Homeowners Urged To Put Cotton Balls On Windowsills Before October Ends — Here's The Logic

No, this isn't some sort of superstition like putting a spoon under your pillow in hopes of snow. Cotton balls on your windowsill can serve a tangible purpose in keeping your home and family safe from unwelcome guests such as spiders, ants, and roaches during fall and winter. The trick is not quite as simple as just buying a bag of cotton balls and plopping some down on each window. The key ingredient here is actually essential oils, particularly peppermint and eucalyptus. That's right — these essential oils can help keep pests out of your home. While these oils may smell fresh and clean to us, many insects find these aromas overpowering and unpleasant. And it's not just that these pests dislike them; these scents are so strong that they can actually interfere with their sense of smell and receptors that help them navigate, which in many cases is enough to get them scuttling off in the opposite direction. 

The reason that you want to try this hack during the fall is because, as the weather cools, these pesky critters tend to search for shelter from the colder temperatures, and in many cases, that means tu casa es su casa — in short, prepare yourselves for new neighbors. By placing these around possible entrances into your home, you may not prevent all bugs from entering, but you could help to ward some off before they settle down for winter. 

One of the most widely offensive essential oils (to bugs, anyway) is peppermint. In studies, it was shown to work in repelling ants, spiders, ticks, roaches, moths, flies, fleas, and beetles. In order to use this in your home, all you need to do is put a couple of drops of the oil on the cotton balls and lay them near entry points to your home — meaning doors and windows. It is most effective in window sills simply because the traffic in doorways may dislocate the cotton balls. Eucalyptus is similarly effective and also has a fresh and pleasant scent. 

If you want to cover all your bases, you can mix the two oils together. Lucky for you, these scents are commonly paired in aromatherapeutic settings, so you can enjoy a rejuvenating scent while keeping the bugs at bay. That said, you will want to be careful if you have pets as both of these oils can be toxic to cats and dogs and cause various symptoms of irritation. Also, if swallowed, cotton balls can cause gastrointestinal problems for your pets, including blockages. If this doesn't seem to be working, there's a chance that the bugs you have are not receptive to these essential oils, and if you don't know what they are, here's how to identify small bugs in your house.

While this is merely a deterrent, if you find this is not helping, please call professional pest control services to get rid of them.