As a parent, you’re likely always trying to keep your kids from picking up creepy crawlies and getting too close to dangerous insects or other animals. And while you might think that the majority of these pests will be found outside, quite a few can and will make their way into your home as well, and unless you do something to remove them, like completing a thorough deep clean of your home, or contacting a professional company like Pest Control Experts (https://www.pestcontrolexperts.com/) to effectively remove every last insect that has found its way into your home, they will never leave, affecting your home life even more.

One intruder that can cause more than just a slight inconvenience is pantry moths. Unlike other pests, pantry moths make their home right up next to and sometimes inside the food in your pantry. If you’re not aware of an infestation you have, you and your kids could end up eating some of these little buggers! So to keep this from happening, here are three tips for keeping moths out of your pantry.

Know The Foods To Best Protect

Moths are pretty particular about which foods they love and what foods they think are best for their babies. Knowing this, it’s important that you keep these specific foods safe from being vulnerable to pantry moths. Erin Huffstetler, a contributor to TheBalance.com, writes that the foods to best protect are flour, cereal, pasta, and other baking mixes. These items are perfect for moths, which make them the first place moths will go to make their home and lay their eggs. To keep these foods safe, keep them in airtight containers.

Cleaning Up After Moths

If you’ve found that there are moths in your pantry, you’re past the stage of preparing against an infestation and now need to treat the infestation. To help with this, Katie Berry, a contributor to HousewifeHowTos.com, shares that you should first clear everything out of the pantry to make sure you can get it all cleaned. Wipe down all the shelves with a 50-50 mix of vinegar and water. This solution will help to kill any eggs or moths left over after you’ve cleared and vacuumed the shelves. And then as an additional line of defense, you could add peppermint oil to that water-vinegar mix to help ward off future moths. Pantry moths and other bugs are repelled by the scent of peppermint, so you can kill multiple birds with one stone here.

Wait Before Restocking

Once you’ve got your shelves or cupboards all clean from the moths and their eggs, you may want to wait a bit before putting all your food back where it was. Sarah Littleton, a contributor to BobVila.com, recommends keeping that area free of food for at least a few weeks so you can see if any moths come back. This will save you the time of having to restock your food, find the moths, clean everything again, and then restock once more.

If you’re worried about pantry moths or are looking to get rid of the ones you have, use the tips mentioned above to help you do just that.