Pests in the home are enough to make anyone squeamish. The thought of roaches and mice in your cupboards, or ants and rats chewing through food supplies can be a costly health hazard in your home. Regardless of the type of pest you want to banish from your household, there are a number of natural remedies effective for deterring them, while posing no harm to pet and human residents. Here are five natural remedies to deter household pest issues:

1. Vinegar

Vinegar has many uses around the house as a natural, non-toxic cleaner, descaler, and natural pest repellant. Simply make a vinegar spray diluted with water or saturate a cloth or piece of paper towel with white vinegar and place it in cupboards, under sinks, or wherever pests congregate. It will repel most small insects such as ants, mosquitoes, and fruit flies but won’t harm any pets or people.

2. Cornstarch

Cornstarch works as potent deterrents for moths, cockroaches, and particularly ants. Simply sprinkle cornstarch liberally around any spots you see any ant activity. The product will entice pests attracted to the smell of cornmeal, and better yet, ants can’t digest it, which makes it a highly-effective pesticide that’s safe for household use.

3. Salt

Salt is a natural pest repellant that’s effective in keeping an array of bugs away. Just sprinkle salt around your trash and recycling bins (to deter raccoons, mice, and squirrels) or garden (to deter plant eating pests). Salt is also a natural remedy used as an insecticide if dipped into water and sprayed on and around plants as a tiny amount diluted in water will kill them.

4. Catnip

Catnip is a popular plant that cats go absolutely crazy for. However, the leaves from a catnip plant can be made into a spray or rubbed on countertops in your home to naturally keep flies, roaches, mites, and especially mosquitoes at bay.

5. Coffee grounds

While unused coffee grounds are the most effective, used coffee grounds are also a popular way to get rid of pests—such as ants, worms, snails, and slugs. Not only does the bitter scent immediately repel them, the acids within break down the exoskeletons of most bugs, particularly ants.

Rodent control is a problem that needs to be carefully addressed. If you are facing a rat infestation in your home, call in someone with the experience and knowledge necessary to handle the problem. By calling a professional pest control service, you can rest assured that your rodent problem will be resolved without posing additional health risks. Using surface disinfectant and a few of the natural recipes mentioned above will help you eliminate pests without harming any pets or humans in your house. You can use a disinfectant to spray for home pest control. But remember, if you do not know what is causing the pest problem, you should call a qualified exterminator to take care of them.