The arrival of summer brings some unexpected guests to your home each year. Warmer weather usually means more flies and gnats in your home. Although there isn’t one fix-all solution to keeping bugs out of your home, there are a couple methods that can prevent your bug problem.
Before you start re-evaluating how your daily habits should be changed inside your home, you might want to check to see if your windows are warped or sealed properly. Improperly sealed windows can allow pests, such as fruit flies and gnats, into your home without you even realizing it. If you are unsure if your windows are the root cause, contact our professionals at Window World TX to have your windows evaluated and checked. We will be able to tell if there is anything amiss in your windows and tell you the next steps.
Here are some simple things you can do to cut down on the amount of bugs in your home this summer.
Clean Your Dishes – Don’t Leave Them Out
After any meal, make sure to either put your used dishes in your dishwasher or clean them by hand. Although it might be tempting to just stack the dishes up when you’re busy to come back and clean later, the stack of dirty dishes brings a swarm of flies and bugs. Stacks of dirty dishes have leftover food pieces and residue that attract bugs. By cleaning your dishes, you’re creating a preventive measure against any further bug activity in your kitchen.
Regularly Take Out the Trash
The key to ensuring no bugs get into your trash is to make sure your trash is well managed. That means making sure there is a lid covering the top of the can or that the can is in a contained area, such as a cabinet, that bugs cannot get access to. Bugs will want to swarm your trash can due to the odor from decomposing materials. By making sure nothing can get access to your trash can, the less likely bugs will be to take over your trash can.
Additionally, take out your trash when the bag or the can is full. Don’t try to overfill the container! By taking out the trash when the bag is comfortably full, there’s less chance of the bag breaking or giving the bugs a longer chance to find your trash.
Store Fruit in the Fridge
Fruit is the main attraction for bugs in the summer, which is also when fruit is in its peak ripeness. Although it might be tempting to just leave your bananas and apples out on the counter in a fruit bowl, this gives the bugs the perfect place to gather and swarm. Additionally, fruits keep their ripeness longer if they are left in the fridge.
By keeping your fruit in the fridge, you create a preventative barrier between the bugs and their prize – the ripe fruit. The fridge acts as a protective and preservative box that allows you to enjoy your fruits all summer long without the pesky bugs getting in your way.
Change Your Plants’ Soil
If you own a lot of houseplants, you might want to consider changing their soil or moving them to a new pot. Plants that have been in the same soil for a long period of time can develop moisture pockets throughout the soil, which draws bugs to them. Once the bugs are drawn to these moisture pockets, they will likely start eating your plants – which can cause even further problems when the plant starts to decompose and, in turn, attract more bugs to it.
To prevent anything of that sort from occurring, changing your plants’ soil before the summer season starts – especially if they haven’t had their soil changed in a while – is a good place to start. Additionally, don’t overwater your plants during the summer! Overwatering means excess moisture, and will draw more bugs to them.
For more information on how windows and doors can help prevent bugs from swarming your home this summer, contact Window World TX for a bug-free future.
