Team of ants taking food into their hole.
Credit: Juan Manuel Garcia Lopez | © iStockphoto.com/Juan Manuel Garcia Lopez
There are many natural ways to get rid of ants, some work better than others, but in the battle against ants all weapons are valuable. The more weapons you have in your arsenal, the less likely the ants will be coming back. Here are a few tips to help you naturally win back your house.
Clean everything in sight! The first, and perhaps most important, weapon you have in your natural arsenal against ants is a clean house. Ants can find food residues even when we cannot see or smell them so we must not only clean but sanitize common food areas with something such as a vinegar and water mixture to eliminate the food residues as well as the ants scent trails which guide them back to tasty areas. Clean the bathrooms with the mixture as well, ants like to get into hair products and cosmetics sometimes depending on the ingredients.
Vacuum your entire house and get into all the crevices and corners to get all food particles up. If the ants are getting into your carpet you can sprinkle some borax or diatomaceous earth on the carpet before vacuuming.
Make your house undesirable to the ants. Once your house has been cleaned of food particles and residues, make the ants hate being in your space and they will leave. Here are some natural ways to make your house and yard undesirable to ants and other insects:
Sprinkle an aromatic ground spice such as cinnamon, cumin, cayenne pepper, etc. around areas where the ants are coming in and in all cracks and holes, they do not like these spices and normally won't cross the line after a little while. Also sprinkle the spices around the perimeter of your house to create a barrier. Peppermint, spearmint, lavender, sage, and other aromatic herbs work well too, place them in cabinets, on door jambs, under rugs, etc. to keep the ants unsatisfied with your home. Fresh squeezed lemon also works well for around doors and windows.
Clean everything in sight! The first, and perhaps most important, weapon you have in your natural arsenal against ants is a clean house. Ants can find food residues even when we cannot see or smell them so we must not only clean but sanitize common food areas with something such as a vinegar and water mixture to eliminate the food residues as well as the ants scent trails which guide them back to tasty areas. Clean the bathrooms with the mixture as well, ants like to get into hair products and cosmetics sometimes depending on the ingredients.
Vacuum your entire house and get into all the crevices and corners to get all food particles up. If the ants are getting into your carpet you can sprinkle some borax or diatomaceous earth on the carpet before vacuuming.
Make your house undesirable to the ants. Once your house has been cleaned of food particles and residues, make the ants hate being in your space and they will leave. Here are some natural ways to make your house and yard undesirable to ants and other insects:
Sprinkle an aromatic ground spice such as cinnamon, cumin, cayenne pepper, etc. around areas where the ants are coming in and in all cracks and holes, they do not like these spices and normally won't cross the line after a little while. Also sprinkle the spices around the perimeter of your house to create a barrier. Peppermint, spearmint, lavender, sage, and other aromatic herbs work well too, place them in cabinets, on door jambs, under rugs, etc. to keep the ants unsatisfied with your home. Fresh squeezed lemon also works well for around doors and windows.
Comments
Jeff
(Guest)
(Guest)
06/20/2009
Okay, I totally admit that I wanted to use Raid while my wife told me she would move out if I did. She gave me this article to read. We literally went from seeing maybe 20 small ants a day in our kitchen to hundreds due to some kind of food spill. We even had the BIG biting ants. So, we killed every ant we saw (sorry) we cleaned every nook and cranny of the floor, high chair and counter in the kitchen and the doorstep where they were coming in from. Then, we sprayed straight 5% food grade vinegar everywhere on the floor, doorjam, doorstep, etc. wherever the ant trails seemed to be. We waited and by the next morning, we still hadn't seen any new ones. This was huge, because normally, within 10-15 minutes, we'd see one on their normal ant trail. Next, we're going to try the instant grits and/or boiling water for the ant hills outside and maybe we'll finally have some peace.
Comment 1 (of 1)
|
|