I decided to write the perfect desperate housewives blog, with a number of random pieces of niff naff and trivia that I have picked up along the way. I promise that these are tried and tested, and have worked for me!
Beasties are the bane of my existence. I can't stand them. Flies, mosquitoes, ants, roaches, BLECH! Naturally most of us are the same way, so we are all always looking for ways of getting rid of them and keeping them out of the house. Now unless you're like May in the Secret life of Bees, you're not going to lay out graham cracker crumbs to "lure" the beasties outside of your house...And on a sidenote I never understood that part, wouldn't that inevitably attract more beasties inside? Anyhow, I digress. Back to the nifty beastie tricks.
Flies
Considered by some as the "national bird of Egypt" purely because of their abundance in this country, flies are everyyyyywhere. I dread opening my window lest I let millions of these beasties inside. Fortunately, thanks to riding buddies, I picked up this nifty little trick that does actually keep flies out. Take a clear plastic bag (or ziplock) and fill it half way with water. Add four or five copper pennies, and hang next to any window that you want to leave open. For some reason this tricks the flies with the light reflections, and they don't realise there's an open window. Voila! Fresh air in the summer, sans flies! (Because lets be honest, fly screens don't let the same breeze through :p).
Ants
These little feckers are sneaky. They are the ninja's of the insect world if you will. I feel that almost no matter what I do, somehow they find a way BACK into the kitchen, living room, whereever they may have originally inhabited. As another side note...ants in Egypt prefer carby foods over sugar...wtf?
I have a few tricks that I use for ants. One is to spray raid or a similar insect repellant on every entrance into your house along the ground. If you're like me at the moment, that is raid-less, another simple trick is to use bleach. Because ants will follow the scent trails left by their fellow ant-friends, water alone won't remove the scent trail. Using bleach and cleaning with hot water along the path that they have chosen will eliminate the scent trail, and stop the ants getting in. Problem here, your house smells like a pool :p. Another trick that I like to use is to add a few sprays of raid to the water when I am mopping. This way you get into all the nooks and crannies, as well as all across your floor.
Finally, if you've found the source of ants coming into your house, or even better their colony, boiling water on top of their entrance will kill the ants inside. But here again rises another problem, if you don't kill the queen ant, you won't have eliminated your problem. It is however, a good quick fix, hopefully you'll burn off enough of the feckers to cause them to seek less warm real estate.
Roaches
Ech. I have yet to find a perfect solution for getting rid of roaches. The raid along the floor works, but unfortunately, roaches are one of the most adaptable animals in the world. It's disgusting that they are one of the few animals/creatures that would survive a nuclear fallout. I've found that the most effective method seems to be investing in a roach-hunting canine extraordinaire.
Trained to respond to the slightest roach movement, this guy will be sure to keep your house roach free. Side effects may include abandoned roach body parts :S.
Mosquitoes
So for this one, there's the obvious mozzie vanishing candles, burning incense thingies, or the little tablets that are heated throughout the night that emit a mozzie-repelling smell. Apparently there's an old wives remedy I heard of the other day, I've yet to find out what it is, but that has become my new mission. :p
For now, these are my niff naff and trivia tips on beasties. I'm sure there will be more to follow! Until then, happy beastie free house! ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment