We’ve always said that the best type of pest control is preventative and proactive, not reactive. Before an infestation breaks out, there are plenty of tips and tricks available for your own personal hygiene to help stop insects from weaselling their way into your home in the first place. So, whether you’re a midnight snacker or a lazy launder, here are our five best tips for personal hygiene that will keep bugs out of your life.
1. Don’t Store Dirty Clothes In Piles
First, let’s talk about your washing. Bugs love damp, dark places. They like to live, eat and breed there, so the more of these places that exist in your bedroom or home, the more likely you are to attract unwanted creepy crawlers. If you’re guilty of throwing the pair of jeans you just wore back in the cupboard, stop right now. Instead, air them out for maximum use before washing, or simply throw them in a hot cycle wash before packing them away.
Why? Because if there are any bacteria on your dirty clothes, it’s going to become much tastier for pests – and where pests are eating, they’re also breeding. Furthermore, if the clothes are in any way damp from sweat, rain or simply from not being dried properly before being put away, this risk increases even further. We’ll say it again so there is no doubt – Put ONLY clean, dry clothes in your cupboard.
Extra tip: Always wash thrift store items, and items you’ve dug up out of storage before putting them in your regular cupboard too!
2. Don’t Eat In Bed
Not eating in bed is something most people were taught as children. Yet, as adults, it’s one of the most commonly forgone personal hygiene tips. We all know that food attracts bugs, and if you’re someone who would argue whether ketchup belongs in the fridge or cupboard, we hope you’ve considered the impact of bringing your bowl of chips into your bedroom. As you eat, small particles of food drop off of your fork and into your sheets, which, you guessed it, attracts bugs of all kinds – cockroaches, ants, bedbugs, you name it. Plus, when you eat in bed, you’re far more likely to leave the dirty dishes on your bedside table overnight – another big no-no if you’re looking to keep bugs at bay. Our advice? Eat in the designated dining area of your home, and wash your dishes immediately after the fact.
3. Wash Your Sheets On HOT, Regularly
It’s unpleasant to consider, but there is a lot of weird fluids and particles that come off of the human body at night. Sweat, skin, hair, just to name a few. This combination, if not taken care of, can build up and attract bugs. It is recommended to wash your sheets at least once a week for that reason alone. You want to do this on a hot cycle (or run the sheets through a dryer post-wash) to ensure that any bacteria, bugs or bug eggs are terminated in the process.
However, further to that, is the idea that your mattress itself is actually another place for insects to harbour. We’ve mentioned this before, but it’s recommended that you clean your whole bed at least once a month. Strip the entire bed, vacuum the mattress, and ensure each layer of your mattress protectors and toppers are cleaned separately to ensure all small critters and their larvae have been cleared.
4. Turn On the Extractor While Showering
So, we know that insects like cockroaches and silverfish love damp, dark places. One thing they love more than those two things combined? Humidity. And for us humans, the bathroom is an insect’s cornucopia once the humans have gone to bed. There isn’t much you can do about that fact – aside from drying the bathroom up after every use. However, there is one way that you can minimise the amount of humidity and dampness that forms in the air while you’re using it, and that’s by turning on the extractor fan while showering.
By turning this fan on, you’ll be sucking up most of the moist air rather than boxing the steam inside of the room. If you’re like most people, after showering you’ll close the bathroom door and let it sort itself out. And if you’ve used the extractor fan, or employed some other type of ventilation, such as opening a window, drying out will take far less time and close the gap for unwanted guests to make a home.
5. Close the Toilet Lid When Flushing
Fun fact: Bacteria particles can spray out of the toilet when you flush with the lid open! Always close the lid before flushing, especially if you’re trying to keep out insects. As we mentioned before, the bathroom is the ideal place for a bug to infest – especially if there are bacteria and other nasties hanging around.
What makes this worse is the fact that these bacteria and virus particles can hang around for a good one to two hours after each flush. Ick!
So, as you can see, there are plenty of preventative measures to keep bugs out of your home, and they start with simple changes to your routine. If you’ve neglected one of these tips, and you’re facing a pest problem, give Cure-All Pest Control a call on (07) 3349 8572. Our friendly technicians can help diagnose and solve a problem with ease.
