How to Keep Bugs out of a Pressure-Treated Storage Box

Hot peppers repel various types of bugs.

Pressure-treated wood contains chemicals that prevent insect damage. While this characteristic is one reason it is used as outdoor construction material, the chemicals don't keep bugs out of your pressure-treated storage box. Bugs can get into the storage container and begin eating away at its contents. You can stop a bug infestation with hot chili peppers. Most bugs cannot stand the smell and heat of chili peppers. A quick spray of an all-natural, homemade pepper solution keeps bugs at bay and presents no health risks to family and pets.

Things You'll Need

• Pot
• 1 qt. Water
• Stove
• Knife
• 3 Jalapeno peppers
• Sieve
• Bowl
• Funnel
• Squirt bottle

Instructions

1. Boil 1 qt. of water.

2. Chop three jalapenos and add them to the simmering water. Allow the peppers to sit in the boiling water and stir for three to five minutes.

3. Turn off the stove. Allow the mixture to cool. Do not handle until the water reaches a safe temperature.

4. Place the sieve over a bowl and pour the contents of the pot into it to separate the water from the chopped jalapenos.

5. Place a funnel into a squirt bottle and pour the hot-pepper water into the bottle. Tighten the squirt bottle.

6. Spray the mixture around your pressure-treated storage box to repel harmful bugs.

Tips & Warnings

• Use pure vanilla extract as an alternative all-natural bug repellant that also smells good. Dab small amounts of the extract around and on the pressure-treated storage box to repel bugs.

References

• 1800 Recycling; Making Homemade Bug Repellent; Joey Papa; 2010
• Garden Mandy;5 Homemade Chemical Free Bug Repellents That Work; June 2008
• Strong Tie: Pressure-Treated Wood