I know—the chittering of crickets around your garage can be a good one during the summer, but truth be told—these insects can be troublesome at times.
Besides their noise, crickets can jump up to three feet high and can carry diseases around, which is why you should never welcome them as guests.
Sure, they are not the most destructive insects you can think of, but crickets (selected species) can snack on your wood, some fabrics, and paper, adding expenses to your monthly spendings.
In this post, I’ll walk you through some of the 9+ ways you can get rid of crickets in the garage. But before we get into the nitty-gritty, let’s look at the signs of a cricket infestation, shall we?
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Signs of Cricket Infestation
It might not bother you if you only found one cricket within your garage premises, even though this insect can keep you awake because of its unending noise. But before you can do anything to drive away crickets, you must know some signs of infestation:
- You’ve come across many crickets near your garage
- You consistently hear the cry of crickets all night
- Your rugs and carpets have loose fibers and are beginning to get rough
- Clothing around your garage has large holes (please take note that smaller notes could be a sign of a moth infestation and not cricket)
- Your furniture looks like it’s chewed at the edges
Now that you have confirmed with any of the above signs that crickets are within your garage, what next? How do you get rid of them as fast as you can?
1. Minimize the Clutter
The first solution you can try out is to minimize the clutter in your space. Usually, most pests will try and look for where they can get shelter, and fortunately, they love cluttered places.
Besides finding a place to find shelter, the cluttered areas serve as good places for crickets to build their nests, increasing their infestation and making it even harder to control.
The best way to minimize clutter is to ensure that all your items, including boxes, are arranged on tall shelves. This is because you want to ensure that there’s nothing left on the ground.
When you limit insects’ hiding spots, you make them less safe and they will have to find other places to use as shelter.
2. Check Out the Dark Areas
The next tip to get rid of crickets in your garage is first to confirm that you have crickets around your garage. You can do this by checking the darker areas around your garage. Check the patios, walkways and any other sections that may be dark.
Check under your sinks, behind any appliances that you own, cabinets, beneath carpets or furniture. The idea is first to know where these stubborn insects are hiding before taking the next step.
3. Leverage D-Fense Dust Insecticide
Once you have confirmed the hiding place for crickets in and around your garage, use an insecticide on them. One of the best that I recommend is the D-Fense Dust insecticide. This insecticide is an excellent option because it’s moisture resistant. The best of all is that it can leave a residuary for up to eight months.
The first step to using D-Fense Dust insecticide is to handhold the duster. Next, fill it halfway with the insecticide and ensure that you have left some space for air circulation. Now apply every crack you have in your garage—from the voids to the baseboards and any other tight areas within your garage.
4. Clean Outside of Your Garage
Sometimes, there could be an attraction of crickets around your garage. The best thing to do is clean the entire area.
The problem with having things or items that attracts these insects is that they can easily find a space to find shelter once they are around.
This is why you need to clear the area, starting with clearing the bushes. And because crickets love places with tall grasses, they will be around if they can find your garage area with tall grass.
Additionally, check around your garage to see if there are any firewood or bricks and if there are, please remove them because these can also attract crickets in your garage.
5. Fill the Gaps
These stubborn insects can never find their way into the garage if there are no cracks or holes in your garage.
The biggest nightmare about crickets is that they can hide in different positions—including door frames, window sills, etc.
Therefore, check these areas to see if they could be hiding and if yes, start filling the gaps and get rid of them right away.
However, you need to be cautious about what you’ll use to get rid of these yellow jackets. For example, if your garage is fitted with vinyl windows, get a sealant suited for vinyl windows.
By reducing the gaps, you limit these insects’ chances of finding shelter and breeding in or around your garage.
6. Go Natural
a) Plant Nitrogen-fixing Plants
Sometimes, it’s good to go natural and many of the hacks I’m just about to let out to you have been proven to work. The first way is to plant nitrogen-fixing plants around your garage. However, this is advisable if you have flowers or plants that crickets could destroy. Some of the plants you could have around your garage include legumes, peas, beans, etc.
b) Use Predators
Did you know that you can use predators to get rid of crickets? Yes, you can use other animals to prey on crickets and eliminate them. Cats and dogs are perfect for this—they will ‘sweep’ the whole compound and ensure that they get rid of any crickets around your garage.
c) Prepare Natural Pesticides
And by the way, you don’t have to buy pesticides if you can do it independently. Use hot chilis to make a spray that you can use in getting rid of these yellow jackets. To prepare this pesticide, you’ll need to dissolve chili powder in water (roughly two cups) and some drops of dish soap.
When you have made your pesticide, ensure that you are wearing protective clothing when spraying. The worst thing you want is the mixture getting into contact with any section of your body. It can cause some irritation, which is not what you want.
This remedy could also come in handy if you reside in New York or California, where the selling of most pesticides is prohibited. This means that the only way you have is to prepare an organic pesticide that you can use without purchasing any from the store.
7. Try Chemical Sprays
If you haven’t found a remedy that can get rid of the stubborn insects around your garage, then you can go full swing with chemical sprays.
Chemical insecticides have been manufactured specifically to deal with stubborn insects like crickets, so it’s some sort of a sure-fire way of getting rid of the crickets in your garage.
Chemical insecticides work well if you want to get rid of crickets. However, you’ll need to ensure that you are getting the best chemical insecticide for crickets.
If you don’t have an idea of the best insecticides for crickets, ask your friends and relatives and you’ll get lots of recommendations.
Once you have your insecticides, follow the manufacturer’s instructions to a tee when using it. Ensure that you have sprayed the whole garage area—including cracks and any gaps.
When you are sure that you have taken care of the outside, get inside and spray every possible hiding space of crickets.
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8. Glue the Traps
If you can still hear the sounds of crickets around your garage, it’s time to try another hack—gluing the traps.
Some people might prefer using chemicals, but gluing your cricket traps is also another brilliant alternative to the most common ways of getting rid of crickets.
So, where do you position your glue traps? You can put your glue traps in the garage corners, gaps, cracks and any other areas where you fill could be a hiding place for crickets.
Besides, the cracks get inside and glue around the appliances, shelves to ensure that these areas are free from these stubborn insects.
Once you have glued the areas, don’t forget about it—instead, keep checking your glued traps to see if any of the crickets were trapped, then get rid of them.
9. Poison Cricket Bait
You can also find poisoned baits in your local store, and the best of all is that they work pretty well.
Once you have your poisoned baits, spread them around using the right equipment. If you don’t have any equipment or can’t afford one, use your hand, but ensure that you put on gloves.
Please check the manufacturer’s instructions before you begin using the poisoned bait. Usually, most people ignore it, but I highly recommend that you scan through them for the sake of your safety.
Home Remedies to Try Out
There are cases when you just don’t want to use chemicals for whatever reasons. If that’s you, then we’ve got you covered. You can use some home remedies to get rid of crickets. Let’s get right into the proven and tested home remedies.
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a) Molasses
Molasses are bait traps that are excellent for crickets. They attract crickets, which makes them the perfect bet for getting rid of these stubborn insects. Dilute molasses and then transfer to a bowl. The next thing is to position this bowl of diluted molasses around your garage, including all the affected areas. Once you have trapped many crickets, get rid of them by dumping them away from your garage area.
b) Water and Soap
Water and soap is another home remedy not precisely for crickets but also effective for other stubborn pests that could invade your garage.
Get a spray bottle if you don’t have one and fill it up with soap and water.
While this method is effective, it has a downside—you can only spray what you can see, meaning you have to spray the crickets directly.
Good news if you can find the crickets in their hiding places—all you’ll have to do is spray them directly.
Now, when you spray the crickets using water and soap, the outer layer of the crickets break, killing them slowly.
If your garage is invaded with many crickets, this remedy can be your best, and specifically, if you can find the stubborn creatures in their hiding places.
c) Diatomaceous Earth
The last home remedy I’ll talk about is the diatomaceous earth. This solution is one of the best because it doesn’t interfere with the plants around your garage.
And because crickets can also invade your garden and do a lot of harm. You wouldn’t want to risk and this is why you should try out a diatomaceous earth solution.
The best of all is that the diatomaceous earth is harmless to pets—your only worry should be not to spray them in the air where people can breathe.
What’s more, you don’t have to limit yourself—whether to use it indoors or outdoors— as long as you can take care of the precautions I’ve highlighted, there’s no need to worry.
Bottom Line
And that’s it—a complete list of the best 9+ ways of how you can get rid of crickets in your garage. If you are having challenges getting rid of crickets around your garage, these 9+ tips are worth a try. The mission to get rid of these stubborn creatures starts today—in fact, now. Start implementing these hacks and let me know next time I’m publishing a similar post if they worked.