What Attracts Pests To Your Home – And How to Stop Them
You might think your home is safe from pests like mice or rats. But here’s what really attracts pests to your home – and how you can get rid of them, naturally
By Chere Di Boscio
Winter isn’t just about hot cocoa and cozy nights by the fire. It’s also the season when uninvited guests—mice, rats, ants, moths, and other pests—start looking for warm hideouts. And guess what? Your home might be rolling out the welcome mat without you even knowing it.
“People usually don’t realise that the way they store everyday items can turn their homes into pest magnets,” says Frederic de Ryckman de Betz, CEO of HOLD Self Storage. “Mice and rats are opportunistic and looking for three things: food, shelter, and nesting materials. But you’ll also attract ants following scent trails, moths seeking natural fibres, and insects like silverfish that feed on paper and cardboard.”
In other words, if you’ve ever wondered what attracts pests in the first place, the answer often lies in the way we store food, fabrics, paper, or seasonal items.
Many of us stash belongings in cluttered basements, chilly garages, or overstuffed cupboards—exactly the environments pests love.
Luckily, with a few clever swaps and natural deterrents, you can keep your home organised and pest-free.
6 Surprising Items That Attract Pests
1. Pet Food & Birdseed
That giant bag of kibble in the garage or sack of birdseed in the shed felt like a good idea at the time. After all, buying in bulk saves you money, and it also saves you time, since you don’t have to run off to the pet store to buy new supplies every week. But it’s also basically a five-star buffet for rodents and ants. Tasty for your pet, tasty for pests, too!
How to fix it:
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Transfer food into airtight metal or thick plastic containers with secure lids.
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Store off the floor to avoid dampness.
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Sprinkle a little food-grade diatomaceous earth around storage areas. This is armless to pets but discouraging to crawling insects.
2. Cardboard Boxes
We all have loads of Amazon delivery boxes, or even old moving boxes that we probably should get rid of. Sure, you might be able to use them again one day for something. But hanging on to them means – you guessed it – pests.
What attracts pests is the fact that for mice and silverfish, cardboard is irresistible nesting material.
How to fix it:
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Donate boxes to local shelters or advertise them on sites like Craig’s List or Facebook. Believe it or not, there are always people who are about to move that are looking for free boxes.
- If you have a large compost pile, remove all plastic tape and tear the boxes into bits. Cardboard is a great material for composting! You can also recycle it, of course.
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If you have a fireplace, you can always use torn up cardboard boxes for kindling.
- Of course, cardboard boxes are always a perfect – and cheap – cat toy!
3. Seasonal Decorations
Pulling out Christmas lights only to find mouse droppings is no one’s idea of festive cheer, am I right? Unfortunately, Hallowe’en and Christmas decorations made from straw, fabric, or wood are prime materials for what attracts pests into your home. Namely, moths and mice.
How to fix it:
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Store all decorations in sealed plastic containers.
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Tuck in cedar balls or dried orange peels between decorations for a natural moth repellent.
4. Old Newspapers & Magazines
Stacks of paper aren’t just clutter—they’re five-star hotels for rodents and silverfish. Paper products are a classic example of what attracts pests into your home, because they hold both scent and moisture. Things that pests just love!
Fix it:
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Store important clippings in sealed bags or digitise them
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Recycle or compost the rest
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For catching silverfish, a simple homemade trap (a glass jar wrapped in tape, baited with bread) can be surprisingly effective.
5. The Pantry
I’m not gonna lie: I’m a bit of a prepper. I’ve got a full pantry stocked with three months of food. Which is great – because I know how to store goods without attracting bugs. But for those who don’t, extra cereal boxes and pasta bags can quickly become a smorgasbord for pantry moths and weevils. Thin cardboard is no match for hungry rodents.
How to fix it:
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Recycle glass jars with airtight lids and turn them into food storage containers.
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Scatter bay leaves around your food supply. Its strong scent naturally repels pantry moths and beetles.
- For mice or rats, follow these steps:
1. Make a flat circle 2 feet wide of lightly covered oatmeal dust.
2. In the middle put a small pile of oatmeal mixed with 10% plaster powder. Next to the oatmeal heap place a jar lid full of water.
3. The mice will eat the oatmeal/cement food source and then drink the water (it’s a very dry mixture). The water mixes with the food mix inside the mouse giving it severe stomach pains and the mother of all constipation
4. The mouse/mice deem that the food source is bad and never return, seeking a food source somewhere far away, mice don’t understand localisation.
5. The mice never go back to a bad food source and move on…. job done,
The circle of oatmeal will leave the footprints of the direction of entry (and possible exit too) of the creature so that you can close up any holes.
6. Craft Supplies & Fabric
Yarn, fabric scraps, and craft stashes are like luxury bedding for rodents and food for moths. If you’ve been asking what attracts pests to your house, natural fibres like wool and cotton are top of the list.
How to fix it:
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Store all your fabrics and craft materials in clear sealed plastic bags or bins
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Place sachets of dried rosemary, mint, or cloves inside each bin to keep fabric-eating insects away
Think Beyond “Out of Sight”
“The biggest mistake people make is thinking that storing items away from their main living areas means they’re safe,” Frederic explains. “Garages, basements, and attics often create the perfect storm—they’re quiet, undisturbed, and have temperature fluctuations that make items more appealing to pests.”
That’s why simply hiding clutter isn’t enough. To truly reduce what attracts pests in your home, focus on both storage and prevention.
Natural deterrents like cedar, lavender, bay leaves, peppermint oil, or diatomaceous earth can work alongside airtight containers to make your home far less inviting to undesirable critters.
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