Are those ants, cockroaches or other pests slowly staging a hostile takeover of your kitchen? As with any battle, you have to know your enemy to annihilate them successfully.
Here are some simple basic facts about them so you may to arrest their invasion and banish them completely from your control center.
Ants seem to be the most rampant front liners among all pests.
They love sweet, oily or protein-rich foods - any tiny speck of these can bring them on.
So keep foods wrapped and stored in sealed containers or resealable plastic bags and always keep your counters and floors clean.
Cockroaches probably are the sturdiest of pests.
Having been the only organism to survive the Krakatoa explosion ages past, it seems like they're going to be around forever.
Cleanliness is still the major battle tactic: Cockroaches go for food and water.
Yes, water.
So fix the dripping faucets and pipe leaks, especially those that pass through the kitchen sink cabinet.
Vacuum these areas often as discarded skins of cockroaches can cause serious respiratory problems.
Although they are more common in hotels and hospitals, bedbugs may enter your home and invade your pillows and mattresses.
When you come home from your travels or when kids get back from their camping trips, do a short quarantine on luggage and suitcases, travel pillows, sleeping bags and tents before bringing them in for storage.
Air luggage and suitcases under the sun, the sunnier it is the better.
Wash everything else in hot water and dry them under the sun, if the weather permits.
High heat settings on the dryers will do during cold weather.
Lastly, pasta, grain stock or pet food crumble or turn powdery due to Indian meal moth infestation.
Clean out areas where you keep these stuff regularly and discard packages where infestation has started.
Find good resealable containers for better storage.
Cleanliness is basic to keeping pests away.
It's a basic housekeeping rule, so let's prevent pest infestation simply by keeping clean.