Summary: The end of the holiday season means it’s time to pack up all of the seasonal decor. This blog discusses the 5 most common invaders of packed holiday decor, then gives effective tips on preventing the pests. The featured pests are: earwigs, moths, rodents, silverfish, and spiders. Pointe Pest Control provides year-round protection from destructive pests.

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If you have enough holiday decor to fill a convenience store, the process of taking everything down is a long one. But whether you have just a few sentimental pieces or an entire 30-piece Christmas village, good storage practices are in order. There are a few risks to storing your holiday decor improperly: moisture damage, dirt, and pest invasions.

The last one is our main concern since pests introduce a world of problems to any home they invade. Between the bacteria, property damage, and health risks, pests bring nothing but trouble. So how do you protect your beloved holiday decor from these destructive critters?

Let’s talk about the 5 pests that ruin holiday decor before we give our top tips on preventing these un-festive invaders.

Earwigs

Earwigs are one of the lesser-discussed pests, but they are definitely a top contender in the category of “holiday decor pests.” You’ll find earwigs anywhere that’s damp, dark, and isolated. That’s why we often see them in attics, garages, and basements. These are also the most common storage spaces for holiday decor, so you probably see where we’re going with this.

Any boxes of decor that sit near moisture (pipes, plumbing, puddles, etc.) will see more earwigs since they need water. They can find various food sources in a box of decor. Organic wreaths and garlands, fabric, residue on outdoor decorations, and dead insects inside the boxes are great food sources. If your decor is clean and dry when you store it, it will be less appealing to earwigs.

Moths

We usually think of lights when we talk about moths, but there are many species that prefer to live in enclosed spaces. Clothes moths eat fabrics with keratin, a digestible protein that comes from animal and organic materials. Their favorites are cotton, fur, wool, and felt. Since they’re nocturnal, clothes moths do the most damage when we’re asleep.

After chewing through the cardboard or slipping through a gap in the packaging, clothes moths feed on the packed materials. Tree skirts, stockings, and fabric-covered decorations are all appealing meals to clothes moths. They also lay up to 50 eggs in fabric, so you could open the container to a slurry of clothes moths next year! Store your soft decor in secure containers to protect it from these hungry moths.

Rodents

It’s time to talk about the worst holiday decor pests of all: rodents. Rats and mice create the trifecta of problems when they hide within your storage containers. They spread diseases through their droppings and urine, they reproduce often, and they damage everything with their strong teeth. In fact, the early signs of a rodent invasion are teeth marks, droppings, and shredded material in a concentrated area.

Soft materials and organic items are the main targets for rodents. Pillows, wood, dried fruits, stuffed animals, and Christmas trees are some of their favorite chew toys/nest materials. Christmas lights are the riskiest items. Rodents cause about 20% of house fires yearly because they chewed on the electrical wiring. If a chewed string of Christmas lights is plugged in, it could spark. Check your lights every year, and look out for the signs of a rodent problem.

Silverfish

Silverfish are similar to earwigs in that they’re not the most infamous pests, but they certainly cause plenty of problems. Silverfish are technically harmless to humans — if you don’t count the damage they do to our organic and starchy items. They also prefer to stay in moist, dark spaces since they’re nocturnal, so they typically invade garages, basements, and attics.

These pests puncture small holes in their food, so the frayed edges of their food sources are the main evidence of their presence. Their favorites are paper, books, glue, wallpaper, and fabric. Homemade holiday decor is most likely to be impacted by silverfish since they often contain these materials. If you see any puncture holes or jagged edges in your holiday decor, check the container for sneaky silverfish.

Spiders

A spider in your packed holiday decor is the worst kind of jump scare. As with any creature, spiders only survive as long as they have a steady food source. If you keep finding live spiders, chances are good (in a bad way) that a further pest problem is at play. Spiders tend to stay in dark, dry areas whether or not they spin webs, so an idle box is a perfect location.

The artificial greenery (trees, garlands, etc.) is the most appealing to spiders since it gives them additional shelter that’s a bit softer. Most pests would be happy to live in cardboard boxes, so spiders have their pick of prey in their own hiding spots. Most spiders aren’t worrisome (other than their creepiness factor), but black widows and brown recluses are a different story. Store everything in secure containers, and give each greenery item a quick shake while unpacking.

Deck The Halls With Pest-Free Decor

Since our holiday decor sits in storage for most of the year, it’s important to store them correctly. After all, you don’t want to open a box of garlands and find yourself face-to-face with a nesting pest family! Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to prevent pests from ruining your holiday decor.

We recommend doing these things when storing your holiday decor:

Use plastic bins. The best way to store any holiday decor is to use plastic bins. Specifically, the ones with lids that snap on when you secure them. The slim containers are best for protecting ornaments, while the big tubs are great for fitting most of your decorations at once.

Avoid cardboard boxes. On that note, we suggest using sturdy containers over cardboard boxes. Rodents, silverfish, roaches, and termites all love cardboard. These boxes are flimsy and don’t hold up with age, which makes it easier for these pests to invade them.

Throw out edible decor. As fun as cranberry strands and popcorn garlands are, do not save them for next year. Throw away any edible and candy decor as you’re packing everything up. It’s worth the hassle of making new garlands every year, rather than leaving the decor for pests to eat.

Clean up the clutter. Finally, try to store all of your decor as neatly as possible. You don’t have to make a whole storage system for it (unless you want to), but try to keep it all stacked and contained in an organized fashion. Remember: a cluttered space is a pest’s paradise!

Start The New Year The Right Way With Pointe!

As you’re taking the holiday decor down, you might be thinking about tidying up your home for the new year. If you’re not already utilizing pest control services, the licensed technicians of Pointe Pest Control are ready to serve you! We provide long-term solutions that eliminate current pests and prevent future invaders. Our team targets your pest issues by finding all areas of pest activity and implementing the treatments that will solve your problems ASAP. We provide year-round protection from invasive pests, and we look forward to keeping you pest-free in the new year. Contact us for a free quote on our reliable services today!

Citations

Cowley, B. (2018, December 12). Don’t let pests make your home theirs for the holidays. Christmas Decor by Cowleys. Available at https://www.christmasdecorbycowleys.com/about-us/news-and-events/33348-dont-let-pests-make-your-home-theirs-for-the-holidays.html (Accessed December 11, 2024).

Durrani, A. (2020, November 30). How to keep bugs from hitching a ride into your home via your Christmas tree. Realtor. Available at https://www.realtor.com/advice/home-improvement/how-to-keep-bugs-out-of-house-holiday-season/ (Accessed December 11, 2024).

Holiday decorating done right: Top three tips for a pest-free home. (n.d.). Pest World. Retrieved December 11, 2024, from https://www.pestworld.org/news-hub/pest-articles/holiday-decorating-done-right/

Potter, M.F. (n.d.). Clothes moths. Entomology at the University of Kentucky. Available at https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef609 (Accessed December 11, 2024).