DIY pest traps may help you skip the expensive extermination bill
From mice to roaches to ants and bed bugs, these homemade rodent and bug traps can keep your home pest-free
As soon as you see the delivery truck, you hang your head. The neighbors are at it again with their food delivery business. There’s already a policy in the condo Rules and Regulations that bans tenants and owners from having for-profit businesses. But this rule made more sense in the ‘80s when people went to a corporate office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., not in a post-COVID world with the gig economy, when people are creating everything from their own at-home nail salons, dog sitting businesses and customer care call centers. Who needs an office when e-commerce sites can send all of your office supplies to your living room? Even people with full-time jobs are creating at-home, part-time work.
The only problem with this neighbor’s business is it’s bringing in more than just money. It’s bringing in potent food smells and your dog going nuts when strangers ring your own doorbell by mistake. Even worse, your neighbor’s food business is bringing in bugs. Why? Because bugs and rodents love to hitch a truck ride along the way, trying to find their new homes in this food delivery truck. Meanwhile, silverfish are chomping on cardboard boxes like they’re an Old Country Buffet all-you-can-eat meal.
Recommended Read: “Got a home library? Beware of silverfish ~ Before you pack up a moving truck or unpack your belongings, here's the reason you should investigate for pests”
And while your neighbors have created an eatery in their own homes — and can skip past the local health department inspections in brick-and-mortar restaurants — you’re horrified to spot cockroaches and ants in your own condo unit. Even with all the caulking to block cracks and gaps, these pests are getting in anyway. So, what do you do now that you’re involuntarily living by a restaurant?
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If complaining to the neighbors (or the neighbors’ condo landlord) isn’t resolving the issue, then the condo board may have to get involved and hire exterminators. But before you end up with a pricey bill for a bug problem you didn’t create, there are at-home bug repellent options that you can use without having to hire an exterminator.
Here are a few ideas for homemade ant traps, homemade cockroach traps, homemade mice traps and homemade bed bug traps.
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Do-it-yourself ways to get rid of ants
Vinegar Spray: Get a spray bottle, and mix equal parts white vinegar and water. Spray this mixture along ant trails to disrupt their pheromone signals.
Dish Soap and Water: Combine 2 ounces of dish soap with 4 cups of water. Spray it directly on ants to remove their scent trails.
Baking Soda and Sugar Trap: Mix equal parts baking soda and powdered sugar in a bowl. Sprinkle along the scent trail. Sugar attracts ants while the ingested baking soda disrupts their digestive systems.
Coffee Grounds: Sprinkle used coffee grounds around entry points. Ants dislike the smell and will avoid the area.
Essential Oils: Peppermint, lavender, tea tree and citrus oils can deter ants. Mix 30–40 drops of essential oil with 8 ounces of water. Spray around baseboards. (Because essential oils and water don’t mix well, an emulsifier such as aloe vera gel, witch hazel, liquid castile soap or vegetable glycerin can help to keep them from separating.)
Lemon Juice and Vinegar: Make sure to wipe down your own counters with lemon juice and vinegar to avoid ants barging in from the neighbor’s home and noticing you’re doing some home cooking too. Keep your food refrigerated and/or in airtight containers to prevent ant intrusion.
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Do-it-yourself ways to get rid of mice
Because mice can easily find their way into homes in even the smallest cracks, it’s essential to use steel wool and caulk to block holes. Mice also love cardboard boxes and piles of paper as much as silverfish. Even if mice originally came from your neighbor’s home, your collection of cardboard boxes in a closet will make them hang around. Discard or recycle excess boxes — unless you plan on moving soon.
Here are a few other DIY tips to get rid of mice.
Peppermint Oil or Peppermint Tea Bags: Mice dislike strong scents from essential oils. Soak cotton balls in peppermint oil and place them near entry points.
Vinegar and Cayenne Spray: Mix white vinegar with cayenne pepper, and spray it along baseboards.
Used Kitty Litter: If you have a cat, which is already a free exterminator, placing used litter near mouse-prone areas can deter them.
Aluminum Foil: Mice hate the texture and sound of foil, so wrapping your food with it serves two purposes.
Baking Soda and Sugar: Mice ingest baking soda if they eat the sugar, which disrupts their digestion.
Bucket Trap: This only works if you’re willing to deal with the squealing sound of a trapped mouse. Place a ramp leading to a small bucket with bait inside. Mice fall in but can’t climb out. Having some kind of platform (ex. cutting board with a handle) on the opening of the bucket will allow you to take the mouse outside without being at risk of touching it.
Dry Cement and Flour: This may be the cruelest trap of them all, but it can work. This mixture makes mice thirsty, which leads them to drink water. When this happens, it hardens the cement inside them. Even if you don’t like mice, the prolonged suffering and inability to process food may be too much to deal with. While it can work, it’s not recommended — even for people who have musophobia.
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Do-it-yourself ways to get rid of cockroaches
If you don’t have boric acid or Diatomaceous Earth to damage cockroaches’ exoskeletons and dehydrate them until they’re killed off, here are common products you can use instead.
Baking Soda and Sugar: Coat a piece of food with baking soda, and leave it overnight. While the sugar encourages roaches to snack, the baking soda disrupts their digestion.
Peppermint Oil Spray: Dilute five to 10 drops of peppermint oil in water, and spray it around your home.
Bay Leaves: Crush and sprinkle (bay leaves in cabinets and corners. Roaches hate the smell and stay away.
Duct Tape: Put bait on this tape with the sticky side facing upward. Roaches can get onto the duct tape but are stuck upon contact.
Coffee Grounds and Water: Similar to the way to get rid of fruit flies, cockroaches will crawl into the jar to get the coffee grounds but drown inside. (Take note of the cruelty-free fruit fly option as an alternative.)
Slippery Vaseline Jar: Coat the inside of a petroleum jelly jar. Then, place bait at the bottom of the container. Cockroaches can climb in but are stuck inside because the insides are too slippery to climb out.
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Do-it-yourself ways to get rid of bed bugs
Bed bugs can become a hindrance that’s not worth waiting to see if at-home remedies work. Any new tenant or homeowner, with or without the catering gig, can bring in bugs that hide in the crevices of cardboard just waiting to find a new home. Even if you take a short vacation and come back, bed bugs can arrive in your luggage. Diatomaceous Earth, which is used for cockroaches, can also be used for bed bugs. But there are a few common grocery items that may work as well.
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Baking Soda: Similar to Diatomaceous Earth, the powder absorbs moisture from bed bugs, leading to dehydration.
Tea Tree Oil and Peppermint Oil: These essential oils can repel bed bugs. Mix with equal parts of both, and spray around infested areas.
Alcohol: Rubbing alcohol kills bed bugs on contact. Spray directly on them and their hiding spots.
Recommended Read: “Battle of the Bedbugs”
Vinegar: White vinegar can kill bed bugs immediately, and it will disrupt their scent trails.
Steam Cleaning: High-temperature steam kills bed bugs at all life stages. Use a steam cleaner on mattresses, carpets and furniture.
Freezing Method: Place infested items in a sealed bag. Then, freeze them for several days to kill bed bugs.
Pet owners versus DIY pest traps
Dog owners who have moisturized their skin with petroleum jelly know that their dog gravitates to it like it’s ice cream, especially cocoa butter scents. While plain Vaseline is not toxic, flavored and medicated versions are not digestible and can lead to indigestion, vomiting and diarrhea. Because dogs still like the taste of petroleum jelly, the Slippery Vaseline Jar trap for cockroaches may not be the best option. The dog may try to get ahold of the jar to lick the petroleum jelly out. If this trap is used, make sure the petroleum jelly container is in a place where the dog cannot reach it.
Additionally, while bugs and rodents don’t care for the scent of peppermint oil, neither do cats and dogs. If your goal is to get your pet to make bugs or rodents scram (even by temporarily picking it up long enough to open the door), essential oils may result in you being on your own.
Both cats and dogs have a natural prey drive and will usually try to chase and catch small animals. But if a mouse has been poisoned, or is carrying diseases such as leptospirosis or hantavirus, this can put your pet at risk. And a pest who smells like a scent they already detest could make the dog sniff it, hesitate and walk in the other direction.
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Finally, while boric acid may do a good job of getting rid of roaches, if it’s sprinkled in an open space (ex. bathroom) where a dog is notorious for hanging out, you’re putting your dog at risk. If you’re seeing a considerable number of roach sightings in bathrooms, keep the bathroom door closed when you’re not home and make sure your dog does not go into the bathroom after using boric acid.
If you have tried any and all of these homemade pest traps with poor results, it's time to call an exterminator for you and the neighbor. Because if you have pests because of their at-home catering business, there is 100% chance that they do. And unless your neighbors do a better job of cleaning up or choosing different delivery people, the pests won't stop arriving until the business ceases.
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