When we first moved into our home 6 years ago, we knew we needed to hire a pest control company. Our home had sat empty for a couple of years and, well, there’s no better way to say it – there were bugs. We even saw a few roaches on move-in day, which prompted one of my first calls to be to a local pest control company.
Fast forward to 4 years later and we had spent quite a bit of money on quarterly pest control and were still seeing some bugs here and there. I’m sure if we had went with a monthly service, we would have had better luck, but even at every 3 months, the service was pretty high on our budget.
That’s when we decided to cut that bill and do DIY home pest control. If you are like we were, and looking to cut out some bills by doing things yourself, you’ll want to check out these tips to make it a more successful transition.
5 Tips for Switching to DIY Home Pest Control
- Know what pests and bugs you have around your home for best treatment options.
This is a step that is so important, but can get overlooked if you are buying your own pest control supplies. Once you identify a pest problem, do your research and buy quality products that will target your exact problem areas and bugs.
2. Be sure to choose quality pest control products.
Buying quality pest control products when doing it yourself is imperative. I like to look for products that are well known for their efficacy, but also for their ingredients.
We always have a problem with ants in the Spring, so I added the Raid® Ant & Roach Killer with Essential Oils spray to my Publix pick up order. I chose this spray because it is made with lemongrass extract & geraniol synthesized from pine tree and because it’s safe around children and pets, when used as directed.
In the spring, ants often show up in our kitchen. That’s definitely one of the rooms in our house with the highest amount of traffic, with people and pets. So, it’s imperative to have a high quality product like Raid on hand for times when they show up!
Raid Ant & Roach Killer with Essential Oils quickly kills ants and roaches and is great to keep in your cabinets as a home pest control option.
3. Keep your pets and children safe when spraying.
While choosing quality at home pest control products is so important, it’s also important to remember to to keep pets and children safe when you are using them as well. Collie, our Aussiedoodle, is hyper aware when we use any sort of product and wants to check it out immediately. That’s why we use the products when we know he’s going to be outside and away when we spray.
4. Keep your home, garage, and yard tidy.
This is one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as an adult and homeowner doing DIY pest control at home. We have pets, which means we have pet food. We have kids, which means we definitely have messes at times. Be proactive and keep everything tidy to avoid pests coming inside.
You can also be tidy when it comes to your pest control itself. I love that these Raid® Ant Baits come with adhesive strips to keep them out of sight, but still doing their job.
These baits are a great preventative measure we take because they kill ants for 3 months. They are also child-resistant making them a great choice for our at home pest control.
5. Set a monthly or bi-monthly reminder on your calendar so you don’t forget to treat for pests regularly.
At home pest control won’t work if you don’t do it! That’s why I set monthly reminders on my phone to make sure we stay on top of things. It’s much easier to do at home preventative pest control before a problem gets out of hand.
If you find yourself ready to ditch costly pest control services in order to DIY, be sure to follow some of these tips to make sure it’s a success! We have saved a lot of money over the past year by doing at home pest control ourselves and feel more confident about the products we are using to maintain a pest-free home!
Be sure to buy quality products, like Raid Ant Baits and Raid Ant & Roach Killer with Essential Oils from Publix, to make your switch a success too.
*ants and roaches
Michelle
Thursday 27th of May 2021
I actually had no idea there was a Raid product that was safe around pets. Thank you for this!