Common Kitchen Ingredients You Can Use For DIY Pest Control

Your kitchen has food supplies, herbs, and spices to nourish, sustain, and tickle your taste buds. But some of them pull double duty as pest repellents and exterminators as well. Not all of these homemade pesticide recipes are of the same caliber. Some only repel while others downright kill. Vinegar is a good repellent, while chili pepper is a potent killer. As for beer, it's a trapper that leads hapless victims to their demise.

Some ingredients work on their own, while others work in combination to enhance their lethal powers and target a wider array of pests. Whatever kitchen supplies you use, they all have one thing in common: They're safer alternatives to chemical pesticides. Unlike commercial insecticides, these homemade solutions don't contaminate the soil or pose health risks to the household. Whether you use them around the house or in the garden, the environment will thank you. Here's the lowdown of which ingredients work best against pests, and how to prepare and apply them.

Dish soap is another kitchen ingredient that has good potential as a pesticide alternative. In diluted form, the liquid targets small insects at home and in the garden. Sodium lauryl sulfate, the active ingredient in many dish soaps, is a potent pest control agent. When it comes in contact with soft-bodied bugs, it dissolves the wax coating protecting them, which causes death by dehydration. Dish soap sprays don't harm large insects, so bees, butterflies, and other good bugs in the garden are safe. You only need 1 teaspoon of dish soap mixed into 1 cup of water and shaken well. Fill a spray bottle and apply to the bug infestations. For the best results, spray the pests at close range. This will either kill them or kick them off the plants.

Dish soap sprays are effective against cockroaches, ants, fleas, grubs, leafhoppers, thrips, aphids, mites, and whiteflies, among others. Don't use the dish soap in high concentrations or apply it in temperatures above 90 degrees F or high humidity since it could burn the plants. The spray isn't recommended for plants such as tomatoes, plums, sweet peas, and many turfgrass varieties that are sensitive to the chemicals in the dish soap. When in doubt, test the dish soap on a small part of the plant or the lawn first.

Chili pepper might burn your tongue for a while, but when it comes to bugs, it means business. The veggie is rich in capsaicin, an alkaloid chemical that gives it its spiciness. Insects exposed to capsaicin experience damage to the nervous system and cell membrane. Such damage disrupts the mobility and feeding activities of the bugs and, in some cases, can be lethal. Pests that aren't exposed to the chili spray will avoid the treated area. You'll need 1 tablespoon of chili pepper powder and 3 drops of dish soap mixed into 1/2 gallon of water. Spray the infected plants once every 3 to 5 days.

This natural spray is effective against lace bugs, aphids, spider mites, thrips, alfalfa weevils, and others. Pepper powder is an irritant if it touches the skin or eyes, so always wear eye goggles and gloves before handling it. Another issue with chili pepper is that it kills bees and other pollinators in the garden, so use it with caution. And while it repels deer and other wildlife, it will not keep birds away from your garden.

The humble vinegar has all the makings of an efficient solution to manage pests. The product of ethanol fermentation, the potent liquid contains acetic acid which has enough intoxicating odors and high acidity to kill and repel many pesky bugs. Since its pH is 2.5, you need to dilute it with water (to dilute the acidity) before applying to furniture and plants. It's also one of the easiest homemade pesticides to prepare. Mix 1 cup of vinegar into 1 cup of water,  add 1/2 teaspoon of dish soap, and then stir it well. The dish soap will make the spray stick to plants and surfaces. Repeated applications are required since the spray dries out quickly.

Vinegar can be used to kill snails, slugs, and whitefly eggs, and repel spiders, mosquitoes, ants, and fruit flies. But the acidic liquid has some downsides. Some people find the vinegar odors unpleasant. You could try adding a drop or two of essential oil to the spray to mitigate the acidic smell. And when used as an herbicide, it can burn the leaves of useful plants in the garden.

When looking around your pantry for something to manage pest infestations, rubbing alcohol shows up as a suitable candidate. Made of isopropyl alcohol diluted in water, the effects of alcohol on pathogens, fungi, and bacteria are well documented. As for insects, the potent compound liquidates the protective shell of soft-bodied bugs and dries out the rest of the body. But since it contains between 68% to 99% alcohol concentrations, you'll need to dilute it before using it around the house and garden. Mix 1/2 cup of rubbing alcohol and 1/2 teaspoon of dish soap into 2 cups of water and shake well. Spray liberally over the infected areas to make sure the pests are covered with it.

You can use rubbing alcohol to remove these pests from your house: bed bugs, mealybugs, aphids, spider mites, and scale. That said, isopropyl alcohol is toxic when ingested by either humans or animals. It also causes serious damage to plants. If absorbed by the roots, the alcohol causes dehydration, wilting, and death.

Whether you grow it in the garden or use leaf extracts, mint is an excellent choice for controlling pests. The aromatic oils in the plant are quite effective at chasing away pests. Mint comes in many varieties, including peppermint, spearmint, and pennyroyal. Each variety has a specific aroma that repels some insects but not others. To prepare the minty spray, add a few fresh mint leaves to 2 cups of water in a pot and bring to a boil. Let it rest overnight, then strain it and fill a spray bottle with the concoction. Spray the infected areas every other day. Alternatively, you can keep a bowl of fresh leaves in the pantry or the kitchen to deter bugs. A third option is to rub the leaves against your skin before you go out on a hike.

Aromatic mint, in general, is quite successful against ants and flea beetles. Meanwhile, peppermint and spearmint repel spiders and mosquitoes. As for pennyroyal, it deters gnats, ticks, flies, and chiggers. But it's also the one variety that can cause health problems for pets. Don't grow or keep the pennyroyal plants where your pets might find them.

Beer's appeal extends beyond humans, as the foamy drink charms pests as well. The fermented liquid contains sugar as well as a distinctive odor that many pests find irresistible. You don't need to prepare the beer or mix it with anything, since the beverage has everything you need for pest control. Using it to trap and kill home pests, dip a rag in beer and leave it on the floor in the pantry, kitchen, or garage overnight. Outdoors, you can fill a bowl halfway with the brew and leave it for undesirable garden and lawn critters. Another option is to bury a can half-filled with beer in the ground for pests to drown in the drink.

Beer lures slugs, snails, cockroaches, fruit flies, and rodents. While a rag on the floor will attract roaches from all over the house, trapping slugs only works if the critters are just a few feet away from the trap. To catch as many snails and slugs as you can, it's recommended to place a number of traps in strategic positions in the garden. However, if bees drink from the beer trap, the alcohol might disrupt their daily activities.