Safe Ways For Pest Control In And Around Your Home

When you see evidence of bugs in your home, your first inclination may be to reach for the strongest bug spray you can find. 

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   No one likes bugs in there home and when we see bugs like ants, cockroaches, or spiders we tend to reach for a can of strong bug spray as we think that only toxic chemicals will eliminate the bug infestation. That can of bug spray may kill the bugs but it may also harm your children and pets. That toxic bug spray that is loaded with harmful chemicals may also only kill the bugs that you see but may not even prevent further bugs from entering your home.



Easy To Make All Natural Homemade Weed Killer Spray That Works In A Day 

Keep kids and pets safe
  If you have children or pets, you should rethink how you control the pests in your home. Kids and pets are more likely to be exposed to pesticides as they are crawling on the floor. They also touch objects that are on the floor where the bug spray is. Toxic bug sprays are really not good for anyone to use as you are breathing in dangerous chemicals and these chemicals can get into our water system.

Bugs are dangerous
 Household pests can be a danger to your family. Cockroaches produce allergens that can trigger asthma and allergies. Ants can get into your food and spiders can bite. Fortunately, there are ways to control pests and keep your family safe, too. Following an approach that includes prevention and using safer pest control products is better for your family and the environment. Using pest control products that are safe around kids and pets is always a better option.



Pest Control: Practice Prevention First
 The best way to control pests is to make your home unappealing to them. Just like us, pests need water, food, and shelter to survive, and if they can’t find these in your home, it’s likely they’ll go elsewhere.

• Pick up all food spills and crumbs right away.

• Keep your counters, tables, sinks, and floors clean. Clean and dry dishes after having meals or snacks.

• Clean under large kitchen appliances, such as refrigerators and stoves. Food debris can often collect in these spaces and attract pests.

• Store food in containers with airtight lids or in the refrigerator. If food is stored in cardboard boxes, make sure the boxes are sealed. Cockroaches like cardboard and can get into opened boxes easily.

• Keep your trash in a container with a tight lid, and take out the trash often. Place outdoor trash bins as far from your house as possible.

• Fix household leaks and clean up any excess moisture on counters or sinks right away. Cockroaches like water and can swim.

• Close sink drains when not in use as cockroaches may enter the house through drains.

• Vacuum carpets and cracks and crevices regularly.

• Don’t leave pet food out overnight.

• Fix any screens that have holes to prevent pests from entering.

• Check for any openings or cracks where pests may enter your house, such as behind sinks, along baseboards, and around windows. Seal them.

• If carpenter ants are a problem, look for damaged or wet wood and replace it. Carpenter ants are often attracted to damaged wood.

How To Eliminate Ants In Your Home 



Choosing a safer pesticide
 If you’ve already tried prevention techniques and you still have a pest problem, you may need to use some kind of pesticide to treat the area. Many times you can use a natural pesticide to eliminate bugs and naturally safe products should be tried first before reaching for chemical pesticides. I first use DIY homemade pest control products around my home to control the bugs and will only reach for the chemical pesticides in extreme cases, in areas that my kids don't have access to.

Natural homemade DIY solutions for pest prevention
  I have several natural safe DIY solutions that I use for bug prevention around my home. I will use these natural products in places that I store food and they work with natural scents that are not appealing to the bugs. Some of these natural bug products are even food safe. I have used with great success baby powder, cinnamon, black pepper, and peppermint. Ants don't like these scents and they will stay away from them. These scents will also cover up any scent trail that the ants leave. When I use the above natural products like baby powder, I will use it around the edges of a cabinet or floor. Just make a thin line with the powder or spices all around the edges of the shelf or pantry floor. To prevent the spice or powder from sticking to the bottom of containers or dishes, I cut up a plastic placemat and lay in on the pantry shelf. Peppermint is a great scent to spray in areas that you don't spiders or ants. I will also use the peppermint spray outside on my patio and on my outdoor furniture. I find that the peppermint spray prevents ants from making webs on my outdoor Adirondack chairs. When you use the peppermint spray outdoors, you may have to spray it once a week or after it rains.

Homemade peppermint spray for ants and spiders prevention
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon peppermint essential oil

Put all ingredients in a spray bottle and shake well. Spray this in areas like your cabinets and pantry to prevent ants and spiders away. I also use this spray regularly on my patio furniture to prevent spiders from making webs.

Boric acid
 Boric acid can be used as an insecticide and can be very effective at controlling cockroaches, as well as small ants. Boric acid should be used only in areas that kids and pets do not have access to. Roaches crawl through the boric acid powder and the tiny particles cling on to their bodies. When they clean their bodies by licking themselves clean, they ingest the boric acid (which acts as a stomach poison). They die shortly after. Since roaches are not very picky eaters, the roaches killed from the poison is eaten and the cycle continues. It also sticks on to food dragged through it. When the food is brought back for other roaches to eat, they all feast on the poison. I like to spread boric acid around the edges of my garage to prevent the roaches from entering my house.

To use boric acid to kill ants you have to mix it with sugar and water. The ants will eat the solution and bring it back to the hive to feed to the other ants. The boric acid will then kill the ants.



Homemade Boric Acid Ant Traps
 To make your own boric acid ant traps, mix about 1 teaspoon boric acid, with 10 teaspoons sugar and 2 cups of water. Next, spread the mixture on cardboard or absorb it onto cotton balls. Leave the ant traps in areas where the ants are present, who will then take the poison back to their hive. It may take a week for the boric acid to work so you may have to reapply the solution. It is important to use them away from small children and animals. So place the solution behind things like appliances and bookshelves.

The best ant killer
 If the above solutions do not work and you still have an ant problem, this ant killer gel is safer to use than other bug sprays. I live in the desert of New Mexico and ants are a huge problem here. The ants tend to form hives in the house walls and all over the yard. I will use Combat Ant Killing Gel when I have an infestation of ants in my house or outside. This ant killing product should be used with caution around kids and pets as it is a chemical product. Since it is a gel it is easier to place in areas that kids and pets can not access. This ant killing gel bait kills the ants and the entire colony within 24 hours. The ants eat the non-messy ant killer gel and then take it back to the hive to feed the other ants and the queen ant. I like that the ant killing product comes in a syringe applicator so you can place the gel in hard to reach areas where ants travel, such as cracks and crevices. I just place a couple drops of gel near the areas I see ants and the ant problem is gone by the next day. This ant killer gel attracts the ants to eat it and you will see lots of ants feeding on the gel. So I tell my friends to ignore the area for 24 hours. I am always amazed to see the area ant-free the next day.

How to Save Money on Your Allergy and Asthma Medications with Inside Rx

This post has been sponsored by Inside Rx. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Inside Rx trademarks and graphics provided on behalf of Inside Rx, LLC. 

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Baking Hacks For Better Baking

Do you love to bake?

       I received a sample from Nielsen-Massey to facilitate this post. This page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

  Most people think baking a batch of cookies or a cake is a simple thing to do. They think you just take a little bit of this and a little bit of that and then mix it all together. Some people think that there is no need to follow a recipe when baking. Some people can be great at cooking and then fail when it comes to baking. These are the people that don't realize that baking is a science and one needs to follow the recipe in order to get good results. I remember the first time my husband made cookies and he did not follow the high altitude directions. The cookies were greasy blobs of dough that stuck to the cookie sheet. My husband did not realize that living 5000 feet above sea level affects how one bakes. He did not realize that high altitude baking requires more flour and less butter. My husband is an excellent cook but he is not allowed to bake as he never follows the recipe. My husband also does not realize that silicone baking sheets are a must-have baking item to keep cookies from burning.

How to be a better baker

 I have been baking since I was a kid so I have this baking thing down for the most part. I started baking cookies when I was about ten and over the years learned how to bake everything from bread to cakes. I was a teenager who loved reading cookbooks. Over the years of baking, I have learned many baking hacks and tips from how to cream butter to how to separate egg whites. I put off treating myself to a Pink Kitchenaid mixer as I thought that my baking skills did not need this appliance. I am glad that the pretty pink color of the stand mixer got my attention as this useful baking appliance is taking my baking to a whole new level. I discovered that the Kitchenaid stand mixer allows me to whip up a batch of homemade frosting so quickly. My son has discovered the joy of baking as the stand mixer is so fun to use.

The best vanilla for baking

 I have also discovered that the quality of ingredients is very important for the best baking. Things like using real butter and pure vanilla extract do make the best tasting sugar cookies. Did you know that there are different types of pure vanilla and that they have different flavor notes? My favorite pure vanilla is crafted from premium, hand-selected Ugandan vanilla beans. Nielsen-Massey Vanillas Ugandan Pure Vanilla Extract has a flavor profile that is bold and creamy-sweet with notes of chocolate. I love that Nielsen-Massey uses a proprietary cold-extraction process to preserve more than 300 delicate flavor compounds in their Pure Vanilla Extracts to consistently deliver the richest tasting vanilla from around the world. I love using this vanilla extract when I make my Chocolate Dipped Salted Almond Butter Cookies and Dairy-free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.

How to separate egg whites & whisk

 Things like separating eggs can also affect your baking. If you are trying to whip egg whites for a recipe, the slightest amount of egg yolk in the bowl can ruin the end result. I used to think that I knew how to separate egg whites but I recently learned a better way to separate the egg white from the yolk and it did not involve using the eggshells. I also learned that whisking was not just a circular motion but it was so much more. These new baking hacks have taught me that I can always learn new techniques to bake like a pro. I love watching cooking shows to learn new baking and cooking hacks. These cooking shows inspire me to do more baking and cooking. I always discover new recipes when I watch celebrity cooking shows. Do you know how to separate egg whites for the best baking? You need to watch the below video as you might be surprised at why it is bad to use the eggshells to separate the egg whites.