Your parents grew up with different products, less research, and folk wisdom passed down through generations. Some of their pest control advice was solid. A lot of it wasn't — and following it in 2026 leads to wasted money, failed treatments, and sometimes makes problems worse. Here's the advice to respectfully ignore.
Cheese dries out and falls off. Mice prefer peanut butter — sticky, aromatic, calorie-dense. Or try a small piece of chocolate, a smear of hazelnut spread, or a bit of Slim Jim. These stick to the trigger plate so mice can't grab and run. Our snap trap guide covers optimal baiting.
Mothballs are only legally usable inside sealed containers with clothing. Scattering them in open areas violates federal pesticide law (FIFRA), creates toxic vapor exposure, and doesn't repel mice, snakes, raccoons, or anything else they're commonly misused for. The active ingredients (naphthalene, paradichlorobenzene) are classified carcinogens at sustained exposure levels. Use proper moth prevention instead.
Contact spray kills the 50 ants you see while the colony's 50,000 workers and queen remain untouched underground. With Argentine and pharaoh ants, spray triggers colony budding — splitting one colony into multiple. Use bait instead: workers carry it home and share it with the queen. Slower but actually solves the problem.
Half right. Steel wool blocks the gap but rusts within months, disintegrating and reopening the entry. Use copper mesh (doesn't rust) packed into the gap, sealed over with silicone caulk. This lasts decades. See our exclusion guide.
Cleanliness reduces some pest attractants (food crumbs for ants and cockroaches) but has zero effect on bed bugs (attracted to CO₂ and warmth), stink bugs (attracted to building warmth), spiders (following prey), mice (seeking warmth), or termites (seeking wood and moisture). Unsealed entry points matter more than mop frequency.
Bug bombs were popular in the 1980s and remain on shelves today — but they're one of the worst pest control products ever made. They scatter cockroaches, contaminate surfaces, create fire hazards, and kill less than 1% of target populations. Gel bait is what replaced them in professional pest control 20+ years ago.
Kills some workers near the surface but rarely reaches the queen, who sits deep in the colony. The colony rebuilds within days. For fire ants, the Texas Two-Step method (broadcast bait + individual mound treatment) is the only approach with research-proven colony elimination rates.