Content

• Steps
• Advice
• Warning

The crickets crow throughout the summer with their signature sound. If there are only a few, then nothing. But when they start to multiply indoors, they can damage paper products, clothes, furniture and even walls. Learn some simple ways to control the number of crickets in your home and prevent them from spreading into the basement.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Removing Crickets from Your Home

1. 

   Use bait to catch crickets. The simple method of luring crickets out of nooks and crannies is the most effective instantaneous solution.
   • Place a few tablespoons of molasses in a shallow bowl and fill the bowl halfway with water. Put in a room with crickets to handle. The crickets like molasses so they jump into the bowl of water when they smell it. Change the water regularly.
   • Chemical bait for crickets can be found in household stores and uses the same technique to capture crickets. If you use this bait, make sure that family members and pets in your home are not around as it is poisonous.

2. 

   
   
   Trapping. Adhesive traps are a great non-toxic way to catch crickets. This is a smart option if you have children and pets that are sensitive to conventional insect sprays. Place cricket traps along areas where crickets need treatment, such as walls, windows or walkways. The closer the aisle is to a hot and humid area, the more invasive crickets will attract.

3. 

   
   
   Use insect sprays. Most insect sprays are effective at killing crickets. Use a spray on any insect or cricket species and spray in corners, along windowsills, and other places where crickets are spreading. Be careful when taking these drugs because they contain harmful chemicals.

4. 

   
   
   Eliminate crickets eggs. Crickets can lay eggs in your home and quickly spread uncontrollably.
   • Try vacuuming the cricket area with a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) vacuum cleaner. These high-powered machines will suck crickets' eggs out of the carpet or wherever the crickets lay. Put the garbage in the vacuum cleaner in a sealed plastic bag and throw it away.
   • Most cricket sprays kill eggs. Spray along wall edges and baseboards, where crickets often lay eggs.
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Part 2 of 3: Eliminating Crickets Nesting Areas

1. 

   Close the door. The easiest way to keep crickets from spreading in your home is to prevent them from entering your home by keeping windows and doors tightly closed.They have the ability to get through very small slots, so you should carefully check where crickets can enter or nest.
   • Get rid of tiny crevices by sealing windows and cracks in the wall.
   • You can purchase a mounting plate that attaches to the bottom edge of the door to seal it so that the cricket doesn't get through the door slot.
   • Make sure vents have screens.

2. 

   Seal trash cans. The smell of trash attracts crickets. Keeping your yard bin tightly closed will prevent crickets from multiplying on your soil and entering your home.

3. 

   Pruning the trees. Crickets nest in tall grasslands and other plants. Prune trees and trim the grass regularly so that they have no nesting place.
   • Make sure the herbaceous plants are located some distance away from your home so that the crickets can live there with little access to your home.
   • Prune vines and ground mulches.
   • Piles of wood, mulch and compost should be kept away from your home.
   • Check drains and gutters to remove dead leaves that may have accumulated there. Crickets often nest in such places.
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Part 3 of 3: Making Your Home A Cricket Place You Don't Like to Live

1. 

   Eliminate bright lights. Crickets are often attracted to light, and if you light up your house at night with high power lights, you may be luring them into the house.
   • Insect-proof dimming or yellow LED light can be purchased at home stores. These lights are designed not to attract crickets and other insects.
   • If you light up your yard at night, place the lights away from your home so that the light doesn't pull the crickets into the house.
   • At night, pull the curtains and windowsill down so that the light in your house doesn't attract crickets.

2. 

   Let predators multiply. Lizards and spiders are predators of crickets, naturally they will control the number of crickets for you.
   • Avoid spraying pesticides on your soil as it is toxic to cricket predators.
   • Cats and birds are also natural predators of crickets. Leave the cat outside of your home and consider installing a bird feeder.
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Advice

• Keeping your home tidy is the best way to keep insects from spreading. If you have a cluttered basement, your trash can be the place for crickets to nest.

Warning

• Be careful when bringing strong pesticides into your home. Make sure children and pets stay away from the spray area.