Monday, March 8, 2010

Natural Pest Control - Get Rid of Pests Without Using Harmful Chemicals



When an ant, cockroach, or flea decides to make an appearance at a barbeque or dinner party, it is enough to ruin the entire event. Pests like these can easily be controlled with pesticides, but the chemicals that these products contain can be detrimental to the health of you, your children, or your pets. With such risks involved, many people find themselves searching for other methods like natural pest control and prevention.

One of the most common problems in the summer time is the ants. They climb onto tables and decks, and frequent the cabinets in the home. To prevent ants from entering the home, try finding where the ants enter. Once this spot has been located, create a barrier by spreading cayenne pepper, citrus oil, or coffee grounds over the area. The ants will not pass over these items. If the ants are already in the home, try placing cucumber peels, garlic cloves, or spearmint leaves in the cabinets. These products are known to repel ants, chasing them out of your home. Once ants are under control in the home, you can focus on infestations that are outdoors. Sprinkle cornmeal in and around the entrance to the ant hill. The ants will bring the cornmeal home and share it with the colony. Cornmeal cannot be digested by the ants and the colony will be killed off within a week.

Cockroaches are one of the most repulsive pests around, but natural pest control does exist for them as well. Catnip will repel cockroaches, so place it in areas that you know the roaches will frequent. To kill off an existing population, place a piece of bread that has been soaked in beer in a plastic container. Place the container where the roaches will find it. As with the cornmeal and the ants, the roaches will not be to properly digest the beer, causing them to slowly die off. Keep a bottle of soapy water handy at all times. If a roach is seen out in the open, spray it with the soapy water, and this will kill the roach within minutes by breaking down its exoskeleton.

Natural pest control also exists for mosquitoes. As a preventative measure, remove all standing water from the yard, as this is the preferred habitat for mosquitoes. When planning on spending time outdoors, rub on a solution that is at least thirty percent eucalyptus. The eucalyptus has been proven to prevent mosquitoes from biting. Planting sage, rosemary, and marigold throughout the yard will also help repel mosquitoes. These plants have a natural deterrent quality. Another effective repellent for mosquitoes is anything that creates smoke. During a barbeque or other outdoor gathering, burn incense or other smoky item to help repel the swarms that may gather and annoy your guests.

With natural pest control methods such as these, there is no need to keep harmful chemicals around the house.

Visit our site to learn more about insect control and find out more about ant repellent.

8 Lemon Aid Tips

Lemons make a great drink, but they also serve other purposes from cleaning to skin healing. Squeeze a lemon and find out how beneficial this fruit can be. Here are 8 Lemon Aid tips for this amazing sunny-yellow fruit.

  1. Improve the flavor of tea and helps reduce the bitterness of green tea. Adding a thin slice to your drink will also increase your bodies absorption of those nasty antioxidants.
  2. Cut lemons for freshness. A lemon slice can be used as a deodorant under your arms or even on smelly feet.
  3. Soothe an achy sunburn. Just mix some juice with cool water and rub gently onto the skin. It will soothe and help you recover from exposures to the sun.
  4. Lemon as a stain remover. Squeeze a lemon onto an ink spot or other stain and let sit overnight. Laundry the item and repeat before drying if needed.
  5. Clean pots and pans. Simply make a paste of salt (or baking powder) and lemon juice. Rub on copper to remove oxidation and rinse and dry.
  6. Clean and freshen your dishwasher. Again squeeze a lemon into your dishwasher. Run a normal cycle and your dishwasher will be cleaner and smell lemony fresh.
  7. Ant repellent. Pouring lemon juice around areas where ants are to repel them.
  8. Lemon Cleaner. Add equal amounts of water and lemon juice in a spray bottle. This will keep every thing squeaky clean and is good for the environment.

Be creative and come up with your own lemon use. Fill a bowl with lemons and you have a table centerpiece. The list can go on and on.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Lots of Facts About Ants



Ants, as all insects, have three body parts, head, thorax, and abdomen; they also have elbowed antennae, while termites have straight, bead-like antennae. Ants can be easily distinguished from termites by several characteristics: Ant bodies appear constricted or pinched in at the waist shaped like a figure 8, while termites do not have the waist constriction. Ants may be black, brown, red or yellow.

They are social insects that live in colonies or nests usually located in the soil near the house foundation, under concrete slabs, in crawl spaces, in structural wood, in the yard or garden, in trees and in other protected places.

They have three castes, namely queens, males and workers. Ants, like many other hymenopterans, are social insects with duties divided among different types, or castes, of adult individuals.

They also can injure plants by tunneling around the roots, causing them to dry out, they also perform many useful functions in the environment, such as feeding on other pests Ants can bite with their pincer like jaws, although most species rarely do.

They often enter buildings seeking food and water, warmth and shelter, or a refuge from dry, hot weather or flooded conditions. They may also invade kitchens, bathrooms, offices, or bedrooms. Ants may be attracted up into trees or shrubs by ripening or rotten sweet fruit or floral nectar. Ants have two stomachs one for them and one to feed others.

Ants exhibit complex behavior; some build intricate nests, some are fierce warriors, some collect and store seeds, some capture slaves, and some farm fungi. Ants can be found almost everywhere, except probably at the polar caps, but you never know there may be a species of Eskimo Ant.

Visit our site to learn more about insect control and find out more about ant repellant.

The Many Uses of Borax

You can find Borax in the laundry aisle of just about any retail store. Borax, also known as sodium borate, is packaged by the 20 Mule Team Company as a laundry booster but it has many other uses as well. Borax can be used as a drain cleaner, toilet cleaner, weed and ant repellent and to sanitize your garbage disposal. Additionally, you can sprinkle Borax anywhere you want to get rid of odors and keep them away. Following are some simple recipes for the many uses of Borax.

Laundry Booster

As stated earlier the most common use for Borax is as a laundry booster to make clothes come out cleaner and to get rid of stains and odors that normal laundry detergents leave behind. All you need to do is add a ½ cup to your washing machine at the beginning of the wash cycle. For large loads use 3/4 cup instead.

Drain Cleaner


Toilet Cleaner


Garbage Pail Sanitizer

A simple way to keep those nasty garbage pails clean and odor-free is with Borax. Start by cleaning the whole pain inside and out with a cup of Borax per gallon of hot water. Use the hottest water you can stand. Rinse with cold water and let dry. Once the pail is dry, sprinkle a small amount of Borax on the bottom of the garbage pail before putting in a new garbage bag. Do this each time you replace the bag to keep germs and odors away. Since Borax has deodorizing and disinfecting properties as well as being an effective cleanser, it makes a perfect toilet bowl cleaner. Just sprinkle a decent amount of Borax directly into the bowl, let it work its magic for about 10 to 15 minutes and then scrub with a toilet brush until the bowl is clean. Flush to rinse. Is your drain clogged? Or worse, there's a stinky smell wafting from your pipes? Borax will unclog your drain and leave it smelling nice and fresh. Just pour 1 cup of dry Borax down your drain, let it sit for 15 minutes and follow with 4 cups of boiling water. Repeat every month or as the drain gets clogged.

Weed And Ant Repellent

Borax can also be used to keep away weeds and ants. To kill existing weeds and prevent future weeds from growing, sprinkle borax powder into any cracks on your property where weeds are a problem. Avoid getting Borax on plant you want to keep as it is fatal to them as well. To get rid of pests like ants from your home, apply Borax powder around the foundation of your home. Ants will avoid the Borax and your home but you will have to repeat this procedure roughly twice a year to ensure continued protection.

There are many more uses for Borax than the ones listed here. You can find plenty of uses online and in magazines specializing in green cleaning. And while Borax is safer and less toxic than bleach it is still important to remember than some people have skin sensitivity to Borax and gloves should be worn while using. Also keep the area well ventilated to avoid any respiratory problems.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Get Rid of Ants Forever With 5 Powerful Natural Ant Repellent



Ants can be very annoying pests, they are not easy to get rid of, are pretty resilient and there are so many of them. But do not worry, there are some easy ways to get rid of them without using chemicals. Here are five natural ant repellent that won't put you in danger form using toxic products.

1. Vinegar:Vinegar is such a powerful natural ant repellent, it will cause those pesky critters to run away from wherever you put it. If ants are coming inside your house, spray some around the doors or windows. They won't ever try to go inside your house with the odor of vinegar. You can also spray some on their nests, they won't stay there for long you can be sure about that.

2. Black pepper is another very powerful ant repellent, because they don't like it. If you sprinkle some pepper around your house and near ant nests, they won't come near your house and move away. Just sprinkle some until they are completely gone from your garden or lawn.

3. Cayenne pepper is similar to black pepper, ants just avoid it because of the strong smell. So again spray some around where you don't want to find ants and near their colonies. They will run away in no time.

4. Cinnamon is another natural ant repellent that you can use. It has a similar effect to the different peppers. You can buy it in bulk for pretty cheap and sprinkle it everywhere you don't want ants. It is a lot cheaper than getting chemicals and very effective. It won't kill them, but they will not bother you again.

5. Boiling water is a bit more brutal method to get rid of those ants, but usually works pretty well, if you can get the queen. Usually it won't be a problem if you put enough water down their nest. A few gallons of water should be enough.

Visit our site to learn more about insect control and find out more about ant repellant.

Natural Ant Repellent

Are you looking for a natural ant repellent?

Does the thought of using dangerous chemicals inside your home to kill ants scare you? Well it should. In addition to having an immediate harmful effect on children and pets, pesticides may have a long term impact on a person's DNA. That's why many people prefer a natural ant repellant.

In this article, I'm going to share three natural ant repellents with you.

The first natural ant repellent is baby powder. Ants are killed by baby powder. Baby powder is really just Diatomaceous earth, a safe and natural substance. Pets will ignore baby powder and children aren't affected by it at all. Place a line of baby powder around windows, doors, and cracks, and you'll virtually eliminate your ant problem overnight.

Coffee is the second natural ant repellent I'm going to talk about here. Ants hate coffee, so they won't cross a line of it. You can use coffee in much of the same way as you use baby powder. Almost everyone has coffee in their cupboard, so it is an easy solution. But don't think you need to use the expensive stuff - generic is good enough for ants!

The final natural ant repellent I'd like to share in this article is Cream of Wheat. Cream of Wheat is a natural bait for ants. The workers take the cereal back to the nest where they share the food with all of the ants. When Cream of Wheat comes into contact with the internal fluids of the ant, it explodes. This is a way to take care of the entire ant problem with a bang.

You don't need to resort to using harsh chemicals to take care of your ant problem. There are many natural ant repellent solutions for you.