Having pantry pests can make you question how they entered your home and how quickly they can spread once they are there. You can stop the infestation of these pests and keep your food and pantry free of pests by following the proper prevention steps below.
Maintain a Clean Environment
Within your pantry, maintaining a clean environment for wherever you store your food will help greatly in preventing any pantry pests from infesting your home. Pantry pests can easily spread and that is why it is very important to maintain a clean environment within your home.
Some ways to maintain a clean environment include:
- Vacuuming your pantry or cabinet to remove crumbs or spills of any foodstuffs.
- Implementing smart shopping practices by not purchasing broken or opened food packages.
- Cleaning any containers that are not being used with soap and water.
- Throwing away any food that is suspected of being infested or has signs of infestation.
- Do not mix any old and new foods as this may transfer possible pantry pests from one food source to another.
Bait and Exclusion Treatments
In conjunction with a clean environment, placing pantry pest traps and reducing the number of cracks and crevices that are in your home is a great way to prevent pantry pests from infesting and entering your home.
Some ways to go about baiting and excluding in your home include:
- Placing traps in the area in which you store your food products
- Sealing any cracks and crevices which pests can use to enter your home
- Using insecticide products to pre-treat any cracks and crevices
Pro Tip
Although people may not notice them, pheromone traps are very enticing to a target insect, so you usually only need to use one trap at a time. Be sure to follow the recommendations on your trap's product label.
For more information on ways to keep pests out of your home, check out our Pest Prevention Guide and our guide on Preventative Pest Treatment.
