While there are a number of different household uses of air fresheners, most people simply use them to freshen the air in their homes and cover up unpleasant odors. They are air-freshening machines that exist in different forms, like sprays, plug-ins, diffusers, or gels, to ensure that our homes smell like, well, not homes. But what most people do not know is that the same scents that we find appealing might be drawing undesirable visitors into our homes.
If you have been cleaning regularly and still have bug issues, you may be wondering how bugs can still be getting in. You may either find more bugs in places where air fresheners are used, or just have not linked those two things together. Some synthetic fragrances can attract 50 percent more flying insects than fragrance-free environments. Knowing the connection could be the key to your pest control puzzle, while you can also speak to professional pest control, like saelapest.com.
Do Air Fresheners Really Attract Pests?
Indeed, air fresheners can draw particular bugs to your house. The man-made chemicals and fragrances in most store-bought air fresheners are designed to emulate the natural compounds found in plants that insects are naturally attracted to.
Scent is the key for much of insect life, from tracking down food to finding a mate, setting up home, and defending itself. Those sweet, floral, or fruity smells in air fresheners can also confuse insects into thinking they have found nectar, fruit, or somewhere to lay eggs. Studies revealed that rooms with fragranced products housed, on average, 37% more insects than rooms without fragranced products. This is not to say you have to ban all nice smells from your home, but knowing which ones could be problematic is equally important.
How Do Air Fresheners Attract Insects?
Some sweet-scented air fresheners, such as those that smell like vanilla, fruit, or candy, will attract flies, ants, and other bugs to enter your home. These bugs crave sugars in nature for feeding, and the chemicals in fragrant products cause insects’ natural food-seeking response. Each time you spritz on one of these scents, you are potentially making a fake food signal that impels these pests towards your home.
Floral-scented products, such as lavender, rose, or jasmine air fresheners, feature the same compounds that flowers release in order to lure pollinators. Bees, wasps, and moths might confuse these manufactured scents for actual blooms and buzz into your home in search of nectar. Once they are in, bugs often get confused and cannot figure out how to get back out.
What Can You Do?
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Choose Natural Alternatives
Think about switching to natural alternatives for keeping your home fresh. Choices such as baking soda to absorb odors, houseplants that purify air naturally, and essential oil diffusers with insect-repellent oils such as citronella, eucalyptus, or peppermint can freshen up your home without inviting pests. In contrast to artificial smells, some of these natural options might even help repel some of the insects we typically find in our homes.
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Strategic Placement
If you still want to use commercial air fresheners, be strategic about them. Stash them away from windows, doors, and other entry points, where the odor can attract insects outdoors. Dreaming about using incense sticks for a ritual. If you dreamed of using incense sticks for a ritual, that dream could be a sign that you are at risk of drawing unwanted insects into your home by using incense sticks.
Let Professionals Guide You
If insects just would not leave you alone, no matter how much you try, it is time to bring in professional pest control. Well-trained professionals can recognize the particular bugs that are giving your house problems and also see other factors that are stimulating the infestation (such as fresheners in the air, etc.).
If you spring for professional pest control, they can come up with a customized plan that accounts for the insect issues in your home and your desire for a nice-smelling house. They can advise on insect-repelling scents and help you keep yourself itch-free without avoiding perfect comfort. Professional intervention is effective at eliminating an ongoing pest problem in 85% of cases in which homeowners have tried and failed to control the problem themselves.
