How to Get Rid of Those Pesky Stink Bugs This Summer

It’s summer, it’s hot, you’ve got the AC on blast most of the time in your home…. You are bound to see and kill alot of bugs this time of the year inside your home, it’s natural. You see one light brown-looking shield-shaped or oval-shaped bug crawling on your wall or window, maybe even around your kitchen sink, you grab a tissue, go to kill it, maybe flush it down your toilet, then you realize you now have a small unpleasant odor in that area of your home. Congrats, you just killed a stink bug. Many homeowners have these pesky bugs in their home, especially during summer months, they are merely a nuisance, and they are a bit scary-looking too, but they are harmless bugs. Thankfully, they rarely bite people. The unpleasant smell when you kill them is a result of a liquid they emit to frighten away predators. And while a stink bug bite is harmless to adult humans, for the most part, it can be dangerous to small children and pets.

Stink bugs enter homes via cracks in the siding and foundation. To prevent stink bugs in your home during the summer, use mesh screening for your windows and screen doors, open air vents and chimneys and any other areas. Go around the inside and outside of your home and seal and re-seal any possible entry points in your home with caulk. Keep your garden and yard weeded. (Stink bugs love weeds, so get rid of them). Any bugs you see outside, kill them outside as well, to ward off other bugs. You can also wipe windowsills and doorways with scented dryer sheets! PS: Stink bugs hate that smell for some reason.

Here are some home remedies for getting rid of stink bugs. First, do you like the smell of garlic? Stink bugs hate garlic! You can either chop up bits of garlic and leave bits and pieces of it all over your home in places you typically see stink bugs there. Or mix garlic powder, or bits of garlic into water, place the mixture in a water bottle and spray all over the house where you usually see them, and points of entry as well, like doors and windowsills and screens. You can also simply vacuum up the stink bugs as you see them or toss them in your toilet and flush them away. You can also mix water with dish detergent into a spray bottle and spray the bugs directly as you see them. It makes them dehydrated and they will die. It is effective, natural and safe to use. Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is a type of sedimentary rock used for a variety of purposes, and sprinkling on them directly will dehydrate them, or sprinkle around the inside and outside of your home in windowsills and doorways where you are likely to see them. Lastly, do you like and use hairspray on your head? While hairspray will not kill them it will paralyze them long enough for you to flush them down your toilet or toss them back outside or into the trash can. I hope these tips help you with your stink bug problem this summer!

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