Not One Bug in My House in 48 Years - The Old Lunch Lady Trick the Health Inspector Swore By

Nine dollars a can of spray. Fifty-five dollars a visit for the truck. I have bought neither one in forty-eight years in this house, and for thirty-five of those years I ran a school kitchen in Scioto County, Ohio, where one roach could close the doors on four hundred children. We did not kill bugs in that kitchen. We kept a card with four lines on it and signed it every Friday, and the health inspector could walk in any morning he liked and ask to see it. This is that card, and how it works in a house. THE FOUR LINES 💧 Line 1, WATER: a roach lasts weeks without a crumb and about a week without a drink. The sink goes to bed dry, the rag gets wrung and hung, the saucers get tipped, and the drip gets fixed this week. 🫙 Line 2, FOOD: everything six inches off the floor, bulk out of the bag and under a lid you seat with your palm, the dog food in a bin, and new cornmeal at least four days in the freezer before it meets the canister. 📦 Line 3, SHELTER: cardboard does not sleep in the house, and that includes the paper grocery sack behind the refrigerator. Drawers pulled and the refrigerator walked out twice a year. 🚪 Line 4, THE WAY IN: the dollar bill test from the walk-in cooler, a door sweep for a few dollars, copper mesh and sealant around the pipes, caulk on the baseboard, a real screen on the floor drain. And outside, eighteen inches of bare, dry ground against the foundation: mulch and leaves raked back, woodpile up and away from the house, compost at the back fence, a screen on the rain barrel. THE FOUR GUARDS, graded honestly Bay leaf in the flour bin (my mother Irene's): UNPROVEN. The lid does the work. I keep it for her. Glue board under the sink: PROVEN, as a report and not as a remedy. It is what the inspector carried. Diatomaceous earth outside along the foundation: HONEST WITH A NOTE. Dry only, a thin puff, wear a mask, away from children and animals. Peppermint oil, cucumber peel, a bar of soap: UNSETTLED. A suggestion, not a wall. ⚠️ When this is not enough: if they are already in the walls, have a licensed professional out one time and ask for gel bait placed in the cracks. Skip the foggers; a university study in North Carolina found they miss where roaches hide and leave pesticide on the counters. Never mix a store chemical with anything from your pantry, and keep all bait away from children, pets, and food. If you rent and share a wall, the glue board is your evidence for the building. This week: spend nothing. Tonight, dry the sink and hang the rag. Tomorrow, one sack becomes one jar. Friday, the boxes go to the curb. Saturday, the dollar bill at the back door and the mulch pulled back off the siding. Tell me in the comments what your mother kept in her flour bin, and what county she kept it in. I am a retired school cook, not a licensed exterminator. This is what kept my kitchen and my house clear. For a serious infestation, call a licensed professional. #PestControl #OldFashioned #HomeHacks