Your Pest Authority of Charlottesville knows how icky and gross pests can be in any room of the home. But when it comes to the kitchen, you really want to keep pests away because that’s where you prep and eat your meals as a family. There is nothing less appetizing than catching a cockroach skittering across the floor as you sit down for breakfast or finding moth larvae in your pantry and boxes of food.
You can bet these pests and a whole host of others are more than ready to make your kitchen their own. You also want to prevent this from happening, not only because these critters are gross and off-putting, but any infestation is not good for the health of you or your family. Simply put, bugs and vermin don’t belong anywhere near your kitchen. They are dirty and they are leaving their waste behind, usually in your pantry, your cabinets, your countertops. You certainly don’t want the food you eat near any of that.
The trouble is, you have all of the tasty and enticing food stuffs in your kitchen and they want it. The trick to keeping them from it is to reduce all the enticements. Here are the steps you should take to do just that:
Cleaning Up
This is your best defense against keeping the pests away. Dirty dishes left in the sink for days, trash piling up, and improperly stored leftovers are all hand-written invitations for pests to come into your home and start feasting. Any remnants of your last meal are going to be detected by pests in the area, don’t give them the satisfaction of a home cooked meal. Clean up everything right after you’ve finished your breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Cans and Jars
Pests aren’t attracted to food they can’t smell or access. Keeping that in mind, homes with particularly bad pest problems may want to stock up on more canned and jarred foods. These are airtight packing options that won’t just keep your food fresher longer but it will all but eliminate the attraction for pests to find their way into your pantry to get at that food.
Refrigerate
Another impenetrable adversary to win the war on vermin is your refrigerator. Items that need to be placed inside the fridge should be, but you may also want to consider placing items that you might normally keep in your pantry as well. Things like bread, potatoes, and cereal are all tasty targets for pests and they would do well to be preserved longer in chilly temperatures.
Dump the Trash
Don’t wait for it to pile up and start to emanate a strong foul odor before bringing it to the nearest dumpster. Take it out on a regular basis and especially after you place meats, dairy, and other foodstuffs that can rot. These will make pests more likely to enter the house seeking out a meal from your leftovers. Doing this routinely will go a long way towards preventing pests from getting in and driving you and your family crazy.
