How to Get Rid of Crickets in the House

You’ve locked up the house for the night, turned out the lights, climbed into bed, and then it happens. You hear a male cricket’s insistent and annoying chirping as he relentlessly seeks a companion. Instead of trashing your home searching for the pest that dares interrupt your slumber, learn how to get rid of crickets in the house the easy way.

Discovering that you have one cricket in your home is one thing. However, a large number of these pests is an entirely different dilemma since a female cricket may lay 3,000 eggs in her lifetime. If you think one noisy cricket is bad, imagine an infestation.

There are many cricket species throughout North America, and most of them enjoy living outside in tall grass, under stones, in mulch, and in other cool, moist areas. However, some of them head into your home in search of shelter and food, and it’s a good idea to consider using pest control to prevent a cricket problem from getting out of hand.

Ways to Get Rid of House Crickets

It is virtually impossible to get a good night’s sleep if you have a cricket infestation since these pests are nocturnal. Therefore, controlling and preventing crickets is key to a happy home. Learn ways to get crickets out of your house and prevent them from returning.

What are House Crickets?

As surprising as it seems, there are more than 900 species of crickets. However, some are more common than others, and only certain types invade the home. So, what is a house cricket, and how are they different from other crickets?

There are many types of crickets, from the cave cricket, mole cricket, spider cricket, camel cricket, and field cricket to Jerusalem crickets and house crickets. The house cricket is the most likely type to hang out inside your home, surviving indefinitely.

It is yellowish-brown with three dark bands on its head, three-quarters to almost an inch long, and its antennae are sometimes longer than its body. The house cricket feeds on everything from plant matter and dead insects to natural fabrics and sometimes pantry food.

These insects are nocturnal, and the male crickets rub the edges of their forewings together to create a sound that draws female crickets. This activity is called stridulation, and different cricket species have various songs in their playbook. As beautiful as that sounds, their chirping is fairly loud and intrusive, especially in the middle of the night.

What Draws Crickets into Your Home?

We like to think that our living space is safe from the intrusion of rodents, insects, and other critters. Unfortunately, many pests find our area just as comfy-cozy as we do and use it as their second home. Learn what draws crickets indoors to help you alleviate the problem.

Two main reasons house crickets enter your home are shelter and food. As outside temperatures drop, these pests seek a dark and damp place, often finding their way inside through a crack in the foundation or gaps beneath a door.

Once indoors, they look for food sources, are drawn to silk, wool, leather, and cotton, and enjoy dining on pet food, vegetables, and fruits.

How to Get Rid of Crickets Inside by Vacuuming

Crickets lay their eggs in dark flooring spaces, wall cracks, and crevices, and it’s not long before those eggs hatch and become an infestation. Discover how to get rid of crickets inside your home by vacuuming to eliminate cricket eggs and cricket waste.

Vacuum your furniture, carpeting, and floors to remove cricket waste and eggs. Use a hose attachment to vacuum along baseboards and trim and other areas where crickets hide and don’t forget to clean behind and beneath the furniture.

After vacuuming the entire house, dispose of the vacuumed contents into a plastic bag, tie it shut, and throw it in the outside trashcan.

Way to Kill Crickets in Your House with a Homemade Bug Spray

Making a homemade bug spray is the easiest way to kill crickets in your house without filling it with harmful chemicals. This solution is natural, is simple to prepare, and works wonders to eliminate and repel crickets and other pests from your home.

Combine the water and red pepper flakes in a saucepan and simmer the liquid for two hours. Strain the pepper water, pour it into a spray bottle and label it for regular use. The best way to keep crickets away is to spray it along door frames and baseboards, behind furniture, and in nooks and crannies.

How to Get Rid of Crickets in the House with Sticky Traps

Getting rid of crickets indoors with commercial sticky traps is the way to go if you don’t have the time to make bug spray. These products effectively trap the insect as it walks over the sticky surface, and they are available at most hardware stores.

Cricket Sticky Trap

Follow your sticky or glue trap instructions and place them in strategic locations to capture crickets. Set them in the crawl space, behind furniture, near baseboards, the pantry, the basement, and any other dark, damp areas where you notice or hear cricket activity.

Getting Rid of Crickets Indoors with Soapy Water

Soap penetrates an insect’s body, eventually killing them, and it’s safer to use in your home than commercial insecticides. Discover how to get rid of crickets inside the house with a soapy water spray.

Pour water into a plastic bottle sprayer and add a squirt of liquid dish soap. One of the home remedies to get rid of cave crickets is to screw the cap of the bottle in place, shake the container gently to mix, and spray the solution in areas around your home where crickets hang out. Crickets are fond of dark areas underneath furniture and in closets, and they enjoy the dampness of a cellar or basement.

Boric Acid to Get Rid of House Crickets

Crickets often hide out in dark and damp areas of your home, making it difficult to find them when they aren’t chirping. Therefore, an ideal way to kill crickets in your house is to spread boric acid in areas where they congregate.

Boric Acid Cricket Killer

Boric acid is naturally occurring in the environment, and you can find it in powder form online and at many local stores. When you need to start killing spider crickets at home, sprinkle a layer of the powder in dark and moist areas and behind furniture, under sinks, in cabinets, and other popular cricket hiding places. After the insects travel over the boric acid, it disrupts their nervous system, leading to death.

How to Get Rid of House Crickets with Diatomaceous Earth

To kill crickets at home naturally or to get rid of red bugs at home, consider diatomaceous earth. This powder eliminates all types of insects, from spiders and centipedes to bed bugs and crickets, and it’s safe to apply around children and pets.

While diatomaceous earth is not toxic to humans and animals, it’s essential to wear a face mask while applying it to prevent inhaling the powder. A great way to get rid of crickets in the basement is to spread a layer of DE. Sprinkle it around your home where you suspect crickets congregate, like in the basement, closets, and cupboards, beneath sinks and furniture.

Diatomaceous earth is also a great way to get rid of spiders in your house and get rid of chiggers in your home at the same time.

Essential Oils Keep Crickets Out of Your House

If you have a diffuser, you probably have a decent supply of essential oils. While the oils are beneficial to our well-being and fill the air with refreshing scents, many insects, including crickets, hate the smell and avoid areas where you spray them.

Pour water into a glass sprayer and add 20 drops of either clove, rosemary, or thyme essential oil. Close the container and shake it well to mix the oil with the water. For one of the easiest natural ways to kill mole crickets and other bugs, spray the solution in and outside areas of your home where you suspect crickets are hiding.

Getting Rid of House Crickets with Bait

Another great way to get rid of house crickets is to set up a bait and trap station. Learn how to make your own cricket bait and set up the trap to draw and catch these insects when they least expect it.

Fill a shallow bowl halfway with water and add a few teaspoons of molasses to make a DIY spider cricket trap. Stir the liquid and set the bowl in a corner near an area where you see crickets lurking. The insects love the smell of molasses and jump into the bowl where they drown. Empty and refill the bowl as needed until all crickets are gone.

Eliminating House Crickets with Vinegar Spray

White vinegar is a multi-purpose liquid with more uses than we can count, and we try to keep at least two jugs in the home at all times. It’s natural and inexpensive, useful for cooking and cleaning, and excellent for getting rid of crickets and other insects.

Combine two cups of water with six ounces of white vinegar in a spray bottle and shake the container well. Spray the crickets directly to kill them on contact or apply it in areas where the insects spend their time.

Make a Homemade Cricket Trap

If you’re a DIY type of person and prefer to use natural remedies to fix a problem, this homemade cricket trap is right up your alley. The trap only takes a couple of minutes to put together, and it effectively captures crickets for easy disposal.

Cut a piece of cardboard to a desirable size and wrap it with duct tape with the sticky side facing up. Search for the area in your home where you notice cricket activity and lay a sheet of wax paper on the floor. Set the sticky trap on top and wait for the crickets to walk across it and get stuck.

Using Insecticides to Get Rid of House Crickets

Not everyone has the time, patience, or ingredients to make a home remedy to get rid of house crickets. Fortunately, many insecticides on the market eliminate crickets from your home.

Cricket Insecticides

While an all-purpose bug spray is acceptable, one designed specifically for crickets and their eggs works faster. Follow the instructions for your insecticide brand and spray it in corners, beneath furniture, along windowsills and doorways, and any other area where you notice an infestation.

Keeping Crickets Out of Your Home with a Protective Barrier

The best way to keep crickets from entering your house is to create a protective barrier around the property. Explore different products to help you choose wisely and how to use them to protect your home.

Cricket Barrier

To create a barrier around your home, choose a plant-based insecticidal spray for the best results. Follow the manufacturer’s directions and apply the spray around the outside perimeter of your house. The spray kills crickets on contact and leaves a residue that repels future bugs from entering your home.

Ways to Prevent Crickets from Getting Inside Your Home

The easiest way to stop an infestation is to keep cave crickets and house crickets out of your house in the first place. Follow these tips for keeping crickets and other pests from having easy access to the inside of your home.

The most straightforward way to keep crickets from getting indoors is to secure their favorite entry point. Take a stroll around the outside of your house and use caulk to seal cracks and crevices in the foundation and seal doorways and windows.

Crickets seek food in many forms, including trash, and placing a cover on your trashcan and keeping it away from the house is a great way to deter these pests.

In addition, mow your lawn regularly and cut back vegetation to make your yard less inviting and allow natural predators such as lizards and spiders to thrive around the property as a form of wildlife control. Remove bright lights that attract crickets and other insects and replace them with amber LED or bug lights.

The house cricket doesn’t make itself known until bedtime, and catching crickets in the middle of the night is definitely not on our favorite things-to-do list. Fortunately, there are simple ways to get rid of these insects and keep them out of the home.

We hope that reading how to get rid of crickets in the house keeps your home pest-free, and we’d love it if you’d share our house cricket elimination and prevention guide with your social circle on Pinterest and Facebook.