Festival Cleaning Season: Using Deep Cleaning to Spot Hidden Pests

Annual deep cleaning moves furniture and opens cupboards, which reveals what's hiding there.

Use it as an inspection.

The short answer

While deep cleaning, look behind furniture and appliances, inside cupboards and storerooms, along skirting and under sinks for droppings, egg cases, mud tubes, webbing, holes and live insects. Photograph findings, clean up, and call a professional for anything serious.

What to look for

• Cockroach droppings and egg cases.
• Mud tubes or wood damage.
• Rodent droppings and gnaw marks.
• Silverfish and moth damage in cupboards.
• Ant trails.

Steps

1. Move furniture carefully.
2. Vacuum and wipe.
3. Photograph signs.
4. Seal gaps.
5. Book treatment if needed.

When to call a professional

If the problem is widespread, keeps returning or you are unsure what you are dealing with, a professional inspection will save time and avoid wasted effort.

Frequently asked questions

Is deep cleaning enough?

It helps but doesn't replace treatment.

When to start?

A few weeks before festivals.

What to do with food?

Check dates and storage.

Do I need a professional?

If you find signs of termites or rodents.

This guide is part of IPest's complete resource on pest control. For identification help, prevention and treatment options, see our full pest control guide for Bangalore.