Three Tips for Keeping Bugs Out of the Kitchen

Of all the pest problems we encounter, the most common are probably ants, roaches and rodents. Termites are up there, too, but that’s a different sort of pest problem. While termites are destructive, they don’t eat human food – they feed on wood. But those other three pests love to share your scraps. Which is why the kitchen is our primary battlefield against them.

All the food is in there, which makes it like Shangri-La to bugs and rodents. If you can manage to keep them out of here, you’re going to block them from a major food source – and help battle the size of the infestation.

Here are three helpful tips for keeping bugs out of the kitchen:

1. Check those prepackaged goods

Especially if they’ve been in the cupboard in a while. We don’t talk about pantry pests too much on our blog, because they’re not that common anymore. If you have some solid cleaning habits and pay attention to the food in the cupboards, you’ll generally avoid them. Essentially, watch any packaged good that might be exposed to the air. This is how pantry pests catch wind of it and burrow into packaging. If you keep things in airtight containers, this problem can be avoided.

2. Always take out the garbage

You could have the entire kitchen clean, but if the garbage bag is full, pests will still be attracted. You throw all trash in there, including plenty of food particles. Ants, roaches and rodents would be glad to share those discarded scraps with you; which is why we want to dump the trash every evening. And you might even want to wash out that garbage can occasionally – bags leak.

3. Cleanliness is next to godliness

This is a weird old saying, but it’s a friendly reminder that cleanliness is the no. 1 way to beat back pests. Keeping a clean kitchen means there won’t be many food particles for pests to share, so they won’t be inspired to come around. Every night, after you take out the trash, be sure to wipe down every surface, sweep the floor and store all food in the refrigerator or an airtight container.