How to get rid of pests from your car

Besides transporting people, a car is like a second home to most people.  In it they keep clothes, eat, keep personal accessories and so on.  

But it is these things that attract pests like cockroaches, bugs, fleas, spiders, rats and ants into the car. 

Ritah Nakamatte, a resident of Ggaba, a Kampala suburb, who also owns a shop there says ever since she started using her car to transport goods from town to her shop, cockroaches invaded it.

"I thought using my car would reduce on the money I was spending on hiring another car to transport my goods unfortunately am now spending more on eliminating cockroaches that came as a result of putting goods in the car," she explains.   

Dan Musoke, who has two children, says the root cause of cockroaches in his car is eating from it. My children are used to eating as we drive home.

"It is a daily routine after school I pass by any supermarket and grab some eatable for them," he says. 

What attacks pests in into the car 

According to David Nyoike, the aftersales manager at Motorcare says if a car is parked in a location where there is heat, it will moisturise which will cause moulds hence attracting organic pests. 

He also adds that eating in the car and not cleaning it properly attracts rodents like rats. Pests can end up eating car wires causing huge damage to the car. 

Washing a car and not drying it well causes car seats to rot from the inside and eventually start smelling. Nyoike, says since the seats are wet, they develop fungi which brings pests in form of worms. 

How to get rid of pests from a car 

"Once in a while a car should be valeted depending on how a person uses it and in what condition it is in. If it is a family car, it should be valeted at least once every after three months," Nyoike advises.     

He explains that once pests are detected in a car, one cannot get rid of them by just washing it.

"The car should first be fumigated then valeted to get rid of the dead pests," he says. 

Justin Ssendikaddiwa, the Managing Director of Pest Solution and General Traders says pests are creatures which stay where it is habitable. They cannot live without nutrition. 

"If they are not fed, they run away. To get rid of them keep away food stuffs because it is what they feed on," he notes. 

He adds that to completely do away with pests cut their life cycle by destroying their eggs. However, applying pesticides also helps keep pests away. 

"A car should not be used for at least 2 hours after being fumigated to prevent the user from getting effected by the pesticide," he notes.    

Ssendikaddiwa, says leaving car windows open while the car is in parking is dangerous. Sometimes pests like snakes find their way inside the car which may cause accident in case one notices it while driving. 

"To prevent pests from invading a car, put away anything that they can survive on. The more you put things which attract pests in the car the more they conquer it," he notes. 

He adds that recommended pesticides like Bendiacarb, Fenchrorvos, Permenthrin, Deltamenthrein among others can be used to fumigate a car. A litre of each costs sh80,000, sh40,000 or sh30,000 depending on the supplier you buy it from.

"After a car is being fumigated, the owner should keep car windows down to allow free air circulation," he advises.

Dr. Marie Kaddu of Good Samaritan Clinic located at Lukuli, says as a person protects their food at home, they should do the same in the car. However, she advises people not to eat from their cars because of the negative outcome or if so they should clean it properly.

"Food is one to the many things that attracts pests, so if a person eats food that any pest has played on, they are likely to get infections like gastric, urinal and respiratory," she says.

Kaddu adds that the most common infection is gastric infection, this one cause stomach pains and diarrhoea.