December 9, 2025
Turn your home into a no-fly zone with these pest control tips.
Although some creepy crawlies are good to have around – like for example, spiders, which feed on harmful insects, or lizards that do the same – it’s more likely than not that you’d want to keep all of them at arm’s length (or preferably, much further) if you’re reading this article.
But the question is, how exactly can you deal with these unwanted house guests without getting too close?
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Of course, there’s always the option of nuking your kitchen/living room/immediate surroundings with the nearest can of insecticide spray you can find, but as with personal health, the real solution is prevention.
Here are 6 common house pests that you’ll encounter in Singapore – and more importantly, some helpful tips to keep them away for good!
Plain and simple: mosquitoes are nothing but trouble. These annoying flyers leave itchy red bumps where they bite, and if you’re unlucky enough, you may even get a bad bout of dengue fever after these bugs leave their mark.
The first step in controlling mosquitoes is simply by getting rid of any stagnant water in breeding spots/containers like pails, vases, and pots. But you can also do more:
Example of mosquito dunks available on Shopee
BTI (Bascillus Thuringiensis Israelensis) is a type of bacteria found in soil that functions as an insecticide. And since it specifically targets mosquito larvae, BTI dunks are most certainly useful in nipping the problem in the bud.
Place these dunks in hard-to-access areas that are likely to accumulate stagnant water, such as empty planter boxes or roof gutters, to curtail mosquito breeding.
Uncovered containers left exposed to the elements and clogged gutters are prime breeding grounds for mosquitoes, so get rid of them to minimise the likelihood of having bloodsuckers as unwanted house guests.
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Keeping your fans on is a natural thing to do in sunny Singapore, but it’s also an effective (albeit simple) solution to keep mosquitoes at bay. A constant direct breeze will make it hard for mosquitoes to fly straight, and even harder for them to land on you for a bloody sip.
House flies are a nuisance mostly due to the health risks that they pose. Aside from being carriers of harmful bacteria like E.coli and Shigella that cause intestinal-related illnesses, these pests are also capable of spreading serious diseases like tuberculosis and typhoid fever. Downright dirty, if you ask us.
To get rid of house flies from your home:
Any food that’s left out in the open will inevitably draw the attention of house flies (even if it hasn’t gone bad), which is why covering up and/or disposing of your leftovers properly is important.
For instance, if you’re using an exposed trashcan, don’t leave a filled trash bag sitting in it overnight. Instead, toss the contents immediately after every meal/dishwashing session so that you don’t end up sending party invitations to any nearby swarms.
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Part of being a responsible pet owner is cleaning up after your furry friend is done with business. And you’ll definitely want to do that because just like rotting food, animal waste is a prime breeding ground for house flies.
Estimates suggest that a female house fly can lay up to 500 eggs over 3 to 4 days, which means you’ll be faced with an infestation faster than you can recover from a session of food poisoning.
In a tropical country like Singapore, drain flies often appear in droves when it rains. This is in part to seek shelter, but also because water is slow to evaporate when it rains, resulting in damp surfaces that are perfect breeding ground for them when organic matter is present.
As a result, these pests are most commonly found around shower floor traps as well as kitchen and bathroom sinks. That is, as their name suggests, where dirty water is drained away.
Hot water and/or a mixture of white vinegar + baking soda are widely touted to be efficient solutions to a drain fly problem when poured down water traps/drainage points.
Flushing your pipes regularly with these liquids twice a week (or more, if necessary) helps to get rid of drain fly-attracting organic matter, like hair and body grease, accumulating unseen in the depths of your home’s plumbing network.
Likewise, mothballs are an effective infestation answer. Simply place one of these spherical pesticides over a drainage point, cover it with a plastic container, and watch the drain flies drop like, well, flies.
Keeping your bathroom clean isn’t a direct solution to a drain fly infestation, but it can most certainly prevent a population explosion of these pests.
Since drain flies thrive and lay their eggs in organic matter, ensuring there’s no build-up of these substances is one way to prevent a colony from growing.
Most of us are used to seeing an ant or two show up when there’s a meal sitting on the dinner table, but if a trail of them appears, it’s highly likely that you’ve got a colony hiding out unnoticed in a corner or entering your home (sweet home) via an ingress from the outside.
Either way, here’s what to do apart from covering your food:
Ants dislike the citrusy smell of lemon, so slice up a couple of these juicy fruits and make some repellent with them.
Similarly, a 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and water works just as well in putting ants off. Use a spray bottle to quickly apply this natural solution near door/window gaps or wall cavities.
The best hunters are the ones who know their traps, or more specifically, the best spots to place them. If you’re patient (or desperate) enough to get rid of an entire colony plaguing your home, follow a trail of ants back to their hiding spot(s) and place one of these deadly poison traps right at their doorstep to eradicate them.
Cockroaches are easily the most reviled (and also, feared) pests t
hat homeowners have had the misfortune to deal with.
Their egg sacs can be glued to hard-to-access areas like the walls of an under sink cabinet, while fully-grown adults of some cockroach species can withstand downwards forces of up to 900 times their body weight.
So make no mistake, these insects are the hardiest household pest, being able to survive any half-hearted attempts on their lives (after all, they're said to have been around since the time of the dinosaurs). If you see one scurrying around, be sure to go all out with one of these prevention/eradication methods.
Pandan leaves are a strong natural cockroach repellent that you can place around your house to deter them from entering, but if you’re already facing an infestation, this solution won’t be enough to eliminate them.
You’ll have to invest in some cockroach bait, which will (hopefully) kill every last one of them off when they consume their fallen brethren’s poisoned corpses. (Yes, cockroaches are cannibals.)
Failing that, a call to a pest control service might be in order.
If you’re living on a low-floor unit, your rubbish chute might be a potential ingress point for cockroaches.
One way to deal with the problem is to spray a generous amount of insecticide down your chute before sealing up the edges with tape. Also, be sure to do this prior to scheduled fumigation days, lest there be a chaotic exodus into your home when you least expect it.
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The same goes for windows, check for gaps where roaches might be able to enter, patch them up (if possible) and spray some insecticide to keep these harmful pests where they should always be: far, far away.
Termites are often mistaken for ants, but they are way more destructive when it comes to wood-based furniture. Some signs that you have termites (and not just ants) include mud tubes along walls or skirting, as well as hollow-sounding wooden surfaces.
By way of prevention, opt for solid plywood or high-pressure laminates instead, and ask your ID/contractor to apply anti-termite treatment on your carpentry.
Should you already have a termite infestation, do NOT spray household insecticide or break open infested wood. Doing so will cause termites to spread elsewhere, making treatment harder. Instead, try the following:
Example of a termite baiting system available on Shopee
Similar to any baits, termite baiting systems involve termites bringing a slow-acting poison back to their colony, eventually resulting in its collapse. The downside, however, is that it can take 1 to 3 months to take effect.
Unfortunately, more immediate treatments typically require a combination of drilling, soil trenching and injecting foam or dust into infested wood. As such, it’s best to contact a professional with the necessary tools and supplies to get these done.
(This article was originally published on 4 September 2017, and last updated on 8 December 2025.)