How to Remove Bugs From the House

Treat your home with insecticide sprays and thorough cleaning to rid it of pesky creatures.

Home pest control can be daunting, particularly if you have children or pets. The most effective way to rid your abode of pests is through a combination of thorough cleaning and bug eradicators known as pesticide sprays. These potent sprays are potentially harmful if inhaled due to the potency of the pesticides' chemicals. The type of pesticide you'll need depends on what type of pests are in your home. Store-bought pesticide sprays are available for killing most insects, but, according to the Complete Household Handbook, boric acid is a powerful alternative to chemical pesticides. Boric acid is nontoxic and environmentally friendly, and it is effective against specific insects including ants.

Things You'll Need

• Face mask
• Pesticide spray
• Rubber gloves
• Boric acid power

Instructions

Insecticide Sprays

1. Move your furniture away from the edges of walls and corners to prepare the walls for spraying. Many household bugs reside in dark areas of your home, which include in the cracks and corners of your walls.

2. Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands from coming in contact with the insecticide. Wear a face mask to cover your nose while spraying the insecticide.

3. Spray the insecticide spray on the baseboards of your floor and along the edge of the wall. Focus on cracks and corners of your home to ensure all areas of your home are sprayed or covered with the chemical.

4. Open your home's windows for at least four hours to air it out, as breathing in insecticide sprays are potentially harmful and can affect your breathing.

Supplemental Methods

1. Wash your clothes and sheets using the hottest washer setting possible to rid your home of bugs that live in fabric.

2. Set bug traps throughout your home. Some bugs, such as ants, can be killed using ant traps that use poison the insects get on them when they enter the trap. The exposed ant carries the poison back to the nest. Once ingested, the poison quickly kills the nest for two to three months, depending on the trap.

3. Wipe down all surfaces that may have food particles on them, as leftover bits of food attracts bugs.

4. Keep your trash cans airtight. Ants love old food and gravitate toward unsealed garbage cans.

5. Sprinkle boric acid into cracks in your walls and floors to kill ants. The ants take the boric acid back to the nest and consume it.

References

• Good Housekeeping: How to Get Rid of Insects and Pests
• "Ask the Bugman: Environmentally Safe Ways to Control Household Pests"; Richard Fagerlund and Johnna Lachnit; 2002
• "Good Housekeeping The Complete Household Handbook"; Editors of Good Housekeeping; 2007