Kathrine Frich
Warm weather brings out the best in our gardens and makes us want to throw every window wide open.
But that fresh breeze often invites an uninvited guest buzzing through the living room.
Luckily, getting rid of them takes just two common grocery items.
A natural barrier
Keeping your house cool in the summer can feel like an open invitation to local pests. Flies swarm towards the kitchen at the first sign of a cracked door, and many people instinctively grab harsh chemical sprays to solve the problem.
But a home safety expert has revealed a much more natural trick.
According to Neil Mckenzie from Halton Stairlifts cited by Express, the answer is already sitting in your pantry. He told the Daily Express that combining lemons and cloves creates a “perfect instant and short-term solution” for pest control.
Setting up the trap
The setup process takes less than a minute. You just need to slice a fresh lemon in half and grab some whole cloves from the spice rack.
Push ten to fifteen cloves directly into the fleshy part of the lemon. Then, set those spiked halves in egg cups around the house.
They work best when placed next to fruit bowls or on sunny window sills.
The acidic lemon juice mixes with the natural clove oil to release a scent that flies absolutely despise. You just need to toss the old lemon every few days when the fruit dries out.
Taking it outside
This trick also works brilliantly when you want to eat lunch in the garden. You set up the lemon exactly as before, but with one extra step.
Carefully use a lighter to make the cloves smoulder. The gently smoking spice creates a protective bubble around your outdoor dining table.
If you prefer a spray, Mckenzie shared another natural recipe with the newspaper.
You can mix one cup of water with a cup of white vinegar, a drop of dish soap, and a few drops of peppermint oil.
Spraying with caution
You can spritz this homemade liquid on door frames and countertops to keep pests away. Just remember it is meant to repel insects, not kill them.
Always avoid spraying it directly on the bugs.
You also need to be careful if you have furry friends roaming around the house, because peppermint oil is highly toxic to both cats and dogs.
Always ensure you keep this homemade spray far away from your pets.
Sources: Daily Express
