I’ve never been a fan of insects or insecticides in the house.   Still, I’m content dealing with the occasional spider in the bathroom, but I never want to deal with pesticides ever again – I know too much about what they can do!!!  Sometimes though, when you’re over-run by an ant army taking over your kitchen, or the whole house is being taken over by fleas, its temping to reach for some poison.   Don’t do it!  In this article I’ll share non-toxic pest control secrets.

The war against household pests has several fronts.  Of primary importance is keeping the little pests off of your body, and off your pets’ bodies too.  Then there’s your house in general, and then your houseplants.  Another issue is the garden which we won’t delve into too much in this article.  Luckily your main weapons in the non-toxic pest control war are products of nature and not too hard to find.

Your Weapons in the War against Pests

The Windex-like Spray Bottle, I call it a spritzer! – filled with mostly water but diluted with certain essential oils.  You can get these inexpensively, sold usually for spraying houseplants and for wetting hair.  Usually sold at drug-stores or hardware stores; they’re just like a Windex spray bottle.  You’ll spritz your solution either on yourself, your pets, your houseplants, or out-door plants depending on your need.

Oils applied to the Skin – A predominantly carrier oil combination (90-97%), combined with essential oils.  Usually for applying to your body or your pets’ body.  Carrier oils can be sweet almond, sesame, jojoba, safflower, or even canola or olive oil.   Combine and mix together in a bottle the base/carrier oil and the essential oil(s), then apply to skin, especially in areas that are exposed.

Essential Oils for non-toxic pest control

Purchase any or all of these.  Most can be found at health food stores, though a more pure source would be somewhere like SnowLotus oils…

• Cedar / Cedarwood Oil : essential to keep fleas away and off pets (put in shampoo for them), or spritz for moths.
• Lemon Eucalyptus Oil : essential for keeping mosquitoes and deer ticks off.  Safety issues for children younger than three though.
• Citronella Oil : good for keeping pests off in general, disinfectant, room freshener, athletes foot
• Tea Tree Oil: good for keeping pests off in general, insect bites, burns, athletes foot
• Geranium Oil: good for burns, bleeding wounds, stretch marks, athletes foot

Also Rosemary, Lemongrass, Eucalyptus, Pennyroyal esp for fleas, Lavendar for insect bites.

Specific Advice On Specific Pests

• Mosquitoes - main weapon: Lemon Eucalyptus Oil.  Make an oil to be applied to your skin: about 4% Lemon Eucalyptus mixed in with a carrier oil.  Try a little Citronella in there too.  Using it in the spritzer could work too to cover a general area. Keep in mind strong exposure to Lemon Eucalyptus oil is not considered safe for young children.  Putting garlic in your diet, and taking B-complex vitamins can also help keep them away!
• Ants - Make a mix of 2 cups water, 1/4 cup vinegar, 10-15 drops peppermint, eucalyptus, tea-tree or clove oil.  Wash their trail with this mix.  Sprinkle powdered cinnamon, paprika, or cayenne, or combo of all mixed together, around areas like cupboard to keep them away.
• Grain moths and weevils - put cinnamon stick or bay leaf in with flour, pasta or grains to keep them away.
• Fleas and ticks - You have to not only clean your pets but also detox your whole house, especially carpets.  This is a big subject.  But just for your pets: bathe them in shampoo with cedarwood oil added, or buy commercial cedar oil shampoo.  For your carpets, you can sprinkle diatomaceous earth on the carpets, bruth it in and leave for 4 days, then thoroughly vacuum dead fleas from the carpet.  I’ve been told the d.earth can cause some skin irritation.  You’ll have to read more on this.
• Silverfish - You can also use diatomaceous earth here also, or boric acid but be careful if you have pets.
• House flies – place sachets of crushed mint, bay leaf, clove, or eucalyptus around the house to repel flies. Make flypaper: mix ¼ cup corn syrup, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon brown sugar in a small bowl. Cut strips of brown kraft paper and soak in the sugar mixture. Let dry overnight. To hang, poke a small hole at the top of each strip and hang with string.
• Moths –  Wrap cedar blocks or chips in cheesecloth and place in the drawer or cabinet alongside clothes. Essential oil too. Dried lemon peels are also a moth deterent.

How to Keep Pests Off House and Garden Plants

• Mix 1 clove garlic, 1 small hot pepper, 1 quarter of water in a blender and mix.   Use it in the spritzer on plants.
• A little more zing to some bugs that #1 doesn’t: Mix 3 tablespoons of liquid detergent into a gallon of water. Use it in the spritzer.  Keep in mind plants such as hawthorn, sweet pea, cherries, tomato and plum are known to being sensitive to soap.  Test soap-detergent spray on a small area head of time to see the effects.
• And finally, you can put hot sauce on a cotton ball to apply to exact areas to repel pests.

There you have it.  I love not having toxic chemicals around the house especially when I can accomplish their aims with natural ingredients.  Also, with essential oils you get the extra benefits of the aroma and other therapeutic actions.  The carrier oils too nourish the skin.

Why switch to non-toxic pest control?

Studies have shown pesticides increase thyroid and liver cancers, damage male reproductive organs, reduce testosterone levels, and have been suggested linked with the increase in autism, hyperactivity, diabetes, obesity, and breast and prostate cancer.

Research has found that exposure to home pesticides and insecticides more than doubles a child’s chances of developing neuroblastoma brain tumors, and three to seven times more likely to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Specifically, the active ingredient commonly found in roach and killers, Propoxur, was shown to depress respiratory tract and central nervous sytem function. Overexposure has been shown to damage DNA, negatively affect fetal grown, cause muscle weakness, headaches, nausea, and dizziness.

N-octyl bicycloheptene dicarboximide is often found in ant and roach foggers and sprays, as well as flea and tick repellents. It also depresses the central nervous sytem, decreases heart rate, and can lead to loss of consciousness.

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