Use Conkers to repel spiders
FICTION: There is little to proof suggest that collecting Conkers and leaving them around your home will get rid of spiders. However, peppermint scents are known to affect these eight-legged pests. Adding some essential oil to a spray bottle with water and spraying the inside of windows and doors can help to deter spiders.
It is also important to keep the exterior of your house clean and clear with regular window washing and maintenance of surrounding shrubs and plants. This can help to reduce the number of spiders who manage to get inside your home.
Place cheese in traps to get rid of mice...
FICTION. Cheese may play well on old Tom and Jerry cartoons, but it has little practical purpose for catching mice. There’s nothing to suggest that they like cheese more than any other food. In fact, some mice may not be attracted to your cheese at all; speaking to a professional is your best bet in this situation for a solution which suits your particular needs.
Use bay leaves in your kitchen to repel pests...
FACT. It’s true! Numerous types of household pests do not like bay leaves. Cooking with bay leaves and storing them around your kitchen is a temporary way to keep pests away from your kitchen. But please bear in mind that bay leaves are not a substitute for long-term pest control, and you should still clean your dishes and kitchen surfaces thoroughly after every meal.
Put a penny in a bag of water to get rid of mosquitoes and flies...
FICTION. The origin of this old wives' tale, like many others, is difficult to trace, but one thing is certain: putting a penny in a bag of water will not keep mosquitoes and flies away from your home. Standing water, in fact, will attract additional mosquitoes and flies, resulting in an even worse infestation than before. Want our advice? Many commercial fly repellents contain orange or lemon extracts, not just because they hate the scent but because citrus oil is a natural bug deterrent. Place citrus peels in an area where the flies are buzzing and they will be gone in no time!
Use vinegar to reduce fruit flies in your home...
FACT. Fruit flies may be attracted to decaying fruits and foods, which is something which should be addressed as soon as possible, but you can temporarily control the fruit fly population in your home by leaving out a cup of vinegar covered in plastic wrap with small holes in it. This will trap fruit flies and get rid of fruit flies currently infesting your home.
Boiling water is an effective tool for eliminating an ant hill…
PARTICALLY TRUE. You can pour boiling water on an ant hill to kill most of the ants and destroy the hill. However, it’s likely that many of the ants – including the queen – are deep below the surface. The boiling water may never reach them, so you could see another hill popup nearby very soon.
Our advice, use boric acid. Which is perhaps the most popular insecticide used against ants. You can use it in powder form and sprinkle it around and directly over the ant’s entry point. Boric acid is a highly toxic chemical and can directly kill ants upon contact. To make it even more effective, you can use it in paste form by mixing it with water and sugar. Sugar helps in disguising the chemical and attracts the ants. The water converts the solution into liquid form making it capable of flowing through the hard-to-reach tunnels and chambers of the ant hill.
Bugs were here long before us and they will always be part of our lives. However, this doesn’t mean that your home becomes their home; hopefully, we've given you a solid understanding of what works and what doesn't, so you can finally get rid of those pesky insects!