How To Use Fabric Softener To Keep Bugs Away

It's hard to imagine anyone wanting creepy-crawly critters in their home. Fortunately, you can use fabric softener to rid your space of bugs and make sure that they stay away. All you need to do is grab an empty spray bottle, water, and liquid fabric softener. Fill the bottle with water before adding just a little fabric softener — three or four drops should do the trick. Once you have your mixture ready, spritz it wherever you've found bugs, and make sure to let it dry so that the fabric softener remains in place.

For those who don't use liquid products on their laundry and instead opt for dryer sheets, the good news is that the latter will also help to keep bugs away from your home. There are also a few different ways to use them. Along with simply placing and leaving the sheets in areas where you've spotted nasty critters, you can also wash the same locations with fabric softener sheets.

That might include by your doors, around windowsills, and any nooks or crannies where they're making their way in and out of your home. On top of that, you might want to put them around any pots of plants that have issues with bugs or stick them directly to pots, window screens, and other problematic areas.

Although you might doubt that this simple trick will really be effective, there's a very good reason why fabric softeners may be just what you need to keep the bugs away.

While humans may find the smell of scented fabric softeners delightful, bugs don't feel the same way. In fact, the critters who happen to despise what they consider to be pungent smells find it rather stinky. That's why this particular kind of product is able to repel them so well.

To be a little more specific, they don't like linalool. The ingredient boasts a pleasant floral scent — you can also find it in lavender, marjoram, coriander, and basil. Companies tend to add it to products like perfume and cologne as well as soap, shampoo, lotion, deodorant, and nail polish remover. You might also come across it in air freshener and both powdered dish detergent and bleach as well as fabric softener and, interestingly enough, mosquito repellent.

In fact, a study published in the Journal of Vector Ecology found that linalool repelled female mosquitoes by 58% while citronella was only 22% effective. Overall, linalool diffusers repelled mosquitoes that were indoors by a whopping 93% which is obviously impressive.

While that might be enough to convince you to put fabric softener to work as a mosquito repellent, there are other bugs that don't particularly like linalool either. That's why you can put it to good use by keeping your home free of a range of nasty pests.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of different kinds of bugs that can make their way into your abode and wreak havoc in your home. Thankfully, linalool — an ingredient found in fabric softener — can effectively drive off quite a few pesky pests that tend to be found in and around residences.

On top of repulsing and repelling mosquitoes as we've mentioned above, fabric softener can help you fight off fungus gnats, two spotted mites, and German cockroaches. It can also work if you're having problems with English lesser grain borers, sawtoothed grain beetles, Mexican bean weevils, and rice weevils. On top of that, it might also be an ideal option to deal with ticks, fleas, and fruit flies, while preventing houseflies from even hatching.

Although it would definitely be unpleasant to find yourself facing each and every kind of bug that linanool can repel, at least you know that fabric softener can work as an alternative when it comes to getting rid of whatever kind of critters are attempting to invade your home.