Ants are some of the most resilient, persistent and intrepid insects in history. They’re present all around the world, spreading over 20 thousand different species that adapt to basically any habitat. They’ve been around since the Jurassic period – over 150 million years ago!
Bottomline, this info is just a long way to say what you already know: no matter how much we build concrete foundations with insulated doors and windows, ants will always find a way in.
Luckily, these pests are also simple to deter for the most part. They will seek out sugar until the end of the Earth as if their lives depended on it (and it kinda does), but there are many natural homemade mixtures that stops them on their tracks.
Keep in mind that these are not methods to kill them, but just on how to get rid of ants. These are effective enough to greatly decrease the amount you find in your home, perhaps even to the point of making them leave entirely.
Let’s take a look at some of the most common ways to stop ants, using simple ingredients you most likely already have at home!
“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow. – Helen Keller
1. Lemon juice
Lemon juice works as a great ant deterrent. Simply squish some lemons with water and add the mixture into a spray bottle, then spray near areas where you see ants coming through. It’s a simple and natural solution to ants in the kitchen
Do this in enough places for a few days, and you should see the difference – easy peasy, lemon squeezy!
Lemon juice doesn’t kill ants, but it forces them to avoid that path and try to look for another way. If every path is blocked, they’ll have to abandon ship – and this is the intent behind every item on this list.
2. Cinnamon oil
The best thing about cinnamon oil is that it smells great for us, but ants seem to hate it. So you can have your home smell like fresh cinnamon and have it ant-free in the process. It’s a win-win!
Simply spray some cinnamon oil around doors and windows, but also directly on the paths you see ants in your home. They’ll immediately start avoiding it!
3. Peppermint oil
Another great option that also smells wonderful. Ants hate pepper in general, so even black pepper and dried peppermint works, but that’s not so practical to use all the time… and it doesn’t have the benefit of smelling nice like peppermint oil.
The perfect mixture is as follows: 10 drops of peppermint oil for one cup of water. Mix and pour the mixture into a spray bottle, then spray generously in areas where you see ants passing through or congregating often. Keep doing this for a few days and they should stop coming.
Besides, like most ideas on this list, this is a pet safe way to get rid of ants in your house!
Having a hard time finding out where the ants are coming from? You can actually just use sugar as bait. Let them come and then follow their path to figure out where they’re coming from!
4. Coffee grounds
This one is great because it allows you to use something you would naturally have at home anyway – used coffee grounds. Instead of throwing away, you can use small portions of it to block paths or access points for ants.
Ants are definitely not fans of coffee and will always try to avoid it, so if you place small quantities in places where they pass through, it should deter them from moving any further. Just remember to regularly clean those areas to prevent coffee stains!
5. Vinegar
A fairly straightforward solution to preventing ants from entering your home is to mop the floors with a simple vinegar and water solution. Since you cover a large area with it, you can make your home very unwelcoming to ants in particular.
But this is not a surefire fix – while ants will avoid vinegar, they can find another way in. If you notice that even after mopping the floors with the vinegar and water solution ants are still appearing, try blocking their paths and entry points with some of the other ideas on this list!
And always keep in mind that if your ant problem is too out of hand, you can always call a pest control company for a faster and more permanent solution!
6. Powdered chalk
The secret of powdered chalk is that it contains calcium carbonate, which is very unpleasant for ants. For you, the benefit is that it’s completely harmless in small quantities and very easy to clean when necessary, along with it being basically odorless. Spray in possibly entry points or paths to create a barrier.
Strangely, drawing a simple line with chalk often deters ants from passing through as well. Just be careful if you have children or pets in the house so that they don’t ingest it!
7. Salt
Considering ants love sugar, it’s not wild to assume they hate salt. And true, while it won’t work as a definitive repellent, it does bother them enough that they try going somewhere else. Think of it this way: if ants are following a trail of sugar and suddenly they find salt, they think “OK, maybe not this way.
The mixture is super simple – boil water and add a generous amount of regular table salt to it, then stir until it dissolves. Then, pour on a spray bottle and spray in spots where you think ants might be getting in from, as well as paths they take or over a few surfaces you see them regularly. It’s simple, easy to do and it works well.
With all of that, you should be well informed on how to deal with ants!
Is your ant problem getting out of hand? Get free quotes from a pest control company in your area!
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