When you hear the words “pest infestation”, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? We know for some, it’s an instant physical reaction like a shudder or ‘tell-all’ horrified facial expression. Both of which are very natural reactions and expected.

a hand wearing a green rubber glove and using a green cloth on a green surface

Another very natural reaction is intense, overwhelming urge to clean and disinfect your home or business from top to bottom. For those that have experienced a pest issue, they understand how strong the need to clean is.

Why the need and want to clean so much? Well, what comes along with a pest control issue are loss of sleep and constant worry…because how can you really sleep when you have bugs, insects or rodents doing who-knows-what-where in your home or in your business.

And even when done cleaning, it can still feel like it was not enough. Why? Because while bugs, insects, and rodents are often perceived as being scary, they are also often thought to be gross, dirty, and unsanitary, and they have invaded your space. This is an unnerving feeling. To feel like you are regaining some control and helping resolve the situation, it’s natural and common for people to want to clean.

Does Cleaning Help Get Rid of a Pest Infestation?

While pest issues and pest infestations are thought to be caused by poor sanitation, this is not 100% true. There are many common nuisance pests in homes and businesses that do not bite, spread disease or damage, and just by existing, they are a nuisance.

However, if you have bed bugs, rodents, or cockroaches, you’re very worried about what they are biting, eating, the surfaces they are walking on, where they are nesting, and what they are getting into. You’re also very concerned about contamination, and what sort of bacteria and diseases they are spreading about in your home or business. You’re also worried that this could make you sick or cause others in your home or business to fall ill due to a pest infestation.

Having a licensed pest control technician who is both knowledgeable and experienced with dealing with your specific bug, insect or rodent infestation is an effective way to regain control, peace of mind and get the issue resolved.

How Do I Clean Up After Pest Control?

The answer is: That depends. What cleaning instructions, advice or recommendations did your pest control professional share with you?

Once you have brought in a pest control professional to help resolve a pest infestation, it is VERY important that you follow the specific cleaning instructions they give you, including any instruction to NOT CLEAN. Why? Because vigorous, thorough cleaning can and will clean away the treatment that has been applied. The specific pest treatment needs to remain in place so that the pests can come into contact with it or ingest it or bring it back to their nests. Also, the longer the product stays where it needs to be, the more effective it works, and stronger results are achieved.

If some or all is wiped away, the true effects of the professional pest control product will not be realized…which means your pest issue may not get resolved in a timely matter or at all.

We know that not being able to clean or clean as thoroughly as you normally do is not ideal and can even be stressful (because as we discussed above, cleaning is a natural reaction to try to get rid of pests), but it is key in the overall pest control process. This is a good time to point out that there is a lot of advice out there about how to clean up a pest infestation. Our expert opinion is that this is a bit of a loaded question because serious pest infestations are not always eliminated in a single treatment and depending on the type of pest that is infesting a home or business, and the severity of it, it can take time for it to be fully resolved or under control, which means your licensed pest management technician will be back a few more times. Following treatments, too aggressive cleaning can and will remove the products making them less effective and reducing their longevity. This means they don’t work, your money is wasted, and your pest issue is still ongoing. Not good, right?

Every pest treatment is different, so ‘clean-up’ is different too. Because homes and businesses are used, and some rooms have higher traffic and activity they need to be cleaned. In general, following a treatment, our pest technicians advise our customers to spot clean and keep brooms, dusters, vacuums and mops a distance from baseboards. The recommend that our customer refrain from cleaning as vigorous as normally would until after the pest issue is fully resolved.

Here are some specific examples of cleaning instructions following pest control treatments for cockroaches, spiders, bed bugs, mice, and rats:

How to Clean Up After a Cockroach Treatment

When using a bait program to get rid of a cockroach infestation in a kitchen, a pest technician will leave insect monitors in key areas of a home or business to determine how successful the first treatment was AND to gauge how serious the cockroach infestation is. Cockroaches pest control issues take multiple treatments to resolve so since you will need to still use your kitchen (and clean it) in between treatments.
If cupboards were treated, it is fine to put your dishes back in, just do so lip side up so that the parts of your glasses and dishes that your mouth and hands touch, do not touch the treated surfaces of your cupboards.
Also, do not wipe down cupboards or backsplash with water or cleaning products as this will physically wash away the treatment that the cockroach exterminator has applied.

How to Clean Up After a Spider Treatment

Following interior spider treatment, it’s ok to vacuum and sweep up dead spiders is ok, but it’s very important to avoid baseboards. This is where treatment is applied and vacuuming and sweeping too close to them, will remove some or all spider treatment.

How to Clean Up After a Bed Bug Treatment

A bed bug infestation can take many treatments to resolve, and it is very important that bed bugs come into contact with the bed bug treatment, and this do this by walking around it. When getting rid of bed bugs, it’s really important to avoid deep cleaning for two reasons:

Cleaning disturbs the bed bugs harborage sites and result in them going deeper in cracks and crevices around baseboards. This reduces the chances of them encountering the bed bug treatment and dying.
Cleaning can deactivate or remove the product.

Here at Environmental Pest Control, we often use Aprehend® for bed bug elimination and prevention. Because it is heavily applied around baseboards and water deactivates the product rendering it ineffective, we advise our customers receiving bed bug treatment to avoid cleaning, especially around the baseboards.

How to Clean Up After a Rodent Pest Control Treatment

For mouse control and rat control, the rodent bait program that Environmental Pest Control uses is very efficient and is self-contained in rodent ‘stations’ (which are safe to use when pets or children are present). Post feeding inside the ‘station’ and gathering “food” from it, rodents will return to their nests and dry from the inside out, which eliminates the ability for them to rot and smell.
Since it takes at least 4 weeks for the program to work for mice (and longer for rats), you may still discover droppings, urine, and live rodents. You could also find a dead rat or mouse as well.
It is important to clean these carefully as their feces, urine, and physical bodies (alive or dead) can carry and transmit bacteria and disease. When cleaning up during and after a rodent infestation you need to be careful to avoid direct contact and to prevent bacteria and virus from becoming airborne. We strongly encourage you to:

Protect yourself by wearing gloves and a mask. Depending on the level of infestation you are dealing with, and what you are finding in your home or business, you may need to wear rubber boots or cover your footwear with disposal shoe covers, wear a respirator face mask and protective eye wear.
Use disinfectant cleaners like Lysol and wet cloths to clean up droppings and urine from counters, cupboards, pantries, floors, carpets, etc.

Avoid using brooms and vacuums when cleaning up rodent droppings, nests or dead mice or rats. This can cause bacteria and viruses to become airborne to spread throughout your home or business, putting people and pests at risk for sickness. For more information on to clean and dispose of rats and mice, visit the Health Canada website.

Need Expert Local Pest Control? Contact Environmental Pest Control!

If you need any professional pest control help, we hope you’ll contact us. Environmental Pest Control was founded in 1988, and has over 3 decades of experience, knowledge, and expertise for how to expertly manage, control and eliminate both serious and common nuisance pests.

For helpful information, tips and advice on different pest challenges, pest prevention, and pest proofing, visit our blog and also follow or Like us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & LinkedIn.

HOW TO CLEAN UP AFTER PEST CONTROL