The sun is coming out, the weather is getting warm, those flowers are blooming. You can hike, explore, take the dog out, visit the park, and play in the backyard.
Y'know who else likes to spend time in the backyard? That little blood-sucking, parasitic arachnid: a tick. If you enjoy any of the activities listed above, you may have come in contact with these little suckers. They are a huge pain to deal with once they attach themselves to you or your pets.
Let's look at how you can keep your home safe from ticks using the natural tick control, diatomaceous earth.
Home & Pets: Treatment and Prevention
Step 1:
Thoroughly clean your house before applying DE. Ticks can hide out in fabric, rugs, and furniture for long periods of time. Vacuuming regularly is especially important as you may pick up some ticks in the cleaning process and prevent them from returning. Be sure to move around appliances and furniture to clean under them and vacuum your rugs meticulously.
This kind of cleaning is essential if you have ticks brought into your house by a pet or someone coming back from the woods.
Step 2:
Apply DE using one of these methods: spray bottle, squeeze duster, or Wilcox applicator.
Step 3:
After 4-5 days of having DE applied to your carpet, furniture, linen closet, or drapes, wash the drapes or linens and vacuum your carpet and furniture. A word of warning for your vacuum: DE is very hard on traditional filtered vacuums. Unless you're only cleaning a small section, we recommend using a shop vac to avoid burning out your vacuum's motor. For more information on cleaning up diatomaceous earth after you've applied it, check out our article here.
Step 4:
Reapply the DE and repeat the process until the tick problem has subsided.