If you flipped out in your bathroom this morning watching that grayish-yellow creepy being with floppy antennae meandering around – assuredly, they have made the crack in your bathroom wall their home. Very soon, you will find them scuttling about all over the house, even in your garden area. Hence, it is time for you to know how to get rid of centipedes at the earliest. Additionally, you must also note down ways to prevent them from coming back.
This guide will provide you with some general as well as natural techniques to keep them at bay and ensure that you protect your home from their further infestation. Let’s get started –
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How to get rid of centipedes at home?
You may have heard multiple times that it is not right to kill centipedes since they are natural pest controllers and feed on roaches, termites, moths, flies, and other pests. Also, most people would rather advise you to relocate them outside your house than have them meandering about.
However, keeping all these notes aside, it is crucial that you get rid of centipedes at home – since they, despite all the benefits that they accrue, bring in a host of negatives. When they bite humans, they inject toxins into their prey, which could cause pain and, at times, even swelling.
So, it’s best to rid your house of their presence –
1. Centipede sticky traps are the best way out
If you are hovering around this page, then one may assume you have already tried an insect trap, and it has not worked out. But, let’s assure you that this sticky trap will work efficiently to get rid of your house centipede infestation.
For the unversed, a sticky trap is a glue-based cardboard that is used for controlling pests. Often found in markets, they must be placed in damp, dark corners of your home to get the required results.
You could also make a sticky trap at home by – mixing water with corn syrup. Paste this concoction on the cardboard piece and set it up in a damp place to catch the centipedes.
2. Use boric acid or diatomaceous earth
You may have heard of it before, but if you wish to categorically know how to get rid of centipedes with boric acid or diatomaceous earth, here’s the revelation. Both these can be bought from a hardware store, and you just need to sprinkle them adequately in the infested areas. This works as a natural insecticide and scorches the exoskeleton of the centipede – thereby ensuring that the area is free of the same.
3. Cayenne pepper
A dash of cayenne pepper can help your meals get that perfect tang. They also help to keep your houses safe against centipedes. Since it holds capsaicin, therefore, it is inherently hot in nature, and when sprinkled on centipedes, it dehydrates them to death.
4. Essential oils work well
You must have heard of the multiple benefits of peppermint oil. Adding to that long list are – its positives for the removal of centipedes from your home. Since they are high in terms of their scent, hence, act as deterrents for these pests. You can mix water with essential oil (vanilla, peppermint, eucalyptus, tea tree oils) in a 2:1 ratio and then use it as a spray.
5. Cedar oil is also an alternative
In case you do not find any of the above-mentioned oils at your disposal then how to get rid of centipedes? Cedar oil is a great alternative. When you concoct this with water and use it to repel the bugs, it either coats the holes along the centipedes’ bodies, suffocating them to death or dehydrates the insects to death.
6. Dehumidifier
Just for you to know – centipedes have carapaces that save them from getting dehydrated since they cannot shed their spiracles. Thus, their whole being is based on the presence of moisture in a specific place. Keeping that in mind – when you use a dehumidifier, it takes the excess moisture out of the air. Naturally, the centipedes get dehydrated and die.
7. Use natural vegetable oil
In case you want an alternative to essential oils or cedar oil – natural vegetable oil works well. You need not dilute it with water or any other liquid and use it directly on the damp or infested areas to remove the centipede influx.
8. Opt for cinnamon and cloves
It is quite a well-known fact that centipedes detest strong scents, and hence sprinkling cinnamon powder or leaving a couple of pieces of clove around the area swarmed by centipedes is another mode to get rid of it.
9. Use a soap spray
A soap spray with a soap solution and water mixed in a 2:1 ratio or at times, even a 3:1 ratio (as concentrated as possible) is a great way to keep the centipedes at bay. To make it more effective, you may add drops of vinegar to it.
Apart from following these techniques, additionally, you need to seal the holes that are prone to introducing these pests at your home. Also, to keep your house clean, free of debris, and allow more light to play around vis-a-vis the sunlight-lacking moisture-prone areas are some general measures that you must take to prevent centipede growth.
How to get rid of centipedes from your garden?
Have you checked out the ways by which you can rid your house of this multiple-legged creature? Then you must implement the same. Having done that, it is time you check out your potted plants or the garden area.
Here are some tricks that will help keep the pests at bay from your garden area.
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Limit the water levels in your plants
You wouldn’t perhaps believe that extra water content in plants can be the hub of centipede swarms. But that is true. Ensure that your plant does not hold up extra water and becomes the breeding ground for centipedes.
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Clean the debris from your garden
Your garden is not a dumping yard, and hence you need to keep the debris away from your garden. Harborage, such as overgrowth, woodpile, or any other object that blocks the sun, paves the path towards the growth of centipedes.
Therefore, you must be cautious to clear your garden area of not just weeds, leaf piles and litter, rotten logs, and mulches but also ensure that it breeds healthy growing plants and allows plenty of sunlight.
The same holds true when you are dealing with potted plants. Water them well, prune them timely, and use a non-toxic but strong insecticide to keep centipedes away.
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Leaky faucets need repairing and holes require sealing
Keeping everything aside, you need to repair leaky faucets and the holes in water pipelines to prevent centipede infestation. So if you find water leaking either from your sprinkler head or main pipeline – be assured that sealing is how to get rid of centipedes in your garden area.
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Vinegar – Bleach combo is best for cleaning drains
When cleaning the garden drains, try using a pesticide that is made from a combo of bleach and vinegar. The combo of these products makes it an unsuitable breeding ground for the centipedes ensuring that they find some other place to rush to.
Apart from that, you can chemically get your garden treated with stronger but non-toxic pest treatment solutions.
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Kill them on-site
To kill them off is the best way to deal with them on an immediate note. To avoid harming the plant, you can also use a vacuum to clean the same.
Can you prevent them from coming back?
If you are still scrolling down, it may be stated that you have gained clarity on how to get rid of centipedes and would do the needful at the earliest. Apart from taking the required measures, it is also important that you prevent their infestation in the long run to save yourself any further problems. Let’s see the ways to prevent them –
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Cleanliness is the key to success
There’s no alternative to a clean home to keep the pests at bay! Remove the garbage, trash piles, and allow plenty of sunlight to enter your home to keep it free from insect influxes. Not only will it remove the infestation, but also prevent them from coming back.
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Try to reduce the moisture levels in your home
Every time there’s a leak in the wall or you are not doing enough to keep the moisture out of your home – centipedes will swarm your place. If you’ve had an attack previously, you must become more cautious now and use a dehumidifier at the earliest.
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Seal the cracks well
Since you have been reading this article for so long, you must have already understood where the centipedes stay. Hence, the first thing you must do to prevent them from infesting your home again is to fix the cracks in the wall or block all the entry points into the house.
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Eliminate their source of food
Before you work out on how to get rid of centipedes, you need to know their source of food. Once you cut off that, automatically, their survival will become a problem. For the record, they feed on roaches, spiders, ants, and ornamental plants. Hence, while cleaning your house, keep it free from the same to prevent re-infestation.
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Professional pest-removal techniques
It is advised that you carry out pest-removal treatment every 2-3 years at your home (including your garden area) to save your house from centipede infestation in the long run.
When you follow these steps diligently, you will automatically find your house less prone to inviting pests.
Wrapping up
Assuming you have read this content well and have a clear picture of these slimy beings meandering and compromising your living space, it is best that you understand how to get rid of centipedes and implement the same at the earliest. Also, ensure that you follow the steps to prevent further infestation either in your living space or your garden area. With these tips in tow – assuredly, you will have a pest-free home at your disposal.
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Monalisa Mukherjee is a content writer, copywriter and editor with 4 years of experience. She has written for websites like Biography Talk, The Rich Net Worth, Contour Cafe, He And She Fitness and Fiction Pad. She is currently associated with a noted Digital Marketing Agency and specialises in writing press release, guest posts, articles on travel, entertainment, food recipes, celebs, lifestyle, tech, health, and fashion.
