25 Home Remedies for Pest Control in Monsoon

Monsoon is one of the most-awaited seasons because of the pleasant atmosphere it creates.  Besides getting natural relief from the scorching heat, the rainy season offers fresh natural beauty all around.  But where there is bliss, there are some snags around. If natural freshness and cool breezy weather are the bliss of the rainy season, then the snag is the sudden infliction of pests and bugs around.

According to the famous quote of poet William Wordsworth, “Nature never did betray the heart that loves her.” But the poet had probably forgotten the pests and the bugs that infest our homes from time to time leaving us working out the best way to keep the bugs away. In fact, the bugs are one of the most irritating snags of monsoon and they also have the potential to cause many diseases. Though there is a wide range of chemicals, pesticides and insecticides weighing down the store racks, Gharpedia, through this blog brings to you a compilation of home remedies for pest control. Using these time-tested remedies, you can surely get a pest-free home.

But where there is a will, there is a way. With little effort, you can get rid of these pesky bugs and have an insect proof house. It is possible to enjoy the season of monsoon to the fullest if we plan properly and implement ideas to get rid of insects in the house. By cleverly opting for the best way to keep bugs away, we can achieve a pest-free home and be proud of it too.

Monsoon is a season of humid and wet climate; hence it acts as the best breeding season for the mosquitoes, ants, insects, bugs, moulds, fungus, etc. We can ward them off if we introduce and maintain some changes in and around our home with the meticulous use of natural or chemical insecticides and pesticides. However, by now we must have realized that natural and home remedies for pest control are the best way to keep bugs away.

25 Ways to Get Rid of Insects in the House during Monsoon

You may implement a few preventive measures in your weekly errands to get a pest-free home and then go enjoying the rains without having to bother much about the health threats that are caused by these rainy season insects or seasonal bugs. The below-mentioned clues are some handy and best ways to get insect proof house:

01. Declutter the clutter in and around your home. It’s better not to accumulate unwanted clutter, as we often think of disposing them off later and they become a mess. Before the arrival of the monsoon, disperse them off and clean the area thoroughly with bleaching powder or baking soda. It is one of the best home remedies for pest control.

Organized Kitchen Shelves
Organized Kitchen Shelves

Even arrange unwanted things out of your wardrobe, bookshelves, kitchen, storeroom, etc. The more clutter you hold, the more is the risk of the spreading menace. Clutter and the idea of a pest-free home do not go well together.

02. Clean the basement and the parking lot. Get the area cleaned with the disinfectant before the start of the monsoon and repeat the cleaning process every fortnight.

03. Regular rain often promotes unwanted moisture and that becomes the breeding spot for the unsightly green moss. They grow profusely and attract unwanted rainy season insects.

Moss On The Stairs
Moss On The Stairs

Don’t let the moss and algae grow in your open track. It might prove hazardous for health, and people might get hurt slipping on the moss as they make the area highly slippery.

04. Don’t let the water stand stagnant on your premises. Not only is it unhealthy, but this standstill water accrues mosquitoes, flies, and insects and they start reproducing at a breakneck pace. Dengue and chikungunya mosquitoes are believed to grow in stagnant water.

Water Stagnation
Water Stagnation

Consider immediate removal of empty vessels and pots from the balcony, ground, and rooftop if any. If you cannot throw them away, you must place them upside down. You should clean coolers, AC ducts, roofs, and corners of the balcony garden where there is the risk of water stagnation. Check your surroundings for finding open pits, which can accumulate water. Get it repaired immediately, before the onset of the monsoon.

05. Cover the water tanks to avoid mosquitoes and ants. Contaminated water may kindle the risk of water-borne diseases.

06. Mend the cracks, crevices, and holes. Take double care in closing the cracks, crevices, and tunnels by installing safe wire mesh, plaster of paris, and sealants. These are the places where the pests occupy and hide. They are harmful to the health of the dwellers. Also, you should take special care of the gas line and appliance vents: if found, you must block them with sealants.  

07. Barricade the door top and bottom space with fine wire mesh so that no pests get entry into your safe home. Use door seals to fill gaps, if found.

Basil Plant
Basil Plant

08. Plant (Tulsi) Basil in your home. Not only is it considered a sacred herb, but it also blocks the entry of bugs and insects into your premises. The fragrance of Tulsi repels pests and it is good to sniff for humans. Chewing ‘Tulsi’ leaves keeps cough and cold away.

09. Try your best in keeping your washroom air-dry. Wet restrooms help moulds and fungus to develop and even if attended to timely it might turn into a breeding ground for pests.

10. You should clean and dry your bathroom after every usage.  Consider using an exhaust fan to ward off the usual foul smell in the bathroom. A dry bathroom is always safe for kids and seniors. Moulds and fungus may give rise to allergic and respiratory problems.

 11. You should use boiled water or filtered water to stay away from most water-borne infections and diseases.

 12. Prefer to wear covered trousers and shirts to keep you safe from mosquitoes, bugs and insects.

 13. Sprinkle bleaching powder on all nooks and corners of your staircase, rooftops and basement area to control the entry of pests and get a pest-free home.

Naphthalene Balls
Naphthalene Balls

14. Place naphthalene balls inside your wardrobes, bathroom basins, in beddings and winter clothes to check pest entry.

15. In the kitchen, place 3-4 pieces of cloves in grains, cereals, and lentils. It wards off ants, mites and bugs.

16. In the kitchen, you can have pest control done to ward off cockroaches from cabinets. These days, cockroach gel is available to keep them away.

17. Close all open holes in the house, and prevents the intrusion of the rats

18. You should keep cloves inside the woollen and silk clothes: this is an inexpensive but sure shot way to keep silverfish bugs away from your wardrobes.

19. Naphthalene balls and cloves can be spread under the bed mattresses to get rid of the foul odour and white ants. This is also the best way to keep bugs away.

Mosquito Net Screen For Window
Mosquito Net Screen For Window

20. Install mosquito net screen for the doors and the windows. Use a fine mesh for your doors and windows to get rid of insects in the house such as mosquitoes, fleas, and other pests. It will allow air to flow and yet block the pesky bugs.

21. Many brands have launched net screens for entries and the windows: check and install the product in your home. It is the best thing because it saves you from pests and proper ventilation and lighting will never be affected. What are you waiting for? Isn’t that one of the best ways to keep bugs away?

22. Discard leftover foods as they mostly invite rodents, roaches, ants, and flies into your house.

23. The use of covered waste baskets is highly recommended. It will help you avoid spillage of food and remnants of the kitchen.

24. Clean your fridge weekly and keep the newspaper in a vegetable basket to suck in extra moisture.

25. Kitchen and bathroom drains should be cleaned with sufficient bleaching powder mixed with vinegar. It will clean the clogs and at the same time it will kill all the germs and bacteria developing in these places.

Essential Oils to Keep Pests Away

Essential Oils to Keep Pests Away
Essential Oils to Keep Pests Away

One of the best ways to keep bugs away from your house is using essential oils. These oils ward off pests, and it is naturally safe for in-home use, thus these oils help you in maintaining an insect proof house. It is a natural way to keep spiders, mosquitoes, bugs, mites, etc. and many other rainy season insects away.

  1. Peppermint oil may control ants, fleas, flies, beetles, moths, roaches and spiders without the adverse effects of chemicals. Well, pest-free home is not far away!
  2. Thyme oil can control chiggers, ticks, and beetles from entering your premises.
  3. Want an insect proof house? Lemongrass can keep chiggers, fleas, mosquitoes, and ticks away from your house.
  4. Lavender oil is yet another essential oil that can restrict the entry of harmful chiggers, fleas, flies, mosquitoes, and ticks.
  5. Pest-free home can also be a reality by using Citronella oil, which can help you get rid of pesky mosquitoes, moths, and roaches.

These five essential oils are enough to manage the pest infestation in your home and the surroundings. Use these fragrant oils and get rid of insects in the house in the most soothing way possible!

Now you must know the best way to use these essential oils for your natural pest control.  You can mix 15 drops of all these five oils in one cup of water, and pour the entire mix into a spray bottle. You can spray it generously in the corners of the rooms and open spaces in your premises where you may have the problem of pest infestation. You can spray behind the cabinets and wardrobes. Being natural, it is safe to use and one of the most trusted home remedies for pest control. In few simples steps you can get rid of insects in the house.

Dangers of Rainy Season Insects

Dangers of Rainy Season Insects
Dangers of Rainy Season Insects

Apart from flu, cough and cold, food poisoning and indigestion, there are few more monsoon pest-induced dangerous diseases. Some of the examples are,

  1. Dengue fever: It is caused by a virus transmitted by mosquitoes resulting in severe headache, high temperature, and restlessness, and at times, it proves fatal.
  2. Chikungunya: It is also caused by mosquito bites, and the discomfort is more or less the same as Dengue. However, in the case of Chikungunya, joint pain is crucial, and it lingers even after the critical hours are over and the patient is out of danger.
  3. Malaria: It is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite. The infected person experiences high fever, chill, and pain. It is severe and may prove fatal in some cases.

Few Home Remedies for Pest Control

Here are some home remedies for pest control-  

Home Remedies to Get Rid of Lizards

Lizard
Lizard

Place eggshells to ward off lizards in the corners of the kitchen.  You may place sliced onion; it is helpful to check lizards because they hate the smell of Sulphur. Additionally, the peacock feathers are also a great way of keeping lizards away. Try these home remedies to get rid of lizards from your walls!

Home Remedies to Get Rid of Cockroaches

Cockroach
Cockroach

Wondering if there are home remedies to get rid of cockroaches? Well, cockroaches get attracted to moisture and water leaks from pipes. It is the reason you find them moving around your sink. So, don’t let water stand in the sink and don’t overwater the indoor plants. Place slices of cucumber at the entry points of the cockroaches. Mix boric acid, oatmeal and sugar in equal ratios and place it at the entry points. It is poisonous for them.

Spraying a solution of soap and water on the roaches suffocates them as they breathe through their skin. As said by ‘Joan Wilen and Lydia Wilen’ (Authors of Best Ever Home Secrets), ‘combine an equal portion of baking soda and powdered sugar, and sprinkle the mixture wherever the roaches hide and walk. The sugar will attract them, and the baking soda will destroy them.

Home Remedies to Get Rid of Mosquitoes

Mosquito
Mosquito

Don’t let water stand in any vessels or pots in the monsoon season. That is the first thumb rule of home remedies to get rid of mosquitoes. Stagnant water becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Mix vanilla extract with water and keep it in your home to avoid mosquitoes. Marigold repels mosquitoes very well, so planting Marigold near the doors and windows will help you eliminate the traces of mosquitoes from your home.

Home Remedies to Get Rid of Flies

Housefly
Housefly

There are some strong-smelling plants like basil, bay leaf, lavender and mint that flies do not like. Our home remedies to get rid of flies stem from this theory! Plant these saplings near your windows to prevent these bugs from entering the house. You may place crushed mint leaves in and around your home and see the flies fly away.

You may flush the drain with bleaching powder and hot water to get rid of flies. Camphor has a strong smell, which the flies hate. You can place it under the open windows to spread the aroma around, thus preventing the bugs from entering the home. There you have it, your pest-free home!

Home Remedies to Get Rid of Bedbugs

Bedbug
Bedbug

You may occasionally wipe off your bed and wooden furniture with kerosene, and it will keep bedbugs away. Spray liquid insecticides or aerosols around and under the bed. But do keep in mind that this should not be sprayed on the areas that you are most likely to touch, sit or walk.

Remedies to Get Rid of Moth

Moth
Moth

Place mint leaves in the storage shelves and wardrobes to keep moths away. Cedar-wood is considered to be a moth repellant. Making your closets with it can help you get rid of moths. You can even place the cedar chips wherever you find the moths.

Fill a sachet with a combination of herbs like cloves, thyme and rosemary to keep control over moths. Replace the sachets every six months or when you find the sachet losing its fragrance.

Ways to Get Rid of Spiders

Spider
Spider

A mixture of vinegar and water keeps spiders away. Spray the mixture on the cobwebs, shelves, and the corners of the house. Fill a spray bottle with water and mix it with 15-20 drops of oil. Spray it in all the corners where you find the spiders. Spiders can’t tolerate the smell of peppermint oil and so, will run away instantly.

Ways to Get Rid of Ants

Small Ants
Small Ants

Mix equal quantity of soap and water to drive the ants away. Another simple home remedy is to sprinkle rice flour on the ants wherever you find them in your home. As said by ‘Joan Wilen and Lydia Wilen’, (Authors of Best Ever Home Secrets), ‘Figure out the ants from their main entry points and sprinkle those places with either of the following: chili powder, cinnamon powder, bay leaves, salted cucumber peels, baby powder or distilled white vinegar.’ It will help you to get rid of ants.

Try these home/natural tips and enjoy seamlessly a clean and cozy pest-free home with your loved ones.

To wrap it up, the onset of monsoon brings a pleasant atmosphere, but at the same time, the moist ambience of the house welcomes the pests and insects into the home. It is better to take good care of our home and keep the trying times of the monsoon away.

You have to keep your home and the surroundings clean and disinfected so that you live in a pest-free home. You may plant trees, herbs and succulents that will add life to your surroundings. Not only do these green bodies exhale oxygen-enriched fresh air, but they also act as the elixir of life. By implementing the above-mentioned home remedies for pest control, you can get a pest-free home and get rid of insects in the house. Bid adieu to the rainy season insects and enjoy the monsoon. However, if you feel that these home remedies for pest control aren’t working for you, consider calling pest specialists to help you get rid of insects in the house.

With this knowledge of home remedies for pest control, you would like to know, termite prevention tips for your home…

Make Your Home Termite Free with these Termite Prevention Tips!

Author Bio

Illa VermaIla Verma is a freelancer blogger with a vast experience in content writing, branding, fictional stories and poetry. She has collaborated with various brands as a content creator and is a certified content writer.

Coming from a small town, she has carved a niche of her own. Apart from writing, she is involved with an NGO Bhojan Bank, which provides one-time free meal to homeless people. She enjoys listening to music and is an avid traveller.

Prior to her writing career, she has worked with India Infoline, Kotak Sec. and ShareKhan.

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