You think of your kitchen as a gathering place for your family to spend time together and make memories. However, you may be sharing your meals with some unwelcome guests–pests! Not just a nuisance, pests can spread disease, putting your family’s health at risk. Lucky for you, we’ve put together a list of our top tips for keeping pests out of your kitchen, and ensuring your family’s safety!

What Attracts Bugs To The Kitchen?

Typically, pest problems come from a source. Since bugs are attracted to food, even daily kitchen activities can be an invitation for a mouse or roach. Some of the main draws include:

• Dirty Dishes
• Crumbs on the floor or counter
• Improperly sealed pantry items
• Open trash cans
• Compost
• Open pet food

While each of these items may seem insignificant, even the smallest crumb of food can be enough to attract a bug. Read below for some tips for keeping pests out of your kitchen!

How To Prevent Bugs In Your Kitchen

1. Do a Deep Clean.

If you’ve noticed pests, changing future behaviors may not be enough to get rid of a current problem. To prevent making your problems worse, start by deep cleaning your entire kitchen from top to bottom. Be sure to clean all counters and hard-to-reach areas to eliminate any stray crumbs or spills. The more often you do this, the better!

2. Seal All Containers.

While many items may come in cardboard boxes, they’re not enough to keep bugs out. In fact, many pests like cockroaches actually like cardboard. To ensure you’re not attracting unwanted dinner guests, transfer all pantry items (including pet food) to airtight plastic or glass storage containers.

3. Keep a Clean Sink.

Bugs love damp, dirty areas, so a sink full of dirty dishes is an open invitation for pests. Wash dishes as soon as you’re finished with them and be sure to run the garbage disposal regularly to avoid any additional build-up.

4. Install Door Sweeps.

While a small crack may not seem like an issue, bugs can fit through just about any opening– no matter how small. Help deter them by installing aluminum door sweeps to seal their entryway.

5. Contact a Professional.

Prevention is important, but if you already have a pest problem, it might be too late. There’s no need to panic, though! As pest control experts, we know exactly where to look to determine the source of an infestation; and can not only eliminate the problem, but help prevent future pest issues.

Get Proactive!

Finding pests in your kitchen not only ruins your appetite, but can spoil your food and spread disease. If you don’t currently have a pest problem in your kitchen, count yourself lucky and consider a prevention plan! By following the steps above, you can rest assured that your family–and food!–are safe from pests.