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How To Pest-Proof Your Home
By Alex Daniels
A home is the place that you go to feel safe, enjoy life and just relax. When it comes to protecting your home and family, it’s important to be mindful of your surroundings and do everything possible to keep your haven from becoming an inviting place for pests.

First and foremost, tidiness is essential in keeping your home from becoming a pest paradise. Clean up all spills promptly using soap and water. Ants love sugar or anything sweet, such as Cool-Aid, soda and other similar drinks, so make sure that all spills are handled appropriately.

Did you know that your kitchen cabinets can be an inviting place for rodents if not properly maintained? Do not leave open food, including cereal, potato chips or any type of candy in your kitchen cabinets. Instead, seal them properly and place them in a neat fashion to prevent spillage.

In order to prevent pests, you must learn to think like one. How many ways can a potential pest enter your home? What can you do to make their task an impossible one? If there are any holes, cracks or imperfections in your home that could provide a potential entryway for critters, fix it. If you’re handy, you may be able to do the repairs yourself. Otherwise, hire a professional. The key to pest-proofing your home is to make it more difficult to gain entrance.

If you do notice a pest problem, deal with it immediately. After all, where there’s one, there’s probably more. In extreme cases, you may even need to call an exterminator. These professionals have the capability to completely rid your home of unwanted pests, but it often requires that you leave the home for up to several days while the process is conducted.

Some homeowners may choose to use commercial pest products, but choosing wisely is a must.

It’s important that these products be used as directed and stored out of reach of children. Homeowners must follow the directions and consider any cautionary and/or warning notices in order to prevent injury to themselves or others. Ridding your home of pests is one way to deal with them, but prevention is even better.

The information contained in this article is designed to be used for reference purposes only. It should not be used as, in place of or in conjunction with professional advice surrounding pest control. For additional information, consult a pest professional in your area.

Alex Daniels consults for a gift store that offers wedding favors and another shop offering leather cleaner & care products for furniture and clothing.

Wise Use of Natural Insecticides

The word natural sounds safe and welcoming. It indicates that something is safe because it comes from nature. People trust nature. But anything used in excess can become a negative thing. Anything used in the wrong way or in the wrong combination can become harmful. So it is with natural insecticides.

Wise use means using responsibly. Wise use means you know how the product can be harmful so that you make no mistakes with it. Natural insecticides have become more popular as the concern about the earth's safety and preservation has become more popular. But natural insecticides can still be damaging to pets, to plants, and to people if used improperly.

You have to know the proper application, how much to use at a time (more is not always best), and what precautions to take while you are using the insecticide. If you plan your garden wisely, there are plants that repel insects and good insects that can safely dispose of the not so good ones.

Many people think wasps are bad. They can be if someone is allergic to them and gets stung. They can be if a mischievous child irritates them just to see how angry they can get. But wasps are also good for our environment. They are not just insects that can harm; they are a positive force as biological control for our agricultural crops. They help keep caterpillars under control. If you wonder why this is helpful, ask the farmer or gardener whose crops are ruined by the caterpillars. If the crops suffer, we suffer as prices rise because of the damage that is done to reduce availability. Developing a pest management program is wiser than over-use of pesticides, whether they are natural or not. If you must use a pesticide because of the location of the wasps or because they have become out-of-control around your home or property, at least wise up about the best way to do so.

There are natural insecticides that are so toxic that we must cover our faces to avoid ingestion while using them. One such product is the dust of diatomaceous earth. Even though it is a form of calcium, and calcium is a useful mineral, we must take care when applying it for insect control. The minute particles are not good for our lungs. Any dust that is inhaled excessively can be harmful.

Rotenone is a botanical insecticide extracted from the roots of certain plants in Asia and South America. If you use this substance unwisely, you can damage your fish and beneficial insects. It causes stomach poison in insects, acts slowly, and loses effectiveness a week after being used on the plants. But if you inhale unsafe amounts of this insecticide, you could be sick longer than a week. Wise use of it can control aphids, some beetles, fleas, lice, and some caterpillars. So, if you don't want to hurt your butterfly population, you may want to choose another type of insect control.

Of course, some natural insecticides are more harmful than others. Just remember to always wash your hands, cover your nose and mouth, avoid using them on windy days, and be careful with them around small children and animals.

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