How to Kill Clover Mites Using Household Products

Often mistaken for dangerous insects, clover mites are common household pests. Clover mites don’t attack humans or pets, but they tend to leave difficult-to-remove bright red stains on the walls and carpets. Like most other household pests, their presence represents lack of domestic hygiene and they can be tough to get rid of. Using retailed chemical sprays to kill clover mites is an expensive option, but there are other undemanding and affordable ways of eliminating clover mites.

Clover Mite Habits and Detection

Clover mites can cause some damage in the garden, as they're voracious feeders of plant tissue. They tend to hide in the bark of trees.They often invade interiors of homes to escape wet or cold climatic conditions. They use small, hard-to-detect gaps around windows and doors to enter homes. They are most active during the summer and the early fall season when their reproduction goes into overdrive, so it is better to exterminate them during the summer season, since this ensures that their egg sacs are also destroyed.

Clover mites are also found in areas that have algae or mold growth. This is why they may become a perennial issue in homes with leaky, poorly-maintained rooftops. Other areas prone to clover mite infestation include outer linings of sewers and lawn sidings. Killing clover mites by using household products needs a systematic approach that combines extermination followed by some basic prevention measures.

You can use a number of household appliances and supplies to kill cover mites. The most effective methods are detailed below.

Use Household Cleaning Devices

Being very small, clover mites are easily sucked into a vacuuming device. You need to add a crevice tool or a small nozzle to your vacuum cleaner’s hose. This is particularly useful for getting rid of mites found in carpets and drywalls. The crevice tool is also particularly useful for vacuuming out mites hiding in the nooks of drywalls.

If you find dead mites on the floor or the wall, don’t wipe or crush them. Place a wet towel or a sponge on the dead mites and scoop them. This prevents staining the surface with the red-colored body juice of the mites. Sometimes, carcasses of clover mites may form a coating along the inside of the nozzle. Use dry paper towels to wipe it. This cleaning should be done every few minutes when vacuuming the mites. This is vital because the juice excreted by dead mites can seep inside the vacuuming machine.

Use Household Chemicals

Boric acid is among the most commonly available household chemicals. You can prepare an effective insecticidal preparation by mixing boric acid with some water. Pour this mix into a spray bottle and regularly spray it along the entry points being used by mites. Boric acid seeps into the concrete surfaces without any kind of staining. If the mites are using your garden plants as a shelter, sprinkle dry boric acid powder around the infested plant’s stem. Keep Boric acid away from children, pets and food.

Use Household Supplies

Clover mites get easily stuck to any kind of sticky surface. You can use double-sided tape to kill clover mites. Tape the windowsills and dry crevices infested by clover mites. When the tape is filled with dead mites, simply peel it off and replace it with a new taping.

Clover Mite Control and Prevention

Along with killing the mites, you need to ensure that future mite infestations are prevented. This is best done by creating barriers. This methodology is commonly called perimeter treatment. All soil areas and surfaces with loose concrete around the house need to be treated. Ensure these areas don’t have any weeds or seedlings, since they are food sources for clover mites. Prepare a mix of sand, gravel, marble bits, and wood chips to fill-in any visible gap that can make the interior space accessible to the mites. The designated perimeter should not be fertilized, and don’t throw kitchen scraps around the barrier area. Some plants such as chrysanthemums, petunias, roses, and juniper are detested by clover mites. These can be grown along the outer edge of the perimeter to aid in prevention.