How to Get Rid Of Crickets in Garage [8 Simple Steps]

The chirping of crickets at night may be melodious when heard from a distance. But when these critters bring their music to your home, making your garage their concert hall, their sounds may not be the most entertaining anymore.

Crickets are not among the most destructive pests, but they can carry disease and snack on fabric, paper, and wood in your garage.

Since they lay eggs and multiply quickly, their loud music is not the only thing you will have to worry about.

Read along to learn how to get rid of crickets in garage and keep them from returning to your home.

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How to get rid of crickets in garage

You can get rid of crickets using sticky traps, insecticides, repellents, or vacuuming. You could also call a professional pest control agent to get rid of crickets if you prefer not to deal with the critters yourself.

Here is a detailed look at how you can deal with crickets in your garage.

Vacuum them out

Crickets can quickly grow in numbers in your home since they lay many eggs daily. This adaptation can make it challenging to control their population. Thankfully, you already have the right tools for the job at home.

One highly effective way to eliminate crickets and their eggs is to use a shop vac. The vacuum will draw the insects and their eggs out, helping you deal with those in hard-to-reach areas in your garage.

If you have a carpeted garage floor, vacuum around all the edges. Carpets are crickets’ favorite hideouts, especially around the edges. Their eggs may also be concentrated around these areas.

A vacuum with a HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filter should be high-powered enough to pull the insect eggs from wherever they are deposited.

After vacuuming, discard the contents in a sealed plastic bag from where you can safely dispose of them.

2. Trap them with natural sticky baits

Crickets have a strong partiality for molasses. Since molasses is a sticky substance, you can use it to trap the insects.

Put a few tablespoons of molasses in a shallow bowl and add some water. Place the bowl in your garage where the insects can access it.

The crickets will warm up to the bowl, thanks to their love for the sweet liquid. This will be their undoing. While they will enjoy the taste of molasses, they will be unable to leave the bowl, allowing you to get rid of them.

Make sure you empty the bowl and set it up again to lure more insects until you are confident they are gone.

You may have to set the lure for several days if you have a big cricket problem in your garage.

3. Trap the crickets with a chemical bait

Besides molasses, you can buy a chemical cricket bait from a hardware store near you.

The bait works the same way as molasses to trap crickets. It has a scent that lures the insect and traps it with its stickiness.

However, unlike molasses, chemical cricket baits are toxic, so you will want to keep your pets and family away from the garage when you use this bait.

If you have a workbench in the garage, you can place this trap under it. You can also set the crickets trap near the door and around the edges of the garage.

4. Spray them with an insecticide

You can use bug spray if you prefer to exterminate the crickets in your garage. You will need to start by identifying the insects’ popular hideouts, such as around the garage door, behind storage boxes, cracks and crevices in the wall or under the carpet.

You can use a bug spray designed specifically for crickets or an all-purpose insecticide. Either should get the job done.

Once you have identified these spots, apply the insecticide in these areas and close the garage door to keep kids and pets out.

Bug sprays are toxic, so keeping your family and pets safely away from the area until you finish the exercise is vital.

When spraying the garage with insecticides, you will also need to protect yourself with a respirator and a pair of gloves.

5. Kill them with boric acid.

Boric acid is another chemical that kills insects by dehydrating them quickly, even though it is non-toxic to humans.

You should find it in the shops under the generic name of Borax. It is inexpensive but effective against crickets and other crawling insects.

The acid also gets inside the insects and poisons them. So, once you have identified the cricket hideouts, sprinkle the crystals in these areas.

Once the insects come in contact with the crystals, it will begin exterminating them, ridding your garage of crickets and their nuisance.

When using this acid to control crickets, ensure you keep your pets away from the garage, as it can poison them.

6. Repel them with peppermint oil

If you don’t want to collect the debris of dead crickets in your garage, you can sprinkle some peppermint oil in areas where the insects hide.

Insects like spiders and crickets hate peppermint scent, even though humans may find it irresistibly appealing.

Sprinkling peppermint oil around the garage will leave the intruding critters with no option but to look for alternative places to live. You can apply the oil to cotton balls and stuff the loaded balls into the boxes, crevices, and holes where crickets hide.

While this method effectively sends crickets away, you must reapply peppermint oil regularly to keep them away.

7. Kill the insects with diatomaceous earth

Diatomaceous earth is a powdery substance made from sedimentary rocks and ground into a fine powder.

The powdery substance is non-toxic to humans and pets, so you can use it around pets and children without any problems.

When you apply diatomaceous earth in the crevices and holes where crickets hide, it penetrates their exoskeleton and causes dehydration.

This dehydration eventually kills them.

8. Call a Professional

If you prefer to avoid dealing with crickets in your home yourself, you can enlist the services of companies specialized in exterminating critters.

Calling pest control to do the work for you should be an option if your cricket infestation problem has gotten out of hand.

Notice that pest control companies may charge highly for their services, so you should only consider this option if you are prepared to part with the big bucks.

Otherwise, the DIY options discussed above should help. You can use more than one method to eliminate the crickets and keep them from reentering your home.

The video below describes how to get rid of Crickets in your garage in 4 simple steps.

How to prevent crickets from getting into your garage

After getting rid of crickets in your garage, you will need to prevent the infestation from recurring. To do so, you can either do away with cricket enticements around your garage or seal the garage to prevent their access.

The best strategy, however, is to use a mixed approach. Field and house crickets are attracted by bright light, warmth, moisture, and food.

And they require gaps and small spaces to enter your garage. Sealing those potential entry points and cutting back on the things that attract them will successfully keep them away.

This section suggests ways to keep the critters from getting into your garage and becoming a menace.

Seal your garage

One of the most effective ways of preventing crickets from entering your garage is closing their potential entry points. Their small size allows them to enter your garage through the smallest holes and crevices.

So, thoroughly inspect your garage for those cracks that might allow them in and caulk them. Apply a suitable caulking material to any cracks in the walls, and put screens on any vents in your garage.

Also, the garage door may leave some space near the ground. Consider buying an attachment that you affix to the bottom of the garage door to minimize the chances of crickets squeezing themselves, though.

De-clutter the garage space

Many homeowners keep stuff in their garages. Unfortunately, the more clutter you have in the garage, the more food, moisture, and hiding points you provide for these uninvited guests.

Therefore, consider using wall organizers and shelving to keep your items from cluttering around the floor.

Remove any cartons and fabric lying around the place. Keeping as few things on the garage floor as possible will leave crickets with fewer dwelling spots and things to scavenge on. This can go a long way in preventing cricket infestation.

Rethink the garage lighting

If you have bright lights in your garage or outside it, crickets might find it irresistible. Consider switching to motion sensor-activated light fixtures for the areas outside your garage.

You could also swap the white bulbs in your garage with sodium vapor bulbs or amber anti-bug options.

Do preventative maintenance outside your garage

Your garage’s immediate surroundings may hold cricket enticements depending on their state.

But you can change that by keeping the lawn mowed at all times. If you have any flower beds around the garage, weed them and prune any shrubs and trees.

Overgrown shrubs and grass near your garage may lead crickets into your garage by providing them with places to hide. Clearing these hideouts and watering the lawn regularly should help turn things around.

Reduce moisture in the garage

Moist environments are one of the crickets’ best attractions. If your garage has a moisture problem, consider using a dehumidifier to reduce the moisture and prevent it from attracting crickets.

Other than a dehumidifier, you can also place portable fans in the garage to increase air circulation and keep the place dry.

Clean up Outside Your Garage Space

Crickets are attracted to many things, including food residues, weeds, or tall grass, all of which can lead them into your garage. When crickets are drawn, they may find gaps in the garage that permit them to take residence in your garage space.

Ensure you cut down the weeds or tall grass around your garage area that might attract them and clean the food residues that might clutter your garage surroundings.

Typically, the crickets will utilize the tall grass and weed as a cover. By cutting down the grass and eliminating the weed, you are reducing their sources of attraction and keeping crickets out of your garage.

Why do crickets like garages?

Garages tend to have lots of dark, warm spots that provide crickets with safe hiding places. The boxes, cartons, carpets, and other items on the garage floor also provide crickets with perfect dwelling places where they can hide for a long time without disturbance.

Garages are also characterized by low moisture and dry areas, which are the ideal conditions for crickets.

Do crickets cause damage?

While crickets are not the most destructive insects, they can chew on cardboard, paper, carpet, and fabric in your garage. The damage may be minor per individual cricket but become more extensive with a larger population of the insects.

If your garage has a significant cricket infestation, it can cause considerable damage to the items in that space.

Crickets can also carry diseases, which can affect your family and pets.

How to Get Rid Of Crickets in Garage- Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is the easiest way to get rid of crickets?

The easiest way to get rid of crickets is to spray them with a suitable insecticide. You can use an all-purpose bub spray or one designed specifically for exterminating crickets. Once your garage is free of crickets, ensure you weed plant beds, mow the lawn around your garage, and reduce moisture in and around the garage to discourage future infestation.

Q2. How do I permanently get rid of crickets?

The most effective way to permanently eliminate crickets is to kill them with a suitable bug spray, followed by preventative maintenance outside the garage. Additionally, consider sealing your garage to prevent insects from getting inside.

Q3. What smell do crickets hate?

Insects like crickets hate the smell of peppermint oil, lemon oil, and cinnamon oil. Any of these products will repel crickets if applied around your garage regularly. As such, you can use any of these oils to control cricket infestation.

Q4. How do you get rid of cricket you can’t find?

One of the most effective ways of getting rid of crickets you cannot find is to trap them with a can of beer with a few drops of beer left inside. Lay the can on its side near the cricket’s hiding place. The smell of beer will attract the insect, getting it out of its hiding spot.

Q5. What are crickets most attracted to?

Crickets feed on fabrics such as cotton, leather, silk, or wool stained by food or sweat, forming their primary centers of attraction.

The crickets will also be attracted to food substances, vegetables, and fruit remains. It is imperative that you correctly dispose of the food remains.

Conclusion

Crickets don’t bite. Neither are they particularly destructive. However, their noises while singing in your garage at night can be a serious nuisance, keeping your family awake when other people sleep.

Thankfully, cricket infestation is considerably easy to control. You could call a professional pest control service, but this can be pretty expensive. So, if you have a cricket problem, consider using the tricks and methods in this post to exterminate and keep the insects from returning to your garage.

We hope this helps you out. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.