Rodents and other pests can be an incredibly nasty problem to deal with, especially if you’ve noticed your outside bins beginning to smell. Bins attract rats because they provide an easy source of food, as rats have a powerful sense of smell and can detect decomposing food, grease, and scraps from far away.
Cleaning expert and TikTok creator Chantel Mila recently shared a number of hacks she believes everyone should know. When it comes to keeping pests, such as rats, ants and flies away from smelly bins, you don’t actually need any chemical intervention. Instead, you can whip up a home remedy with items from the kitchen.
All you need is two simple ingredients: water and ground cinnamon. Simply fill a spray bottle with water and add a teaspoon of cinnamon, mixing to combine.
Spray the solution in and around your bins to keep away the likes of rats, ants and flies. Cinnamon will help drive them away from an infested area, but cinnamon will also not kill the pests, so you don’t have to worry about harming them.
Nathan Kruger, owner of D-termination Pest Control, told The Spruce: “This aromatic spice acts as an olfactory deterrent, repelling ants without causing them immediate harm.”
Cinnamon repels rats because it contains strong oils like cinnamaldehyde and eugenol, which overwhelm their sensitive sense of smell, irritate their taste receptors, and disrupt their communication with one another.
The volatile organic compounds in cinnamon create a heavy scent that masks the odours of food, rubbish, or decaying matter in bins that pests are normally attracted to.
According to The Spruce: “Cinnamaldehyde disrupts these trails, making it harder for ants to navigate and coordinate. Without a reliable scent path to follow, they get disoriented, lose track of food, and ultimately abandon the area.”
You can also use cinnamon sticks or ground cinnamon on its own as well.
Cinnamon’s spicy scent will keep them repelled from bins, and is a great alternative to the likes of cayenne pepper. You can also use cinnamon essential oil on cotton wool pads for a less messy solution.
An expert from Earth Kind said: “The strong, spicy scent of cinnamon can overwhelm a rodent’s strong sense of smell.”
