Say Goodbye To Wasps For Good With This Unlikely WD-40 Hack

Having a wasp nest in your yard is never fun and getting rid of these aggressive little stinging insects is typically a process. The most common way to remove a wasp nest from your yard involves spraying the nest, waiting till the insects die, and then knocking it down. However, despite going through this whole process, sometimes the survivors simply build a new nest next year exactly where the old one was. Luckily, there's a way to prevent the wasps from rebuilding again and all you need is a little WD-40.

As a multipurpose spray with around 2,000 different uses, you may expect to use WD-40 in multiple ways on multiple tools and machines. However, the fact that you can use it to get rid of wasps may come as more of a surprise. WD-40 is very useful when you spray it where wasp nests are commonly built, like under gutters, window sills, and eaves on houses and sheds. This will make the surface too slippery for the wasps to work with and cause them to go somewhere else to build their new home. While some websites claim that WD-40 also works when sprayed directly on a live nest, this is not necessarily a good idea for a few reasons.

Although WD-40 is very useful, it is not an approved insecticide and, therefore, cannot be guaranteed to kill wasps when sprayed on them. Although anecdotal stories on different websites claim that the lubricant does kill wasps, more likely than not, it just immobilizes them by making their wings too heavy, causing them to temporarily appear dead. That's not to say that you won't succeed in killing a few wasps with WD-40, but just that many of them will simply dry off and then fly away and continue going about their day.

It is because of this reason that you should avoid using WD-40 in place of insecticide, especially when spraying a nest. If you spray a wasp nest with the lubricant, you may indeed immobilize them long enough to knock down the nest but in the best-case scenario, you will kill some and leave others alive. The worst-case scenario is that spraying the nest will simply make them angry and cause them to chase you. 

So, instead of going at a nest with a can of WD-40, you can try other methods that are more likely to work. The first method is the most obvious and it is buying chemical anti-wasp spray and dousing the nest in it. However, if you are opposed to using harsh chemicals in your yard, there are a few other methods you can try to get rid of the yellow and black menaces. For example, dish soap and water in a spray bottle is a great environmentally friendly solution. However, this method tends to work best when killing single wasps around the house. When approaching a nest with soap and water, you will need to wear protective clothing to prevent stinging from any ones you missed. You can also hang wasp traps around your yard to capture and kill adults.

Alternatively, the most holistic approach is to simply make sure your yard isn't an attractive place for wasps to live. You can do this by making sure your trash cans are clean and sealed shut, by having no fruit trees in your yard, and by not letting food sit outside while grilling or having a cookout. You can also avoid planting herbs that wasps are drawn to like fennel, goldenrod, and thistle.