People often think about how to protect their homes from pests, but they don’t always think about protecting their furniture specifically. Unfortunately, some pests really like furniture. So it’s time to take precautions before your furniture hosts a full-out pest infestation. Remember, the best pest control is prevention, so let’s go over some ways you can protect your furniture from pests and prevent them from taking over.
Which Pests Live in Furniture?
Furniture can attract a lot of pests. After all, it’s made from things a lot of pests like – wood, cotton, and so on. Plus, furniture actually provides a pretty good shelter for a lot of these pests. But before you can prevent the pests from living in your furniture, you need to know which pests you’re most likely dealing with.
Termites
Termites are the number 1 pest that attacks furniture, which really isn’t surprising. A lot of furniture is made of wood, and termites eat wood, so the attraction for the bugs is clear. Termites will damage your furniture to the point that it can’t support much or any weight. The other big problem with termites is that if they are in your furniture, they are probably in the rest of your house causing damage there as well.
Wood-Boring Beetles
Wood-boring beetles cause a similar problem to termites – they eat wood. The difference is that instead of the whole colony building up in the wood, only the beetle larvae live in the wood. The larvae burrow through the wood, eating it until they mature enough to leave the wood. This weakens the furniture and makes it risky to use.
Ants
Ants can be a problem in two ways. First, they sometimes build up their colonies in furniture, and second, some ants will also chew through the wood and damage it. Both of these issues make the furniture unusable, at least temporarily.
Bed Bugs
Bed bugs aren’t really a threat to furniture itself. However, they often take up residence in furniture, and that turns into an uncomfortable situation for you. The bed bugs wait until you’re sitting still, then they bite you and suck your blood. Even if the furniture hasn’t been used in a few months, the bed bugs could still be there because they can go months without eating.
How You Can Protect Your Furniture from Pests
Even though pests are a threat to your furniture, there are some things you can do to prevent them from getting in your furniture in the first place. Prevention is ideal in this case. If the pests do get into your furniture, then trying to take care of it yourself will not be the best pest control option. Instead, you’ll need to call professionals to help you take care of the problem.
But if you can prevent the problem in the first place, you shouldn’t have to worry about getting rid of an infestation. So here are a few things you can do to prevent pests from living in your furniture:
1 – Protect Wooden Surfaces
Because so many pests that live in furniture are attracted to wood, one of the best things you can do to prevent them is to treat the wood. This can be done with a simple wood polish, but some people also like to use aloe vera or olive oil and vinegar for this treatment.
It’s also important to make sure that your furniture is kept dry (aside from when you treat it with wood polish). Moisture can attract insects like termites to wood, so keeping furniture dry will help keep it safe. Try cleaning your wooden furniture with a dry rag or duster instead of using a damp rag.
If you start to treat your furniture and find tunnels in the wood or piles of wood dust on the floor, then there are probably already termite, carpenter ants, or wood-boring beetles living in your furniture, and treating the wood won’t make them leave. The best thing to do at this point is to call a professional for help.
2 – Keep a Clean Home
One of the best things you can do to prevent pest problems in your furniture (and in your home) is to clean regularly and well. To keep bugs from staying in your furniture for long, you can vacuum your couches and chairs to remove any ants or bed bugs that might have decided to try living there. This should keep your furniture pest-free. Just make sure to throw away the vacuum bag if you do come across bugs in your furniture.
Aside from vacuuming, you can also make sure to keep floors clean, check for gaps or cracks that might let pests in, and not leave food sitting out where pests will easily find it.
It’s also a good idea to avoid bringing home used furniture without checking it for pests. Bed bugs, in particular, often end up in homes because they were living in furniture that had been used or abandoned first. If you can ensure that the furniture is pest-free, then it should be fine to take home, but always check first.
3 – Hire the Best Pest Control for Preventing Pests
While there are things you can do yourself to prevent pests in your home, possibly the best pest control prevention is professional pest control. Professional pest control tends to be much more effective than store-bought pesticides do. It’s often a safer option as well because it’s applied more carefully, it’s typically pet and child-friendly, and you don’t have to store the chemicals yourself.
With regular application of preventative pest control, pests should be infrequent in your home, and you should have a very low risk of pest infestations in your home. Of course, professional pest control works best when combined with your own efforts to clean regularly and discourage pests from coming in. And without the best professional pest control, your own efforts to protect your home from pests aren’t as effective as they could be.
Protecting your home is worth using multiple forms of pest control – DIY and professional. When you use various methods, you’ll know that you’ve done everything in your power to protect your home from dangerous and unwanted pests.
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