Your pantry is the perfect place to keep food. It should be cooler than the rest of the house, helping the food to last longer. It is also separate, reducing the risk of pests entering the pantry and then the rest of the house.
Of course, storing all your extra food in one place can make it more appealing to pests. That’s why it’s essential that you take the following steps to pest-proof your pantry.
Talk to your local specialists
It’s a good idea to contact your local pest control office and ask them to do an inspection. They will verify if you have any pests in your pantry or in the rest of your home. More importantly, they can give you additional tips to help keep pests out. After all, the local pest control will know about the local pests you are facing.
This can be invaluable advice e to help keep your pantry pest free.
Store things properly
The next step is to look at how you store things in your pantry. While it is easy to stack items on shelves, the best approach is to put things inside sealed containers, they can be plastic, glass, or metal. It doesn’t matter if the food packet is open or closed, it is still at risk from pests. This is particularly true for foods in paper packaging, such as flour.
Put everything in a container to keep it safe.
Seal gaps
Your next step is to remove everything from the pantry and give it a good clean. If you take food in and out of containers in the pantry then there is likely to be a little food debris on the floor. This will attract pests. Giving the pantry a good clean help. It also helps to remove the container from the pantry and take the food out in the kitchen, when you need to.
While the pantry is empty you’ll be able to inspect the interior walls. If you see any cracks or gaps then you need to fill them. Even the smallest of gaps can allow a pest into your pantry. If one can get in then others can and you are likely to have a problem.
Pay particular attention around the window as this is where cracks commonly appear.
In addition, remember there will be a gap under the pantry door, add a brush to keep pests out./
Check the mesh
A good pantry will have a window with mesh covering it. This helps to keep the pantry at a reasonable temperature for food storage. However, if the mesh is broken or damaged then pests have an easy way in and out.
Check the mesh regularly and repair or replace it when necessary. This will help to ensure pests can’t get in.
Final words
Finally, remember that pests can easily get in through an open door. Keep the pantry door closed unless you are going in to get something or put something back.
