Your car is almost your second home, especially if you use it every day or most times of the week. It would be filled with your personal paraphernalia; in fact, most of you even have shoes, clothes, candies, toiletries, and the likes. Others might even have books and documents inside the car.
Personal and work essentials are kept inside the car
Much like your home, your vehicle might also be a favorite breeding place or abode of pests, which can have a detrimental effect on your car and you, so this article by Philkotse.com will provide you with effective ways on how to keep pest away from cars.
I. Top 3 dangers of having pests in the car
Apart from the fact that having pests inside your car is untidy and unsanitary, there are more dangers to the situation than you could ever imagine. Some of them are:
1. Car part damages
Pests are known for being great at hiding in tiny holes or nooks and crannies. The car is composed of several small parts, such as vents, and tubes, where they can stay without you even noticing it. They can lay their eggs in there and even chew on the few parts, leaving your car with damages.
2. Accidents
Driving requires you to focus on the road so that you won’t meet any accidents or hurt other people along the way. That is the reason why we have the Anti-distracted Driving Act currently being implemented in the country. In relation to pests, they might show up any minute while you’re driving and you might be distracted or they might even bite you unknowingly, which might distract you and lead to accidents.
3. Illnesses
We are all aware that pests are dirty and they can carry several kinds of disease-causing organisms. As such, anything inside your car, such as the steering wheel, gear, and seats, that they crawl, pee, poop, and bite on can be a source of infection. Similarly, an ant, a bug, a bee, a tick, or a cockroach in the car upholstery can give you certain skin diseases.
Pests can show up and bite you anytime!
II. Recommeded ways to keep pest away from cars
Save yourself, your passengers, and your car from the dangers of having tiny residents inside your vehicle by keeping in mind the following recommendations from the experts:
1. Keep a food-free car
Heavy traffic is one of the things that residents in the Philippines would experience most of the time, if not daily. That is the reason why we tend to make sure that we always have something to munch, whether we pass by a drive-thru or we have ready-to-eat bread, cookies, and drinks - nobody wants to be caught on traffic hungry and feeling nauseous!
However, we must remember that food is the number one reason why pests are attracted to things or homes, and in this case, your car. We’re not saying that you should not have food in your car or eat inside your car. What we’re trying to say is you must make sure that all the peelings, cups, wrappers, and the like are removed immediately, like once you leave the car in the parking lot. But anyway, eating behind the wheel is a bad driving habit you should quit doing.
2. Vacuum your car regularly
Definitely, bringing your car to the car wash facility is costly and time-consuming that is why we usually do it twice or once a month. That said, it is recommended that you have a portable car vacuum so that you can vacuum the inside of your car daily or once every two days. This can help remove the crumbs of food and any dirt that might lead to having a pest inside cars. You can do this during your day-off or upon arriving home since this will only take at most five minutes.
3. Give your car some scent
As similar to other animals, pests use their sense of smell to either find their way or food items available for them. Likewise, certain scents also disgust or irritate them, so giving your car interior some smell would keep them away. We ain’t saying that you smoke inside your car or spray it with chemical-based aerosols that might destroy the upholstery.
Tips and advice from experts and car enthusiasts say that you can light up some incense with peppermint, sandalwood, red pepper, or pine-sol scent inside your car. If this is not something that you prefer since you might need to clean up the ashes or you don’t have enough time to watch the incense burning, you can dilute essential oils with the same scents in water and spray it inside your car.
The smell of your car can attract or scare pests
4. Inspect your car regularly
Opening the hood of your car and inspecting it for the presence of any pests is always one of the best practices. You do not have to be a car engine expert since all you have to do is check for signs of a pest like poop, “nests” or webs, as well as for bites and prints. Similarly, just opening the hood and trunk of your car and leaving it for a few minutes will scare some pests and will make them leave your car.
The techniques above are preventive measures and control techniques when an infestation is not that much. In case your car is already loaded with pests, it is always best to call a pest control technician or company to get rid of these pests.
Let the pest control experts handle the severe infestations!
III. Is keeping pests away from your vehicle difficult?
The ways on how to keep pest away from cars are not actually as hard as most of you have thought off. Giving your car some attention and taking some time to inspect, de-clutter, and clean it is all that it takes! In case you need a guide on how you can clean your car interior correctly and safely, click and we can help you out!
