Pantry-Proofing Tips to Prevent a Stored Product Pest Infestation

1. Pantry-Proofing Tips to Prevent a Stored Product Pest Infestation Pantry pests can be a pain for any home but they are especially concerning when you have a large store of food. This may be because you are concerned about the world-ending disasters and are stockpiling food. Or, it may simply be that you understand the climate in your area and are used to having limited access to supplies. Of course, many people simply use a pantry to store their food because it’s one of the best ways to look after food! Whatever the reason, a pest infestation in your pantry is not a good idea. Get Expert Help Get Expert Help The first thing you should do is look for pest control near me. Once you have found an expert you like get them to visit your house. They should inspect the entire house and make sure they are thorough in your pantry. You can find out more info about your local expert to help ensure you have chosen the best one. Hopefully, they won’t find a pest problem. But, if they do they can help you to eliminate it and even provide additional tips to prevent it from happening again. Throw Contaminated Products Throw Contaminated Products If you do have a pest infestation then the first thing you need to do is check all your food items and remove everything that is infected. Unfortunately, all these items will need to be thrown away. Once you have removed everything watch the pantry to see if there are any other bugs present. Clean Your Pantry Clean Your Pantry The next step is to remove all the good items from your pantry and clean it. You’ll want to wash all the shelves, starting at the highest shelves, with warm water and soap. Do not use any pesticides, you don’t want them getting into your food. Once you’ve washed everything down carefully vacuum the floor and then wash that as well. Make sure the pantry is completely dry before you put any food back in it.

2. Seal It Seal It One of the most effective ways to prevent pest infestation is to seal all your food products in plastic or metal containers. This means that the pests can’t get to the food. You can store unopened packets in plastic containers or open them and just store the contents. But, the real secret to ensuring pests don’t get into your pantry is to do all the food handling outside the pantry. In short, open and close all food containers in your kitchen, not the pantry. You should also wipe the container over before putting it back into the pantry. This ensures there is no food debris in the pantry to attract pests. Add A Trap Add A Trap With the above precautions, there should be no reason for a pest to go into your pantry. However, you can add a pheromone trap. This effectively emits an odor that attracts male moths. If they are in the pantry they will go to it and get stuck in the sticky trap. This will give you a warning that you have pests and encourage you to check the pantry again.