Did you get annoyed after seeing crickets inside the basement furniture or simply creeping over the wall? Are you disturbed by their irritating sounds of crickets in the middle of the night or in the early morning?

Crickets are the world’s most worrisome pest but the thing is that they chew holes in the furniture and clothes in the home and nipple your vegetable garden along with disturbing your sleep. Before going into the article on how to get rid of crickets, let’s know what are crickets and its types.

What are Crickets?

Crickets are small grasshoppers like species that are well known for its constant chirping and irritating sounds. Remember that when they are small numbers then it won’t trouble you much but in no time they multiply themselves and cause a threat to your health and comfort.

These jumping insects can be seen in two colors – brown and black and they are commonly found in yards, house, barns, and basements. The eggs hatch in spring or early summer and thereby take a time period of 45 days to 3 months to become an adult cricket (Gryllidae).

Types of Crickets:

There are mainly 4 types of crickets – House crickets, camel crickets, field crickets & mole crickets. Field crickets are outdoor crickets that feed on decaying materials, seedlings & fungus whereas House crickets are indoor crickets that cause serious infestation inside the home. These crickets will damage drapes, clothing, wallpapers and causes stains from their feces or vomit.

Causes of Cricket Infestation:

Here are some reasons that explain to you why these crickets will settle in the house.

• Very bright lights (especially outdoor lighting)
• Nearby garbage dumps
• Damp, unclean and dirty house
• Unclean or dirty surroundings
• Presence of cold and dark areas
• Nearby wild bushes
• Open or easy entries to inside the house like soffits, windows, garage doors or cracks on the walls.

These crickets can grow easily in cool and dark places and when once they enter into the home then they multiple themselves and destroy things like furniture, fabrics, papers, clothes, woolens, walls, home decors, etc.

Don’t worry, there are many natural ways that help you to chuck out these pests easily from your home and keep your house safe and free from crickets. Just give a trial to these natural remedies before giving a call to pest control to kill crickets.

Home Remedies to Get Rid of Crickets:

Here are some simple yet effective natural remedies that definitely help you in getting rid of these crickets in your garden or house or field.

Let’s get started…

Remedy – 1: (Molasses)

Go for a sweet trap why because these crickets are easily attracted by the sweet smell. Crickets love molasses and can easily get into the trap. They go into the trap and drown to never come back out of it.

• Pour 3 – 4 tablespoons of molasses in a bowl filled with half of the water.
• Stir well and place this bowl in a room where you find more crickets.
• The crickets get easily attracted towards this molasses bowl and soon you see these crickets inundating the bowl.
• Replace the contents of this bowl frequently to send these crickets to their graveyard.

Remedy – 2: (Sticky Glue Trap)

In general, we use sticky glue traps to catch rats and other rodents but these traps can also be used to eliminate crickets from your surroundings like corners, below furniture and along the walls.

• Pour some cornmeal into the glue boards or sticky traps to acts as bait.
• Place this where you suffer from these crickets like walls or corner of the home.
• Soon, you will see these crickets get trapped in this trap and send them out of your house.
• Repeat this traps (if needed) until you get rid of this cricket infestation.

Note: Also, use pitfall trap by making a hole or pit with a slippery edge around walls, windows or doors. Make sure that the pit is filled with some soapy water that clears the pest insects.

Remedy – 3: (Pepper Spray)

We generally love the spicy hot dishes made with pepper or chilies but no insects, including crickets, will not like this hotness. The main reason is that capsaicin in pepper or chilies will act as irritants for them. Then why don’t we make a hot & spicy spray by using this pepper to repel the insects or crickets?

Have a look at how to prepare a DIY homemade pepper spray to clear crickets.

• Pour 1/2 a cup of dry pepper in a pan filled with 1 liter of water.
• Heat them until the water reaches boiling point and then turn off the heat.
• Allow the water to cool down and strain it into an empty spray bottle.
• Before spraying this, mix a few drops of dish soap liquid to make it work more effectively.
• Protect yourself by wearing gloves, eye, nose protection and mouth and shake the bottle before using.
• Make sure to spray this outdoors only like at the entries or garden and that too in the morning and evening times why because the crickets are active at that time only.
• Also, avoid spraying it directly on the plant leaves, near waterways or pools or lakes and use inside with caution.
• Spray it as needed to get rid of these crickets.

Remedy – 4: (Diatomaceous Earth)

Diatomaceous Earth (DE), a powder that derived from the skeletons of primordial microscopic algae and contains a rich source of silicon. This silicon will do wonders for clearing and killing the crickets. It effectively dehydrates crickets and thereby eventually kills it.

• Buy a food grade diatomaceous earth (not the one used to clear pools) why because it won’t do any harm to the humans and animals.
• Sprinkle a generous amount of this powder all over the areas where you found crickets
• Leave it like that to get relief from crickets.

Note: However, this DE is harmless but it may cause respiratory problems. so, be cautious while using this DE powder and avoid using if you’re suffering from asthma or any other respiratory problems.

Remedy – 5: (DIY Pesticide)

You can easily prepare an organic pesticide with some natural ingredients at home and use it to get rid of crickets from your home or surrounding.

All you need is some fragrance-free dish soap, eugenol (found in the oil of cloves) and some water. The eugenol is the main ingredient in which it affects the neurotransmitters of crickets and thereby causes confusion in them. This dish soap will help in killing these crickets.

• Fill an empty spray bottle with 10 – 12 drops of eugenol and 8 – 10 teaspoons of dish soap.
• Then fill the bottle with 2 liters of water and cover it to shake the bottle until they all mixed properly.
• Now use this to spray in the areas where you find these crickets or at the places where they enter the house.
• Spray it as needed until you clear these crickets completely from your home.

Note: Or simply mix a handful of soap and water in a spray bottle to create a simply pesticide. Spray this on the crickets wherever you see them. The blubber in this soap will go deep inside the shells and cause their cell damage.

Remedy – 6: (Essential Oils)

Do you know that the fragrance of essential oils will act as a repellent to insects (that includes crickets)? This will make you use essential oils as a weapon to kill the crickets. Essential oils like rosemary, thyme or clove oil are generally used in most of the commercial pesticides to repel these crickets.

Here is the detailed process that helps you to make this DIY pesticide using essential oil to clear crickets.

• Pour 10 drops each of rosemary oil, eucalyptus oil, thyme oil and clove oil in an empty spray bottle.
• Then fill the bottle with 1 liter of water and 1 teaspoon of dish soap.
• Cover and shake the bottle to mix all these ingredients.
• Use this to pesticide spray on all over the house and outdoors where you’re facing problems with these crickets.
• Continue this spray after every 3 – 4 days till you get complete relief from these crickets.

Remedy – 7: (Growing Plants)

Do you know there are some plants which act as repellants to crickets? They won’t come near to the places where these plants are growing. So, simply go green and plant the cricket repelling plants all around the house.

Nitrogen fixing plants which draw nitrogen from the air and store in their roots will act as repels to crickets. Cilantro, beans, legumes, cloves, garlic and sweet peas are some nitrogen-fixing plants which mitigate this infestation.

Remedy – 8: (Vacuum Cleaner)

You will be in a dangerous situation if the crickets have chosen your home to lay eggs. So, as an emergency, you have to confiscate these eggs to avoid the severe attack of crickets in your home. To overcome this operation, you have to take the help of a vacuum cleaner which is equipped with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter to clean the walls, corners, dark areas and all over the house to remove their eggs.

Remember that this operation will be completed only when you successfully disposed of the vacuumed contents in a sealed plastic bag.

Remedy – 9: (Commercial Borax Method)

This is another trap that helps you to get rid of crickets. Here is the process on how to get rid of these insects by using borax.

• Mix 2 teaspoons of borax in 2 cups of cornmeal and stir well in a bowl.
• Transfer a small amount of this mix into a shallow dish (small plates or saucers).
• Now place this dish the bait near the areas where you suffer from this crickets problem.
• Continue placing these dishes all around the house (different places) to trap them and thus to clear them from home.
• Clean the dead crickets and replace the mix regularly till your problem subsides.

Note: Or mix 1 teaspoon of borax in 1 cup of beer and stir well till the borax dissolves completely. Pour some mixture into shallow dishes and place it all around the house. The crickets will die when they came into contact with the beer. Check the dishes and replace the mix as needed to clear these crickets from home.

Tips and Precautions:

1. Pets like dogs or cats will kill these crickets due to their natural instincts. So, allow your pets to clear these crickets from your house or surrounding.
2. Always keep your home and surroundings like garden or field clean. Avoid any dampness in your house, which may attract crickets and make you suffer from cricket infestation.
3. Use store-bought bug sprays to kill crickets. All you need is to spray this in the areas where you find crickets but be careful while spraying, as you should not to get into contact with this spray.
4. Allow the natural predators such as lizards, spiders, etc. do their job of killing and eating crickets. But make sure that not to apply any sprays inside and around the home, as this will affect the predators too.
5. Bright and dazzling lights will attract the crickets. So, replace them with LED lights and sodium vapor lamps for not to invite these crickets into your home or garden. Also, make sure to keep the entrance area dark at night and close all your doors and windows.
6. Always clean the cluttered areas and its surrounding by simply removing debris, water puddles (moist damp place), cutting weeds, clean the bowls regularly after using, keeping your garbage bins always sealed, cleaning the drains regularly to keep it free of debris, etc.
7. To get rid of crickets, you have to pay some attention to your garden by trimming the plants, grasses, and vegetation regularly to prevent crickets build their nests. Also, keep things like leaf litter, lumber, firewood, brick piles, mulch, old logs, rock piles, sealed garbage cans, etc. away from your home to prevent crickets entering and attacking your house.
8. Always seal your house properly to prevent the crickets from entering by simply following these tips – seal your doors and windows, fill the cracks or crevices in the walls using a caulking gun, fill the cracks in the entry points for utilities like electricity or plumbing, prefer to use weather stripping for doors and caulk or screen patches for screens and windows, etc.
9. Be sure to check the clothes dryer vents, foundation vents and other vents have screens and there are working properly or not.
10. We all know that crickets will thrive in damp and moist areas. So, to get rid of this cricket infestation you have to install a vapor barrier to prevent the moisture in the house. Also, it’s must to clean the moisture prone areas like basements and other dark areas regularly to get rid of these crickets.

Final Word:

All these natural remedies are effective in clearing the crickets from your house and garden. So, try these natural remedies and preventive measures to keep your house free from crickets infestation.

Do you know any other successful ways to get rid of these crickets from your home and surrounding? Then share your experience with us in the below comments box.

FAQ’s:

1. Do crickets get into the home on the top floor of the building easily?

Crickets can easily climb up with their sticky legs. So, spray a bug spray all around the windows to keep them not to enter them into the house and also follow the above remedies and tips suggested in the article.

2. Could crickets live in hot climates (summer)?

Yes, of course, they can survive easily in extreme temperature. Also, remember that they attack the home in the night or early morning hours.

3. How do I make sure that my house is free from crickets?

Seal all the holes and leaks in your house, spray bug spray all over the home where you find that crickets are entering into the home. Also, follow the above-suggested remedies and tips like catching and killing them along with disinfecting the house.

4. Is there any reason for crickets to make weird noises?

They chirp for different reasons but the main one is that the male one singing to attract a female for mating purposes.

5. Are crickets bite humans and is it harmful?

Yes, they bite both humans and pets. The cricket bites are not harmful but it causes pain on the skin. So, avoid picking them up with your hands without wearing gloves.