October is over, and that means the holidays are just around the corner. For homeowners, that means decorating, getting guest bedrooms ready, and brainstorming what treats you can bring to that holiday party. With so much going on, the last thing you want to worry about is dealing with your guests finding a spider in the shower, or a centipede in the guest bed. Follow these five easy tips to help keep your home pest free this holiday season, so you can get back to enjoying time with family and friends.
Do a Deep Clean
Whether you did a spring cleaning or not, there are likely areas of your home that have gone untouched for months, and could use some cleaning. Use this list as a reminder of these forgotten about places, and why you should clean them:
The Basement
Whether your basement is finished or unfinished may play a factor in how much time you spend down there, and certainly in how often you clean it. If you have an unfinished or partially finished basement, exposed support beams and rafters can be a great place to start cleaning. These dark, warm spaces create the perfect environment for spiders to set up shop and build webs. Use a broom to run through these areas, and that should be enough to pull out any webs that may be hiding. Keep in mind: if you have spiders, they’re likely eating some other bugs that may be in your home.
Furnace Room
Another area you probably don’t spend much time, the furnace room creates a nice, warm environment for bugs to live undisturbed by you. Take a broom and vacuum through it and that should be sufficient maintenance until spring.
Note: Keep an eye out for rodent droppings, as this is a tell tale sign of recent activity. Set up traps as necessary.
Under Appliances
If you’ve ever dropped something under your stove, you know just how filthy it can get under there. The mess of dust bunnies, crumbs and forgotten utensils creates a perfect environment for mice and rats to hide away from you. While you’re at it, pull the refrigerator out and sweep away all the dust behind and under it.
Behind/Under Furniture
There is nothing scarier than seeing a spider crawling on your favorite couch or chair. To prevent an incident like that this holiday season, pull furniture out from the wall, and clean under and around it. Additionally, if your couch cushions are removable, pull them out and clean underneath.
Bookshelves
Bookshelves can get extremely dusty if not cleaned regularly, and the area behind books and knick-knacks is particularly prone to be missed when cleaning. While a little dust doesn’t hurt, tiny bugs such as dust mites and booklice may be hiding back there. Also, silverfish are happy to eat the starch out of your book bindings, making a bookshelf seem like a buffet.
Spare Bedroom/Bathroom
When getting your spare room and bathroom ready for your holiday guests, make sure to vacuum and clean the edges of the room carefully to make sure that nobody wakes up with a centipede crawling across them.
Keep Decorations on Shelves
At some point this holiday season, you’ll find yourself pulling out boxes of decorations, wrapping paper and ornaments. In order to keep these items safe from outside intruders, it is important that they be stored on shelves, somewhere off the ground. Most household pests are capable climbers, and having these items on the ground gives pests easy access to ruin your decorations.
Clean The Kitchen
The holiday season always brings with it the smell of sugar cookies, roasted meats and stuffing. Whatever sort of cooking or baking you may be doing this year, it will more than likely create a mess. Since you’ve already cleaned under your stove and refrigerator, make sure the kitchen is safe from pests by cleaning up after yourself. After a big meal, send leftovers home with relatives, or store them in sealed containers shortly after eating. All of these practices will keep away any flying insects that have survived this long, or curious mice that are already fiercely trying to get into your home.
Prevent Bed Bugs
The holidays can bring a lot of travel. Whether you are going out of town to visit relatives, or staying at a hotel, or your college kid is finally coming home, it is important to be wary of bed bugs during this season. Bed bugs can live in furniture or on clothing, not just beds – and are often transferred from one place to another via clothing during travel.
If you are worried about guests bringing them in – wash the sheets and vacuum carpets shortly after they leave.
If you are worried about your college kid bringing them home – do her laundry for her when she gets home, and again, wash the sheets after she leaves.
Check the Tree
If your family celebrates the holidays with a real christmas tree, keep in mind that not so long ago that tree was standing outside, and you could be bringing unwanted hitchhikers with you. You may have tiny insects such as scale, aphids and mountain beetles coming along for the ride. Carefully inspect the tree before bringing it inside, and clean it using a 20 parts water, 1 part bleach solution. Create the mixture in a bucket, dip a cloth into the mixture and then run it down the length of the trunk to take care of anything that may be hiding.
Closing Notes
While all of these tips are effective against pests in your home, all of them combined won’t completely eradicate pest problems that you may be facing. If you have a large scale infestation, or are constantly having to squish bugs in your home, it is best practice to hire a professional pest control company to handle these problems for you.
