Winter can be brutally cold, so many of us are almost always excited about the warmth the spring and summer provide. Out with the cold, in with the…bugs.
Eh, close enough.
In any case, the warm weather would be a lot more enjoyable if swarms of bugs didn’t descend upon our homes every year. It would nice not to have to defend our food from the likes of gnats and flies.
Fortunately, we don’t have to look far for some of the best home insecticides. Believe it or not, we already have tons of insecticides in our homes. We just don’t know it yet.
Curious about what they are? Stick around for a minute or two.
1. Soap
As it turns out, soap makes for a great home insecticide. And when we say “soap” here, we’re talking about your everyday soaps such as Dawn.
In fact, soap is such a great repellent and insecticide that you can even find it in commercial insecticides. These pesticides are usually labeled as insecticidal soaps.
Why does it work? Because many insecticidal soaps contain fatty acids that can dissolve bugs’ exoskeletons.
Yeah. Pretty effective stuff. Which is exactly what you want out of the best home insecticides, right?
While these commercial products work just fine, you can make your own homemade insecticide using soap. You just need some soap and a bit of water.
There are several applications of the homemade solution. If you’re having a problem with, say, fruit flies, you can mix soap with apple cider vinegar, sugar, and water. The pests will get caught in the water and float to the bottom, dying quick deaths.
You can also make a soap spray. The spray will be more versatile since you can spray it directly onto pests (mosquitoes, ants, gnats, etc.).
You can even use it on plants, though you should make sure that you don’t apply it to plants when it’s too hot and sunny out. That won’t work out too well for you or your plants.
2. Oil
There’s nothing like an omelet that has been fried in olive or avocado oil. But do you know what else oils are good for?
Killing bugs.
The logic behind this one might be surprising for some people. When bugs are coated in too much oil, their pores become clogged. They suffocate as a result.
So what types of oil mixtures can you make?
Well, that totally depends on what you’re going for. Needless to say, though, cheap oil works best. Vegetable oil, for example, is much cheaper than olive or coconut, so you can use more of it for less.
Neem oil is also a great insecticide, though for a different reason than other oils. It works to disrupt insects’ life cycles.
At any stage.
This means that you can spray larvae or adult insects and still have the same results. This has made neem oil a pretty popular choice for gardeners.
Regardless of which type of oil you choose, just know that you should mix it with a bit of soap. Doing so will make your solution much more effective.
3. Chili Pepper
Believe it or not, chili peppers might just be one of the best home insecticides, though it not quite as popular as some of the other options on this list. Still, you should hear us out here.
Chile peppers have a strong odor and taste. Many bugs don’t like strong odors or tastes, so it works a great repellent.
Further still, chili pepper is perfectly capable of killing some insects. If they come into contact with it, they might just meet a swift death.
Of course, you have to be careful about how you use chili peppers. You’ll be using the chilis in the form of powder (mixed with water), so you don’t want to get too much of it on your skin. It can irritate the skin and burn.
Not only that, but you shouldn’t apply it directly to edible plants. If you must apply it, apply it to the inedible parts of the plants.
4. Vinegar
Vinger has enjoyed an excellent reputation as a disinfectant and insecticide for years now. There’s a good reason for that. The stuff is almost too good to be true.
It’s a great repellent and insecticide. It can be diluted in water to make a spray that keeps bugs at bay and kills them.
But which variety of vinegar should you be using? Apple cider vinegar or white vinegar?
In truth, there isn’t really a definite answer to this question. It depends entirely on what you’re trying to accomplish.
Remember the solution of apple cider vinegar, soap, and water that we mentioned earlier? That was a solution that was specifically concocted to kill gnats and fruit flies.
If you’re dealing with insects that won’t be attracted to sweet things (i.e. mosquitoes), white vinegar would be a better option for you.
5. Garlic
Garlic probably seems out of place on a list of the best home insecticides. After all, we can’t confidently say that garlic kills insects.
It might, but that isn’t really what it’s known for.
Garlic is instead known for its pungent odor. As we discussed above when we talked about chili peppers, insects aren’t fans of strong odors. This pretty much ensures that garlic will keep bugs away from you and your crops.
In order to prepare a garlic spray, you’ll need two whole bulbs of garlic. Puree the garlic, mix it with about a quart of water, and let it sit for a night. You can then strain it and add oil or soap to it.
After this, your spray will be ready to go. Spray as much as you’d like on your plants or around your home. Just don’t spray so much that your home reeks of garlic.
Give The Best Home Insecticides A Try
We’ve given you some of the best home insecticides, but maybe you’re not interested in home remedies. Perhaps you want a store-bought mosquito trap or something along those lines, and we can oblige you there as well.
If you happen to want more home recipes for insecticides, go ahead and take a look at these effective home remedies for mosquitoes. And, as always, feel free to leave a comment below letting us know what some of your favorite home insecticides are.
