Are you going to be doing some spring cleaning this year? Spring is a good time to hit the reset button, isn't it? If you have something in your home that needs to be thrown out, now is a good time to do it. If something needs to be cleaned, now is a good time for that. When you remove unnecessary items and clean areas that need a good cleaning, you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor through the warm months of the year. But spring cleaning can have an added benefit. When you organize, remove clutter, and deep clean, you can reduce pest populations. Here are a few ways this works.
Ants
You might not know this, but if you don't have a residential pest control plan in place, ants are probably coming and going from your home all the time. They come in, look around for food sources, and head back out to their nests. When ants find a food source, they mobilize into a large, annoying army. This is when we say we have an ant infestation. But a large number of ants in your home does not necessarily mean you have a nest in your home. So preventing an ant infestation can be done by doing a deep cleaning of your home and by taking the time to seal any entry points in your foundation walls and exterior walls.
Spiders
If you don't have a residential pest control plan in place, you definitely have spiders in your home. But you don't always see them or their webs. Like ants, spiders stay hidden until a food source brings them out into the open. An example of this is when you bring a piece of fruit home that has fruit fly eggs on it and set that fruit in your kitchen. In a short time, the eggs start to hatch a few at a time and tiny flies begin to fill your home. Not long after this, you'll start to notice webs in the upper corners of your rooms or around windows. Spring deep cleaning can help you reduce many pests, including spiders. Here are a few reasons why:
- When you clean, you reduce food sources for flies, beetles, cockroaches and other insects that spiders eat.
- When you address repairs, such as fixing leaky faucets and weeping pipes, you reduce moisture that is attractive to many pests that spiders eat, and also the spiders themselves, which can be drawn to moisture, depending on the species.
- When you clean your interior trash cans, you remove smells that attract many pests and, as you can probably guess by now, reduces the spiders that eat them.
- On the outside of your home, your spring cleaning can have a big impact. When you remove unnecessary clutter, you remove harborage locations for spiders. Fewer spiders in your yard means fewer spiders looking for ways to get into your home.
Cockroaches
If you don't have a residential pest control plan in place, your home is easily accessible to cockroaches. When cockroaches get in, they'll thrive if they can find grease on the side of your oven, old juice remnants under your refrigerator, organic sludge in your drains, and other decaying organic matter in secret places. Deep cleaning can make your home less ideal for cockroach habitation.
Do you see how it works?
When you remove clutter, remove food options, and address moisture problems, you can reduce pests. All of these should be a part of your spring cleaning activities if you want to have fewer pests. And remember that a residential pest control plan can give your exterior the added protection it needs to repel pests and keep them from getting into your home in the first place. If you need assistance with this in Elizabeth City, reach out to Albemarle Termite & Pest Control. We would be happy to guide you toward a program that works for your specific needs and budget.