Trace where the column of ants enters the house, and place the following ingredients on this place: hot peppers, citrus oil, lemon juice, cinnamon or coffee beans. Make these components (one or more) cross the path of the ants.

Leave the light

Leave a small night light or lamp in places where ants congregate. Lighting can interfere with their foraging activities.

Build a moat

If ants get to a bowl of food for animals, wash the floor around it with hot water and soap - this will knock down the trail of the ants. Alternatively, you can place the bowl in a fairly flat plate filled with soapy water - this will be a kind of moat for the ants, and they will not be able to overcome it.

Corn flour

Place heaps of cornmeal in the path of the ants. They eat it and take it home, but they cannot digest it and die. It will take at least a week for this remedy to work, but you will not worry about children and pets, because flour is absolutely harmless.

Homemade ant bait

Mix one teaspoon of boric acid, 6 tablespoons of sugar, and 2 cups of water. Soak balls of cotton wool in this and spread them out in the path of the ants. The mixture dries up, so it is better to pour a little into the bottle cap and put a cotton ball in it so that the mixture constantly feeds it.

Just be careful! If you have small children and pets, keep them away from this trap: boric acid can irritate mucous membranes, skin and eyes.

Work ants will not only poison themselves, but will also bring low doses of boric acid into the nest. So be patient, it will take time to poison the ants.

Mosquitoes

Perhaps mosquitoes are much worse than ants. Because of them, summer hikes with an overnight stay sometimes become simply unbearable, and in the city it is more than unpleasant to comb the bites.

Block entrances

Mosquitoes become most active in the early morning and early evening. They fly in calm, stagnant air because the breeze blows them away. So close windows and doors on the leeward side.

Remove stagnant water

Check the house for stagnant water: small pools in the yard, a bowl of water for your pet. Change the water at least twice a week and try to eliminate any open sources of stagnant water in your yard.

B-B-Q

If you occasionally barbecue in your backyard, try throwing some sage and rosemary over the coals. This will keep mosquitoes away.

Garlic

Excellent natural repellent. Mix 1 to 5 garlic juice with water, pour into a small spray bottle and apply to exposed parts of the body. The effect lasts up to 5-6 hours from the moment of application.

You can also soak cotton strips in this composition and hang them in places where mosquitoes can enter.

Neem oil

This oil is obtained from the fruit of the neem, a tree growing in India. Its leaves and seeds contain a substance that repels mosquitoes, but the oil itself is harmless to human health. Just add a few drops to your favorite lotion and apply to exposed areas of the body.

Grow more flowers

Plant valerian flowers in your garden or cottage - they look great and repel mosquitoes. Rosemary, marigolds, lemon grass (citronella) and lemon balm also work.

Mosquito candles

You can make candles from aromatic oils and molten wax: 15-30 g of essential oil for 450 g of wax.

Here are some good recipes for mosquito repellent oils.

Recipe number 1

• 5 parts citronella oil.
• 5 parts lavender oil.
• 5 parts clove oil.

Recipe number 2

• 5 parts citronella oil.
• 5 parts lavender oil.
• 5 parts peppermint oil.

Recipe number 3

• 10 parts citronella oil.
• 10 parts of cedar nut oil.
• 5 parts eucalyptus oil.
• 5 parts rosemary oil.

Homemade mosquito repellent

For a homemade mosquito repellent mixture, you will need essential oils and something you can mix with, such as vodka or olive oil. For best results, mix different essential oils: lemon, eucalyptus, citronella, cinnamon, juniper, cedarwood oil.

Flies

The following remedies will help to cope with terribly annoying flying creatures.

Herbal pillows

Spread small bags of cheesecloth with dried mint, bay leaves, cloves, and eucalyptus around the house to keep flies away.

Homemade fly tape

In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup corn flour, a teaspoon of white sugar, and a teaspoon of brown sugar.

Cut a strip of brown kraft paper, soak it in the resulting mixture, and let dry. Make a hole at one end of the duct tape and hang at home.

Sweet basil

Planting sweet basil next to the door on your property, or growing it in a pot on the window, is a great plant to repel flies and mosquitoes. You can even take it with you on a picnic so that insects don't annoy you too much.

Eucalyptus oil

If you have a lot of flies, try soaking a rag in eucalyptus essential oil and hanging it in an area where the insects gather.

Spiders

These insects do not wait for spring and calmly exist in our houses and apartments all year round. Use several methods and you won't have to remove cobwebs from corners as often.

Mint

Mix a few drops of peppermint essential oil, some detergent, and plain water. Pour the mixture into a spray bottle and spray all corners where cobwebs often appear.

Coconut oil and vinegar

A mixture of coconut oil and white vinegar is also great for spiders, but before you spray your home with this mixture, test it on a small area of carpet, curtains, and wallpaper - the oil can leave marks.

Citrus essential oils

Spiders dislike citrus oils - lemon, orange, and lime - as much as mint. Of course, this won't kill them, but it will force them to avoid places that smell of citrus. Only buy natural essential oils (you can find them at the pharmacy), not fragrant fakes.

Natural spray for all harmful insects

This homemade spray will help you deal with all of the above insects.

It includes:

• 220 g of apple cider vinegar with vodka;
• 45 drops of peppermint essential oil;
• 15 drops of lemon or wild orange essential oil.

Mix ingredients in a spray bottle and apply as needed. Refrigerate when not in use. The shelf life of such a mixture is 2-3 months.