How to Get Rid of Pantry Weevils

In this article, practical strategies to help you get rid of weevils have been discussed.

Whether you’re dealing with an active infestation or want to adopt a preventive approach, the details discussed here will help you achieve your objectives.

So, without further ado, let’s get to business.

How to Get Rid of Weevils in Pantry

Weevils are among common pantry pests known for their destructive behavior.

Stored grains like wheat, rice, maize, barley, etc., are often attacked by weevils, thus affecting their shelf life. Homeowners often have difficulty dealing with weevil issues due to limited knowledge of basic techniques.

Dealing With Weevils in Kitchen and Pantry

When it comes to dealing with weevil issues, two main approaches can be adopted.

These include the treatment of existing problems as well as the adoption of preventive strategies. By combining both of these approaches, you make the treatment process much more effective.

Insecticide use isn’t recommended. That is because weevils are pantry pests, and using insecticides only worsens the situation, as you could jeopardize your health and your family.

Keep all toxic products far from your pantry to avoid poisoning.

i. Active Control

Active weevil control includes several strategies, such as freezing dry goods, using heat, white vinegar treatment, and wet cloth traps.

Additional techniques include using a vacuum cleaner, soap & water, bay leaf, cloves, sunlight, essential oils, and pheromone traps.

ii. Freezing Dry Goods

Weevils thrive under average or moderate temperatures but won’t survive under extreme conditions.

Using this knowledge, you can have certain dried goods placed in the freezer for drying. Though this strategy will give you results, it isn’t as efficient due to several factors.

iii. Using Heat

Like freezing temperatures, heat is another temperature extreme you can apply to eliminate weevil problems.

To kill weevils and their eggs, spread a thin layer of infested grains on a baking sheet. Place in the oven for about an hour. This helps eliminate any weevils.

iv. White Vinegar Treatment

Vinegar has a repellent effect on several pests, including weevils. You can use this to clean your pantry.

Here, all that’s needed is to use a cloth dipped in a vinegar solution to wipe down your pantry walls and shelves. While this may yield results, eliminating these pests is not as comprehensive.

v. Wet Cloth Trap

A wet cloth trap serves to provide ideal conditions that lure weevils. This, coupled with the darkness of your pantry, attracts these pests.

You’ll need to place this wet cloth trap and leave it overnight. By morning, lots of these pests will be seen on the cloth. Remove and soak them in soapy water to kill them.

vi. Vacuum Cleaner

The vacuum cleaner technique for getting rid of weevils works on other pests like spiders, fleas, and mites. What more?

Dust is effectively removed as well. To perform a thorough vacuum, have your pantry emptied before vacuuming. Further checks on stored food may be necessary to dispose of those found to be infested.

vii. Soap & Water

This strategy is mainly applied while thoroughly cleaning your cupboards, pantry, closet, and shelves. A mixture of water and liquid soap is made for scrubbing these areas.

During scrubbing, it’s necessary to pay close attention to crevices and cracks as these are areas where weevils and other pests harbor.

viii. Bay Leaf

Bay leaf is a versatile product used in food preparation and many other applications. Pest control is one other area you can put to good use.

Placing bay leaves in your pantry and food packs or containers makes it difficult for weevils and other pantry pests to infest stored products.

ix. Cloves

Cloves can come in handy for weevil control. This spice is known for its strong scent, which tends to be repulsive to weevils.

The process of using clove for weevil control is a no-brainer. Have cloves spread around weevil-infested areas? Before long, their activity around such areas is drastically reduced.

x. Sunlight

This weevil control strategy is best executed on a sunny day.

Because weevils have more preference for dark and moist areas, they’re unlikely to thrive under harsh conditions like direct sunlight.

All you have to do is place food items under direct sunlight for a few hours.

xi. Essential Oils

Essential oils have a lot of uses. While these offer many benefits, they’re detested mainly by pests due to their strong scents.

Consider using peppermint or sweet orange essential oils for treatment. You can treat your pantry by spraying the contents on affected areas by forming a mixture of oil and water.

xii. Pheromone Traps

Pheromone traps lure pests like weevils to get trapped in a sticky substance. These are widely sold and can be bought for pest issues such as this.

Have your pheromone traps placed around your pantry and near your food. You’ll need to replace your traps when they catch enough.

xiii. Preventive Control

So far, we’ve discussed a wide range of active treatments used for weevil control.

While these are effective, preventive control strategies tend to be more effective as they involve adopting proactive measures toward preventing weevil problems.

Buying food in clear packets is one way to prevent weevil-infested foods. All contaminated food should be removed immediately from the pantry. Keeping it any longer will worsen the problem.

What more? Any damaged or opened food packages shouldn’t be bought.

These simple actions eliminate the chances of dealing with weevil infestation. This is important for several reasons to provide more explanation on buying food in clear packages.

Clear packets allow for better inspection of foods.

You’ll do well during purchase to closely inspect if there are any movements or signs of weevils in foods. If there are, it’s a bad idea to buy such as you could introduce weevils into your home.

These are ways to get rid of weevils from your pantry. It’s best to adopt a preventive approach to treatment as it decreases the likelihood of weevils infesting your food items.