It doesn’t take long into the season before tons of little ants begin to find their way into houses and become a huge nuisance for everyone involved. As great as spring is, the bugs and ants that come along with it makes it frustrating, as they can easily infest a house. If you have a problem with ants, there’s a few different ways you can deal with them naturally.
While most of these problems are simply deterrents and only help deter the ants from coming into your house, it may be possible that you need a method that will kill a colony of ants. The following will provide you with several natural home remedies to help deter (or kill) ants from getting too cozy in your home.
1. Lemon Juice
Lemon juice can be used as a great deterrent to keep ants away from your house. In order to make it work, place lemon juice into a squeeze bottle and spray near any openings of your house that ants may come in. The acid in the lemon juice messes up the ants tracking and makes it difficult for them to enter into your house.
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Cedar oil is deadly to many insects and ants are no exception. One spray of cedar oil sends ants scurrying for their lives but they won't get far. It's an effective repellent as well so spray it on any surface you want to defend from ants and if you know where they are entering your house, spray that area well to repel them from visiting in the first place. Few natural substances are as effective against such a wide range of bugs, so you get a lot of bang for your buck using cedar oil.
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3. Cinnamon
Cinnamon is not only effective, but it can also be used in two different ways so you always have a solution that works for you. You can use cinnamon essential oils in order to keep the ants away. You can either spray it on floors or around doors and windows or you can use a q-tip to draw lines with the essential oil. The ants hate cinnamon and will not cross a line where cinnamon is.
If you can’t use essential oils, ground cinnamon will do the trick as well. SImply spread the ground cinnamon in the problem areas and you will have an effective remedy against ants. As an added bonus, your house will smell great!
4. Peppermint
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Much like cinnamon, ants hate peppermint and typically will not cross any areas with peppermint. Because of this, using peppermint oil around door and window frames can greatly help reduce the ant infestation in your home. Also like cinnamon, the peppermint oil will leave your house smelling great!
5. Borax, water and sugar
Before going into much detail, it’s important to note that this remedy can be toxic to small children and pets, so if you have either, be sure to use caution if you choose this remedy. By combining borax, water and sugar, you create a paste that is toxic to ants. Simply place it in areas where the ants often come into the house and the ants will take some of the mixture, bring it back to their nest and ultimately poison the queen ant, which should result in no more ants bothering you in your home.
6. Boiling water and dish soap
Boiling water and dish soap are two different methods that can be combined for effective killing of ants. For any visible ants you may see, combine water and liquid dish soap in a bottle and spray on any ants. If you have colonies of ants in your yard or surrounding areas, take a pot of boiling hot water and pour it into the ant hill. This is an effective way to eliminate the potential for more ants to find their way into your house.
7. Diatomaceous Earth (DE)
In order to effectively use diatomaceous earth, make sure you’re buying the food-grade DE and not the swimming pool DE. Sprinkle the DE around the perimeter of your home and you can also safely sprinkle in areas of your house where you may see them. While DE is not an instant kill, the effects should take effect in about one week.
8. Chalk
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Quite possibly the easiest remedy on the list, chalk can be used to deter ants from entering your home. Simply draw a line with the chalk, and the ants will refuse to cross the line. By drawing chalk lines by door frames, windows and other entry ways for ants, you can effectively eliminate the possibility of ants coming into your house.
9. Baking Soda and powdered sugar
For protection purposes, ants always carry around an acidic substance with them wherever they may go. Much like with a volcano science project, there’s a reaction between the ant’s acidic substance and the baking soda and powdered sugar. Simply combine the two ingredients and place it in strategic places around the house. In just a short time, it’ll be easy to notice a difference.
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10. Coffee Grounds
Coffee grounds are another great alternative for anyone looking to get rid of ants without having to kill them. Simply place some coffee grounds in cracks and other areas and you will soon see a decrease in the number of ants in your home. The coffee grounds will drive the ants to go find a new home and they will move, hopefully far away from your home.
11. Cornmeal
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Cornmeal is one of the safer options on the list as it is completely harmless to both children and pets. In order to use cornmeal to effectively remove ants from your home, spread the cornmeal into the areas you see affected. It will take a little time to go into effect, but in a couple days, you will soon notice a decrease in ants in the area you targeted.
12. Cream of Wheat
This one seems a little silly, but once again, it is one of the safest and easiest ways to help eliminate your ant problem. If an ant eats cream of wheat, it will expand in their body and ultimately cause them to explode as it rapidly expands in their stomach. While this idea is great for killing ants, it’s concerning to know what’s in cream of wheat that humans eat and what it does to our stomachs.
13. Vinegar
Vinegar works a lot like the boiling water and also like some of the other sprays mentioned. With a double purpose, the vinegar can be poured directly into the ant’s nest or it can be sprayed along areas where ants may come in. Both methods are effective in accomplishing their job and can greatly help reduce your ant problem.
14. Equal
Equal is a neurotoxin to ants and is extremely lethal if it comes into contact with their body. Some individuals recommend mixing it with apple juice to help make it even easier to use and to kill ants. Once again, like the cream of wheat, it can be disturbing to know that this is something humans regularly use.
15. Cucumbers
Ants cannot stand the taste of cucumber, so it’s to your advantage to use cucumber in order to help reduce the number of ants in your house. Cut the cucumber into several different pieces and place them in areas affected by ants. In short time, the ants will leave your house.
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16. Perfume
Similar to cucumbers, ants cannot stand the smell of perfume. In order to keep them away from your home, buy a very strong perfume and soak several cotton balls in the perfume. Because ants can’t stand perfume, they will avoid the areas where the perfume is present and they will ultimately stay away.
If you’re looking to get rid of ants in your house, any of these fifteen methods listed above should help you do the trick. Lucky for you, the list is long, so if one method doesn’t work, you can continue to move down the list until you find an effective method that works against the ants in your house.