Keep your Prepper Pantry FREE from Pests with these 7 Pointers
Martin Banks 06.10.24
A pantry infestation is a prepper’s worst nightmare. It throws a wrench into your survival plans, bringing into question the integrity of your supplies. Keeping various pests away from what they might consider heaven is challenging, but doable. With these 7 solid tips, you can assure yourself that your food stores will always be safe and will continue to maintain a pest-free prepper pantry.
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1. Make Everything Airtight
Although closed doors and windows might render your survival pantry off-limits to birds, rodents, flies and cockroaches, they can be ineffective when keeping tinier bugs at bay. Even bigger insects can walk through cracks, so seal every crevice you can find with caulk and weather strips. The problem is only conspicuous cracks in common areas are easy to spot. If you can’t find all pantry air leaks, you can’t stop bug infestation completely. While most homeowners use an energy auditor to locate all gaps, you can perform a basic building pressurization test by:
- Closing your pantry door and windows.
- Shutting off any combustion appliances in the room.
- Powering on an exhaust or a window fan to expel the warm inside air to the outside.
This procedure compels the colder outside air to infiltrate your pantry through cracks. Light an incense stick, walk around your space and note how the smoke wavers to detect where a draft comes from. Alternatively, dampen your hand to sense incoming air, which should be noticeable as it feels colder to wet skin. Moreover, use airtight storage units to avoid giving pests that get into your pantry a reason to stay. Food odors emanating from loosely closed jars and canisters of dried fruits, nuts and spices can draw in more nuisances, as can partially open grain, cereal, flour and pasta containers and resealable bags.
2. Store Staples in Small Quantities
Buying survival essentials in bulk makes sense for various reasons. Running low on supplies can put you in a tight spot during an emergency. Plus, products cost more when bought individually. However, you don’t want to go overboard. The federal government recommends that your stockpile of staples should last 14 days max. Although the authorities chose this number to avert food shortages, this advice helps prevent emergency supplies from staying too long in the pantry. Storing only this amount of perishable items allows you to finish everything effectively. Otherwise, you may forget about the surpluses and attract unwanted guests.
3. Keep Cardboard Out
Every pest-resistant prepper pantry is cardboard-free. This organic packaging material is food to many critters and makes a terrible long-term storage container. Unbox everything you buy and discard the cardboard.
4. Log Expiration Dates
Expired supplies may be unfit for human consumption but can still sustain bugs. Rotten foodstuffs can emit strong smells, inviting pesky animals. Shelf-stable survival staples – such as beans, flour, lentils, oats and rice – take 25 to 30 years to expire, making it easy to forget when they’re safe to eat. Having a logbook handy helps you track everything. Update it whenever you store new supplies in your pantry. Keeping a digital version lets you put new entries from anywhere. Use-by dates indicate quality instead of safety, so accurately log data to nail what you must eat or dispose of before a specific date.
5. Do First-In, First-Out (FIFO)
Consuming the oldest items first is a sound practice when replenishing your emergency supplies properly. Many restaurateurs manage inventory using the FIFO method to reduce costs – the same principle applies to your prepper pantry. Prioritizing fresher foodstuffs risks letting those nearest expiration go bad.
6. Schedule Deep Cleaning Regularly
Ensuring a spotless stacked pantry can thwart future infestations and reveal a present or previous one. Egg casings, discarded wings, skin sheds, droppings, spider webs and gnawed-on furniture suggest critters have taken shelter in your pantry. The leavings of animals can ultimately contaminate your supplies and endanger your family’s health. For example, rodents can spread over 35 diseases in a multitude of ways. Deeply cleaning and disinfecting every inch of your pantry is vital to removing pest magnets and erasing the hazards old critters left behind.
7. Maximize Bug Repellents
Odorizing your space with scents animals vehemently hate is a tried-and-true pest control measure. Spraying water mixed with cinnamon, catnip, citronella, citrus, eucalyptus, lemongrass, peppermint or tea tree oil does wonders. Various insects also find bay leaves stinky.
Stop Pests From Bugging You in Your Hour of Need
Nothing can prepare you for a surprise pantry infestation during an emergency. Don’t let your effort to build your stockpile go down the drain and use these tips to make your survival supply reservoir a less attainable or desirable target for any critters. As always, let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.
