Have you ever noticed bees buzzing around a bright yellow wall? Lighter paint colors tend to reflect light better than others, drawing in hoards of insects to your home. If you’re struggling with large populations of bugs, you may be wondering: Are there any paint colors that repel insects?
Bugs like moths and beetles can detect light on the UV spectrum, and bright colors draw in more insects as various bugs use color to find food or potential predators. The good news is that if color can attract insects, then it’s possible to use paint colors that repel insects.
No matter the severity of your pest problem, pest control experts provide targeted treatment based on the pest’s behavior. When choosing a color for your home, you may worry that your safe haven is an attraction to bugs.
We will help you pick the right exterior paint colors that repel insects and are least likely to attract them to your home.
What Paint Colors Attract Bugs?
Bright colors like yellow, orange, and blue can attract bees as they resemble flowers. The more reflective the color is, the more a bug will be attracted to it. Avoid bright colors as they will attract pollinating insects to your walls.
If you aren’t interested in cracking open a new can of paint, you can easily change the color of your walls just with lighting alone. If you have bright yellow walls, you can add a blue or green colored lightbulb to offset the bright hues. However, insects can’t see colors the same way as humans, so it can be difficult to predict their behavior.
When insects are plaguing your home, try relying on a quality exterior paint service that can remove the painting hassle! Andre Kazimiersky, Founder & CEO of Improovy, said, “Picking the right colors can be difficult, but Improovy makes painting easy for homeowners with its painting industry expertise.”
Are There Paint Colors That Repel Insects?
Because bugs see colors on the UV spectrum, they cannot register hues of green or blue. Painters even use blue paint to repel bees and wasps. Painting your porch ceiling in a blue tone could repel wasps, leading to fewer wasp-eating spiders around your home!
Flies and mosquitoes, on the other hand, are attracted to blue tones and repelled by warm tones like yellow and orange. They prefer dark colors because they use their heat receptors to locate warm bodies to feed on. When picking your colors, it’s important to research what works for you and find paint colors that repel insects in your area.
Are There Other Ways to Repel Bugs?
If repainting your home isn’t an option, there are other ways to repel bugs in your home. Check out our helpful tips to keep bugs away from your property!
Light Traps: UV light can lure insects and kill them simultaneously. This method is great for catching large moths, annoying flies, or stinging insects like mosquitoes.Warm-colored LED bulbs can also help reduce the number of insects around your porch this summer.
Dried Herbs and Flowers: Dried herbs and flowers can repel pests more effectively than live plants. Dried herbs can be hung near windows or placed in sachet bags inside drawers and cupboards.Lavender flowers are an excellent pest control option that doubles as beautiful home decor. This approach is 100% natural, so there’s no harm in planting flowers near your house!
Pest Control Methods: If you have tried all the possible methods but are getting nowhere, sometimes the best option is to call the proof. pest control professionals.
No one likes creepy crawlers inside of their home. With our high-quality, plant-based products and industry-leading techniques, pests will have no chance. Sleep better at night knowing that your home is pest-free and healthy all year round with chemical-free services for your home and family. Contact us today!
FAQs
While darker colors may save you from bees and beetles, they can attract a different monster- mosquitos. Mosquitos see colors differently than most insects and can pick up shades outside of the UV spectrum. Therefore, using brighter colors like white, yellow, and blue can repel these pests a little more effectively.
What color paint keeps bugs away? ›
Bugs naturally are attracted to vibrant colors such as orange, yellow, or white. Colours such as blue and green will not register as vividly when viewed in the ultraviolet spectrum, which deters bugs away from those colored items.
Which colors repel insects? ›
Blue might do the trick
Many homeowners seem to buy into the theory that blue is the colour that most effectively repels insects, specifically wasps. This is evidenced in the number of blue porches there are out there, as home owners attempt to discourage wasps from settling in and building nests in their entryways.
What is the best color to not attract bugs? ›
Because bugs see colors on the UV spectrum, they cannot register hues of green or blue. Painters even use blue paint to repel bees and wasps. Painting your porch ceiling in a blue tone could repel wasps, leading to fewer wasp-eating spiders around your home!
Is there an exterior paint that repels bugs? ›
Corion Repel® paint is produced thanks to a patent that is the result of our deep research. Developed to repel and kill any type of small insect, it reduces the risk of transmission of diseases. Transmitted by them. Its use reduces the need for chemicals in spray or dust, smoke and other substances.
What color is best for pest control? ›
The same is true for your porch or deck, minus the food part. Bugs are naturally attracted to bright colors like white, yellow or orange. Colors like green and blue won't register as vividly when seen in the UV spectrum, deterring bugs away from these colored objects.
What LED color makes bugs go away? ›
Yellow and amber LED lights will attract the fewest number of insects and bugs. White and blue LED lights attract the most amount of bugs, with ultraviolet and green LED lights also attracting bugs. Red LED lights are the least appealing to bugs—but unfortunately can be less useful for human use.
What bugs hate the most? ›
Lemongrass, citrus, peppermint, eucalyptus, tea tree, citronella, catnip, and lavender oils all possess properties that repel bugs.
What color can insects not detect? ›
Most insects have only two types of visual pigments (Figure 2). One pigment absorbs green and yellow light (550 nm); the other absorbs blue and ultraviolet light (<480 nm). Insects cannot see red.
What color do roaches hate? ›
The results of the investigation on what color will repel the greatest number of co*ckroaches, indicate that red light repels a greater number of roaches than the other five colored lights and the control group of no light. Green light deterred the second most roaches followed by white, yellow, and blue.
Warm Colours Deters Insects
Warm light colours such as red, orange and yellow have the highest wavelengths. So naturally, you'll want to use warm coloured bulbs in your outdoor lighting design in order to deter large swarms of bugs and insects.
What smell do bugs hate the worst? ›
Bugs hate the smells associated with repellency, such as lavender, citronella, vinegar, peppermint, and geranium. These oils are considered a natural way of driving away bugs from your home without harming you, your family, and other animals.
What color do ants hate? ›
The study involved pair choice trials, in which workers were digging and removing colored glass beads. The beads were blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Based on the count of removed beads, S. invicta workers do have color vision and have a preference for green, orange and red and least prefer blue.
What color to paint the porch ceiling to keep bugs away? ›
Blue ceilings are also said to deter birds and insects. But don't toss your bug spray just yet.
What is the blue color that repels bugs? ›
Bug deterrent
The use of haint blue has lost some of its superstitious significance, but modern proponents also cite the color as a spider and wasp-deterrent. However, the color has not actually been scientifically shown to stave off bugs.
What paint colors repel mosquitoes? ›
The best colors for repelling mosquitoes, according to researchers at the University of Washington, are white, green, blue and purple. That isn't because mosquitoes don't like these colors, but because they reflect heat and light, which mosquitoes really don't like, which is why they start to emerge at dusk.
Does white paint keep bugs away? ›
While darker colors may save you from bees and beetles, they can attract a different monster- mosquitos. Mosquitos see colors differently than most insects and can pick up shades outside of the UV spectrum. Therefore, using brighter colors like white, yellow, and blue can repel these pests a little more effectively.
Does painting your porch ceiling blue keep bugs away? ›
Does painting a porch ceiling blue keep bugs away? While the belief that blue porch ceilings deter insects may have originated from the use of lye in older paints, modern science suggests that it's more of a myth than a reality.
What color do mosquitoes hate? ›
Compared to humans, mosquitoes see a smaller range of colors. One study found that red, orange, cyan (blue-green), and black tend to draw mosquitoes, while colors that make you more difficult to see can repel mosquitoes, including white, green, blue, and purple.
Do bugs prefer certain colors? ›
The results indicate that yellow attracts more insects than the other 5 colors that were tested. Out of the 2,207 insects that were trapped in the 30 bowls, White attracted 5.7%, Red attracted 4.2%, Orange attracted 22%, Yellow attracted 51.3%, Green attracted 7.2%, and Blue attracted 9.6%.
