Cockroaches
Place bay leaves around infested rooms. Apparently bay leaves smell like dirty socks to cockroaches and they would rather not be around them. For serious infestations, you may need to resort to insect growth regulators which nip the reproductive cycle in the bud, leading them to produce sterile offspring.[break]
Mosquitoes
Taking vitamin B-Complex or eating brewer’s yeast daily can keep you free of mosquito bites. Citronella oil is an effective repellent when diluted with vegetable oil and dabbed onto the skin. Mosquitoes also dislike fresh basil, so you can apply this and also scatter leaves around your home to ward them off.
Ants
Pour a line of cream tartar, red chili powder, paprika or dried peppermint at the places where ants enter the house – they won’t be able to cross it. You can also try washing countertops, cabinets and floors with equal parts of vinegar and water and putting a little paprika at the edges. Cinnamon oil, lavender oil and mint oil can also be helpful in warding off ants. Place sliced cucumbers in the infected area. Ants will leave because the taste is not very appealing to them.
Flies
To repel flies, hang clusters of cloves in a room, or leave an orange skin out. However, you may invite them back if you don’t keep living areas clean. Sweep up the crumbs properly, vacuum and wash dishes right away and store food in tightly sealed containers.
Moths
A humane and great smelling alternative to mothballs is to place cedar chips or store sachets of dried lavender or dried rosemary and mint in drawers and closets. Sachets filled with lavender and suspended in your closet or tucked in your drawers are said to protect woolens. They will also leave a pleasant scent behind. Lavender will not, however, kill moth eggs or larvae, so be sure the space is free of them first.
Spiders
If you must evict them, trap them in an inverted jar and release them outside. Then you can rub lemon peel around door frames – inside and out. Apparently spiders aren’t too fond of this and won’t enter your house. You can also try mixing one part coconut oil with two parts white vinegar into a spray bottle and spray it around common spider entry points.
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