Who doesn’t love a clean and pest-free kitchen? It’s the place where the food you eat gets prepped, so the last thing you want is any ants or roached roaming the space. To avoid the risk of food contamination, ensure health and well-being, and just generally maintain cleanliness—you can follow some kitchen pest-proofing tips right from the experts of pest control dubai.
Read on.
1. Seal Any Cracks
Pay attention to any gaps in your walls and floors. Pests make their way into your kitchen via these and then make their home inside. When pest-proofing your kitchen, start by filling up any cracks. You’ll want to pay special attention to door and window frames, as gaps in wood are prime spots for pests to get in and out. Also, look for openings such as vents and drain pipes for the kitchen sink.
2. Close Off Any Leaks
Are water faucets or drainage pipes leaking in your kitchen? You need to get these fixed ASAP. Pests love moisture, especially cockroaches. One of the many reasons cockroaches make their home around the kitchen is because of the dampness from the water used in washing and cooking.
Additionally, make sure never to leave out any standing water, such as for dishes in the sink. Drying up the kitchen after meals is highly recommended.
3. Keep It Ventilated
Closing your kitchen door and windows is not the way to keep pests out, as there are several unseen ways pests can get in your rooms. In fact, closing off airflow in your kitchen helps foster various insects that love dark places.
Make sure you have the means to ventilate your kitchen. It helps keep the surfaces dry, therefore preventing pests from accumulating there.
4. Store Food Correctly
Whether we’re taking dry ingredients or sauces that go into daily meals, proper storage is crucial. Make sure all food items are in sealed containers. Check your bottles and boxes for any spills and leaks, especially the sugary stuff that can attract ants.
Tip: Adding bay leaves to your cupboards or behind jars on counters can help keep pest-proofing your kitchen.
5. Cover Up Fresh Produce
So you can’t keep your fruits and veggies in storage containers. But you can keep flies and other pests off them in other ways.
First, make sure to store any refrigerated produce right away. As for the fruits and veggies that you leave out on your counters or island, get a net cover. If you have a fruit bowl with a net ted lid that comes with it, even better!
6. Never, Ever Leave Crumbs
Ants, roaches, flies, and other critters—are attracted to homes where there is always ample food (crumbs and leftovers) available for them. If you leave food crumbs on the floor, it is all the more reason for pests to return—and eventually, make a home in your kitchen.
Clean up food crumbs immediately after you’re done prepping the food. Ants are especially talented at reaching food rapidly.
7. Check Incoming Groceries
If you want to cover all your bases when pest-proofing your kitchen, make sure to inspect all groceries. Whether we’re talking bags of flour and grains or fresh fruits and veggies, your groceries may carry pests.
It is always a good idea to disinfect your groceries as well. Use an eco-friendly household cleaner to wipe all packaging. For fruits and veggies, soaking in diluted vinegar solution helps eliminate bacteria and any insects.
8. Wash Dirty Dishes
Pests love dirty dishes. Just because you have cleaned up all the surfaces and left dishes in the sink does not mean your kitchen won’t attract pests. If you’re pest-proofing your kitchen, and don’t want the hassle of cleaning the dishes right away, soak your dishes in soapy water (not plain water).
Ideally, you should clean up all dishes at the end of the day, as pests such as cockroaches are more likely to roam around at night in search of food.
9. Wipe All Surfaces
One of the best COVID-19 safety practices we’ve learned in the past couple of years is that disinfectants are your best friends. This applies to pest-proofing your kitchen; mopping your floors with a disinfectant-water solution can prevent and even eradicate pests. For kitchen counters, you can use soapy water to clean and dry them afterward.
10.Do A Deep Clean
Every once in a while, clean all the cupboards, cabinets, and drawers in your kitchen. No matter how careful you are, common household pests are opportunists. Plus, the longer you leave your kitchen storage unclean, the more it will accumulate bacteria and smells.
Therefore, do a deep cleaning in your kitchen. If you want to be extra sure that there are no pests in your kitchen, getting professional pest control services once or twice a year is the way to go. Not only can pest removal experts eliminate any present pests, but they also help in pest-proofing your kitchen for the future.
Final Thoughts…
Remember, the kitchen is often one of the starting points of pest infestations in homes and even workplaces. Pest-proofing the kitchen is the way to ensure hygiene and peace of mind!
