Eliminating Pests With Cleaning

Flies.  Spiders.  Roaches.  Centipedes.  Earwigs.  All of these annoying sometimes horrifying creatures have resided in this basement apartment of mine, I still see spiders way too often for my comfort levels, but they are almost always already dead!  If you don't know the history of my apartment I have the ugly truth all laid out on the blog here.  I'm talking dead bird on the counter buried under trash kind of ugly!  Rest assured; I was not the cause of this mess.  Your trusty cleaning blogger here wouldn't do that.  My home is my safe haven; I want to come home and feel calm in a clean space.  If my space isn't clean I feel anxious (like most people I think) and want to get it clean, clean, clean!  So, sharing my home with bugs is a big no no!

First, DECLUTTER!  I feel like a broken record but I cannot emphasize this enough.  Garbage and webs are little homes for bugs are in your clutter.  Get rid of it.  Papers and boxes are a big problem as well, not only is it stressful and pointless, it's bad for the environment and food for roaches.  If you have to have papers put them somewhere high off the ground and in a closed container or folder.  No boxes!  Using a more sturdy storage bin will help with pests.

Second, dust and vacuum thoroughly.  I'm talking all the nook's and all the cranny's man.  The one spot you miss will be the one spot where they live!  When you vacuum you suck up any baby spiders or other bugs too small to see in the carpet.  If you really want to be hardcore get a steamer and remove the head, steam will kill bugs and dust mites and roach eggs.  It's a good way to kill things without the use of chemicals.

Third, lifestyle change.  Do not make clutter, and start to vacuum regularly and dust.  To get roaches and flies out of your hair follow these tricks!  Clean your trash can, outside and inside, about every two times you empty your trash or any time there is a spill.  The smell of rotten food will attract them!  

After you kill a bug, clean their guts off of the wall or ceiling!  Obviously get rid of the bodies too.  For flies, the smell of other fly guts attracts them.  Yuck!  Plus then there aren't questionable spots on your wall, well, not from bugs.

Sweep your floors and try to not leave dishes in the sink overnight.  If you do leave dishes in the sink, make sure they are rinsed super well so there really isn't all that much residue on them!  You can make sure to soak your dishes in hot soapy water, this will make your dishes don't get that hard crust of nasty on them.

Clean your drains and disposal!  For your disposal a little orange or lemon rind goes a long way and smells AMAZING!  For your drains, sprinkle baking soda in the drain and then pour some vinegar, works great to clear up stinky gunk!
Essential oils.  Peppermint, Eucalyptus, and Tea Tree.  I mix them in a spray bottle with water and not only is it an air freshener, apparently it is a deterrent for bugs.  Just make sure you keep your spray in a dark glass bottle, light ruins some of the properties of essential oils.  I'll be honest, this isn't proven, but it smells nice and offers peace of mind!

After you've done these things and implemented these lifestyle changes, you really need to try some pest control if you live in an area with lots of bugs.  There are DIY pest control things you can do with essential oils and if you are as freaked out by bugs as I am, it's worth looking into!  Happy Cleaning!