Protecting your home from various kinds of pests should be a priority for everybody. The most vulnerable sections of your house are the rooms located underground and garden structures like the shed. However, various rodents and termites have a “safe house” in the living room as well, inside the furniture. That’s why it’s useful to know a thing or two about the proper protection of furnishings against pests.
An aloe vera barrier
A smart way to start protecting your wooden furniture is to try out some of the natural methods. One of the best tactics to do it is to use an aloe vera gel. It acts as a natural repellent against termites, creating a barrier no ant would dare cross. This method is not efficient only for furniture but for hardwood floors, too.
Polishing the wood
Apart from aloe vera, simply wood polishing can be an excellent way to prevent termites from making a home inside your chairs and tables. There are wood polishes on the market that are designed and produced with termite protection in mind so they might be a wise choice. And yes, you’ve guessed correctly, they are all made using aloe vera as the main ingredient.
The moisture link
If two factors go hand in hand, then those are water and pests. The latter adore pools of standing water regardless of how small they are because they are ideal breathing ground for them. Even a teaspoon or a children’s toy with a puddle inside is enough for the tiniest of pests, such as termites, to procreate.
If the furniture is exposed to moisture or direct contact with water, then the appearance of termites is merely a question of time. That’s why wooden furniture should not be kept in damp rooms that have zero air circulation. Furthermore, you can use a wet cloth to soak in any excess moisture during the rainy season.
The power of sunlight
Another aid in the fight against pests is sunlight. If moisture is termites’ number one friend, then sunlight is their number one enemy. By exposing furniture to strong sunlight, especially during the cold season when sunrays are scarce, you are helping eliminate moisture and termites that come with it. Of course, be careful not to damage the furniture by overexposing it to strong sunlight in the summer. Be particularly cautious if you own leather furniture.
A little professional help
One of the hardest aspects of the fight against rodents and termites alike is the fact that they are everywhere. You cannot fight them as efficiently in the kitchen as in the attic because you’re a layman when it comes to professional pest control that experts handle in a matter of hours. Therefore, it would be wise to hire professional pest control to clean your entire home in such a way that no microorganism survives the treatment.
Protecting the inside of the wardrobe
Jokingly put, termite infestation is almost always an inside job. However, this doesn’t mean that you should actively help pests get inside your house. We are talking about the wardrobe which should not be used to store dirty clothes. After winter is over, don’t just put dirty coats, hats, and scarves inside the wardrobe but rinse them before you place them on hangers.
Oil treatments
A wood polish enriched with aloe vera is nice but many other oils can be used to protect wooden surfaces. For instance, essential oils, like orange oil or rosebud oil, are ideal for fighting off termites. They find these odors far too strong to make the furniture coated with them livable so they decide to infest some other piece of wood.
Finally, olive oil and white vinegar are some of the best mixtures that are bound to drive pests away from your furniture. Use an old spray bottle to distribute the oil evenly across the surface of the furniture.
We hope that the methods we have listed above will help you run a household without any pests living together with your family. Treating wooden surfaces is especially important, especially during the cold season.