The kitchen is one of the most common places where pest infestations take place. A messy kitchen creates an ideal environment for many types of pests. By taking a few steps toward a cleaner kitchen, you can greatly reduce the risk of pests invading your home.

1. Wash Dishes Frequently

Leaving dirty dishes in the sink overnight is one of the quickest ways to get a cockroach infestation. Remnants of food on dishes or standing water in bowls and cups attract all sorts of pests, so always clean dishes off as much as you can before placing them in the sink. Most household pests are nocturnal creatures, so leaving your dinner-time dishes in the sink until morning allows them an entire night to feed on leftovers.

2. Check Appliances for Leaks

Your dishwasher, washing machine or other appliances could be causing bugs to enter your home. Pest management experts recommend frequently checking to ensure that appliances are properly installed, because if leaks start to form, pests that are in search of moisture could rush to your kitchen. Plus if leaks drip onto wood over an extended period of time, that wood could become the target of structural pests. Carpenter ants and certain types of termites are known to cause damage to wood that has already suffered from water damage.

3. Seal All Food Items In Air-tight Containers

The food in your cupboards doesn’t just fuel your family, it could sustain a pest problem for a very long time. Pantry pests and cockroaches love human food. Once you’ve opened a package of food you should be very careful to seal it completely before returning it to the cabinet. Ziplock bags or air-tight containers are two of the best ways that you can protect your food from the insects that have invaded your home. To avoid pests from finding their way into dried products, consider adding a bay leaf to the package. The smell of this spice will keep pests from attempting to enter the package.

4. Do Not Leave Fresh Fruit Out In The Open

Many people leave fresh produce out on their counters, but this is one of the easiest ways to end up with a kitchen full of fruit flies. It is a common myth that fruit flies appear randomly on rotten fruit, and some people believe that they are born on the fruit itself. In actuality, fruit flies can smell ripening fruit from very far away, and as fruit becomes overly ripe these pests will start trying to get into your home. They will stop at nothing to find their way in. For this reason fruit should be kept in the refrigerator or in a sealed container at all times.

5. Keep Up With Common Kitchen Chores

Run your garbage disposal frequently, because leftover food at the bottom of a disposal can attract many types of pests. If you feed your pets in your kitchen never leave their food sitting out. Many types of bugs are attracted to cat and dog food, so only fill their bowls at feeding time and dispose of any leftover food. Move appliances and clean underneath them frequently, food will occasionally fall beneath stoves or refrigerators, and pests could be feeding on these scraps without your knowledge.

By following these simple tips you can make huge strides in removing and preventing pests in your kitchen. If you’ve followed all of these steps and still see pests you should get in touch with a pest control provider as soon as possible. There could be hidden leaks within your walls, or other problems that you can’t easily spot that may be drawing bugs and other pests into your kitchen.