Cricket Removal

As weather cools, crickets will try to find shelter indoors. There are a variety of ways to rid your home of crickets.

Repairing Your Home Against Infestation

Crickets can get into any small crack or crevice. They enjoy dark, damp places. Because of their tendency to chew through paper or clothes, they can be in piles of old clothes, books or papers. It's important to protect your home from crickets either before or after you've dealt with current invaders. Inspect the areas of your home where crickets are found or could potentially be found. You need to tightly seal any cracks and crevices that you find. You also need to repair any leaking plumbing. Materials to use to seal with are patching plaster, silicone caulk, foam insulation, concrete and mortar. You can use a hammer and nails to permanently tighten all siding, molding and trim on your home. Crawlspaces should be kept dry; you can add a dehumidifier to keep them that way. Crickets are also attracted to light. Change your lights to less attractive yellow bulbs. You can also remove any piles of leaves, wood or bricks outside of your home because they can harbor crickets. Mow your lawn regularly; crickets will be eliminated when they come into contact with the mower.

Ways to Eliminate Crickets

There are simple household items that can be used to get rid of an existing cricket problem. Use a vacuum to suck up crickets in and outside of the home. Indoors, you can catch crickets by placing duct tape (with the sticky side up) in areas where crickets are living. You can also place some dog food in a shallow dish of water. Crickets need fresh water. When they come to the bowl they will drown in it. To attract crickets to the tape and the bowl you can use a mixture of cornmeal and borax (available at hardware stores); it can be placed on and near the traps. Baking soda, Comet or medicated body powder placed in an area of infestation will also kill crickets upon contact. To kill crickets immediately, you can spray them with a diluted solution of water and enzyme peppermint cleaner, available at arbico-organics.com. Use 1 oz. of the cleaner per quart of water.