Ants begin their arrival in the mid to late spring when the weather starts to warm up. You must be prepared for them. Many commercial ant-killing products are effective, but only because they contain toxic substances. This poison k.i.l.l.s the ants but may also have an effect on you or your pets. You may want to find a natural method!
You may not notice it instantly, but in the long run, insecticides are indeed harmful. Safe alternatives are available, including the use of products that you already have in your home. These can be used to get rid of ants safely.
Ants begin their arrival in the mid to late spring when the weather starts to warm up. You must be prepared for them. Many commercial ant-ki.l.l.i.n.g products are effective, but only because they contain toxic substances. This poison k.i.l.l.s the ants but may also have an effect on you or your pets. You may want to find a natural method!
You may not notice it instantly, but in the long run, insecticides are indeed harmful. Safe alternatives are available, including the use of products that you already have in your home. These can be used to get rid of ants safely.
1. EVICT THEM WITH VINEGAR
There are quite a few things that ants will turn their noses up at. The tart and sour smell of vinegar is one of them! Which is great news, because that means you can scoot them out of the yard with a super-inexpensive ingredient.
Just fill a spray bottle with equal parts water and white distilled vinegar. Add a few drops of essential oil, such as lemon, which is another scent they can’t stand.
Shake the bottle thoroughly before each use, and then spray baseboards, or other access points they like to sneak through. Do this once a day, until the ants are gone.
2. Cinnamon-Scented Defense System
Ants have a powerful sense of smell – they actually have about five times more odor receptors than your average everyday insect. Use that to your advantage and bombard them with killer aromas! Although most humans love the smell of cinnamon, ants don’t like it one bit.
Cinnamon essential oil is a natural ant repellent that will keep ant soldiers from marching past your front door.
– Add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon essential oil to a cup of water. Dunk a cotton ball in the water, and use it to wipe down areas where the ants may live and dwell. Keep repeating this process once a day until the ants have vacated the premises!
– Leave whole cinnamon cloves outside, especially around doors, windowsills, and other entryways.
You can also put cinnamon essential oil in a spray bottle with water, and use it anywhere you find ant infestations.
3. Borax And Sugar-Laced Cotton
Balls Ants love sugar! If you leave a cookie out on the table and an ant finds it, the next morning you may see an army of critters take off with it, one crumbly piece at a time. Ants don’t love borax. That’s because it k.i.l.ls them from the inside out. If you combine the two, you have the perfect ant k.i.l.l.e.r! Here’s how you make it:
– Add 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1.5 teaspoons of borax into an empty jar.
– Add 2 cups of boiling water, and stir until the mixture has dissolved.
Soak a bunch of cotton balls in the water, and then place these glorious death traps wherever you have ants. Within 24 hours, they’ll be on their way to bug heaven.
4. Pepper
To be clear: Pepper doesn’t kill ants, but the strong odor will chase them away. Pour the ground black or cayenne version onto ant scent trails. Or mix pepper and water in a spray bottle and spritz your home’s entry points.
5. Fresh Mint
Ants don’t like the smell of fresh mint, so planting it in vegetable patches and flower beds deters ants and other insects while giving your garden a lovely aroma. Minty essential oils from peppermint, wintergreen, geranium, thyme, clove and rosemary work, too!
6. Citrus
The natural acids in tangy citrus, such as lemon, orange, lime and grapefruit, work wonders at keeping ants at bay by masking their scent trails — at least temporarily. Squeeze lemons into a spray bottle, or rub a pureed blend of orange peel and water on window sills and doors jambs to discourage the itsy-bitsy insects from crossing over.
Bonus: Toss the leftover rinds in the garden as an organic disincentive.
7. Flour
Stop ants in their tracks. Scatter all-purpose flour liberally at door thresholds, on window sills and across foundations. Or use a sifter to apply a dusting of flour directly along their path to disrupt their pheromone trail.
8. Coffee Grounds
This popular ant-repelling tactic has been around for years: Sprinkle coffee grounds around the stems of indoor and outdoor plants and flowers. Some say it’s the smell that repels them; others claim ants don’t like the feeling of the grounds under their feet. Either way, it works!
There are so many great ways to make ants take a hike! While nasty chemicals can do the trick, there are plenty of non-toxic ways to eliminate these creepy crawlies. Which home remedy is your favorite?
Sources: familyhandyman.com, keepyourbody.com, dengarden.com
