The holiday season is upon us, and this is the time of the year a lot of guests, family, friends, and loved ones, both invited and uninvited, will be hopping in and out of your homes like grasshoppers on a rainy day. Of course, you can not turn them down, so you host parties. You throw some food together, bring on a couple of bottles of champagne, and blow your wits out with your loved ones.
And it’s all fun. That is, until everyone leaves, and the place starts to reek. The wine is all over the table, the leftovers are on the ground, making a trail all the way up to the kitchen sink. These are the kinds of things that invite unwanted guests to your homes. And we’re not talking judging uncles and aunts, we’re talking something way worse – pests.
Pests can be a real problem to deal with, especially after a party, when the stench is unbearably strong and lures vile creatures like mosquitoes and rats. Luckily, you can keep these pests at bay by setting up traps and baits, similar to the ones mentioned on the PestWiki.
However, it is always better to keep the house clean and free from pests as much as possible, and hence, in this article we have discussed how to keep these rude uninvited guests away from your home after a party. There are really only two places you need to take care of when it comes to parties: the kitchen, and the bathroom.
A Clean Kitchen Is A Pest-Free Kitchen
No Food On The Floor
Primarily, all bugs and insects have a common habit, in that they keep searching for food through the smell (or stench) of the food. For instance, if you take ants, they are large in number and if they find some food they go with an army to feed on the food. The pieces of food that they pick are mostly from the spills that we make and these spills are something that is left uncleaned. Make sure you first clean that up, starting from the kitchen and working your way towards the food.
If your leftovers have already been invaded by ants and rats, do not worry. Just follow the steps on how to get rid of whatever pests you want to eradicate in the PestWiki.
Take Out The Disposables
Now that the floor is covered, we need to take care of the leftovers. First, keep all the food dishes, the plates and all the disposables that must be placed in a trash bag that must have a seal. Then start by washing all the dishes and make sure you have them all cleaned. If there are a lot of dirty dishes then you can let them stay in the water while you wash away the easily scrubbable ones, making the task simple and easy for yourself.
Cleaning the Pan
After the washing is done it is mostly recommended to clean on the appliances and the rest of the kitchen so that there isn’t any dirt or food left for the pests to feed on and grow.
After this, use a broom and a dustpan to clean any dirt left in the entire place so there is not a single crumb or spill left. Followed by this, start mopping your home and then also use a vacuum cleaner to suck away the dirt from your house.
For the people who have used their grill, make sure that there isn’t any leftover on it and start cleaning it from top to bottom because the pests mostly start spreading from these overlooked spots in the kitchen.
Seal the Openings
While you’re at it, search for any gaps if they are around and try to seal them off, because rodents and roaches love tiny gaps and small crevices and they try to make an entry from these gaps. It is better to use some sort of foam to prevent their entry. You can read more about this on the PestWiki website.
Used Firewood is a Big No
If you have any firewood in your kitchen, throw it away. In case you did not know, firewood can be the main attraction to all the pests in the surroundings. It is best if you store the firewood at a distance. Around 30 feet apart from your house would be preferable.
Protect Your Herbs
If you have an assortment of herbs which you are growing in your lawn, there may be a chance that the insects might try to prey on them so in order to avoid insect infestation put rosemary or coal with some sage on these plants to keep them all away. To keep spiders away from your house use onion as they don’t like the smell of onions and try to avoid them. The best ways for pests to enter your house is if there are any sort of holes on the wall and to block their entrance, use copper mesh and try pushing it in by using a screwdriver and lock the gaps. Mostly after-party these might be some fruits which were leftover in order to avoid fruit flies use an apple cider vinegar on a bowl and place them inside a plastic wrap then punch a small hole so that the fruit flies enter it but must not be able to get out of it sometimes vinegar can also be used instead.
The Devil is in The Basement
Finally, after the whole cleaning of your house start by going to your basement and find if there are any openings through which the invaders might creep in, and then eliminate the entry of these pests so that they can never come inside your house again. After that, close shut the container of trash and always use some tall cans so that mice cannot climb into or out of. Protect the trash from your pets as well.
Taking Care of the Bathroom
Mostly at a party, the most used place after the kitchen is the bathroom. So this place might be the best place for all pests to creep through.
First, start by cleaning the water around the kitchen as many of the pests try to breed through the water. Keep searching if there are any places of standing water in the toilet.
Then check if there are any food crumbs or spill in or around your toilet or if someone might have thrown away at your toilet – it happens during all parties. People tend to hurl food all over the place and this smell attracts insects like anything, hopes of a good meal.
Check your drier vents as there are a lot of chances that during parties, they may get broken and can make a path for insects in order to avoid these checks if there isn’t any damper that is stuck.
Finally, check your chimney as there are a lot of chances that they can make an entry through that path to avoid such trouble use caps and screen them off to avoid pests making any sort of entry.
Parties can be fun and positive, but it also makes sense to take care of your home every once in a while. Lay ground rules about the party, hire professional cleaners to get your work cut out for you and prevent nasty pests from getting into your homes at all costs. Use the help of sites like PestWiki to find out all you can about these rude guests and how to get rid of them.
