Here's how to get rid of ants and keep them out of your kitchen and home for good
Want to know how to get rid of ants? Have you discovered an army of ants marching in single file across your kitchen units? Remember the sugar granules you spilt as you were making your tea? Unless they were mopped up immediately, you’ve created a tempting spot for ants to gather. If you’re serious about getting rid of these small colonial insects, read our how to get rid of ants guide.
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Why are there ants in my house?
You’d be correct in thinking that ants are usually found in nests outside, then how have they made it into your house? Well, the clever (but annoying) insects often head into our homes to forage for food.
It’s not surprising ants usually head straight for the kitchen with all that tempting food about. An ant scout will leave the nest to look for food, laying a trail of pheromones as it goes. If it finds food it will follow the trail back to the nest and leave more pheromones, creating a stronger trail which the other ants in the colony will follow. If there’s been a sugar spillage or you’ve left out a pile of dirty dishes it won’t be long until an army of ants is parading across the kitchen worktop.
How to get rid of ants in the house?
1. Clear away food
Image credit: Lizzie Orme
If you want to get rid of ants the obvious thing to do is keep food off their menu by storing yours away in airtight containers. Next wipe away any food and drink spillages immediately, not forgetting to clean the inside of cupboards and under the kitchen cabinetry.
Try not to leave that pile of dirty dishes out by the sink for too long. Ants won’t turn their noses up at leftover pet food or food waste either, so wash up your pet bowls straight after feeding time and take out your rubbish regularly, keeping bin lids tightly shut at all times. You should also keep and eye out for oil splatters around the cooker and even other dead insects that might be lying around, ants are extremely resourceful.
2. Use a natural anti-ant spray
Image credit: Tim Young
Once you’ve removed the ants’ food sources, give your kitchen surfaces and floor a final wipe down using an eco-friendly homemade anti-ant spray, made with one part vinegar to one part water. Homemade lemon and peppermint oil sprays will also do the trick. Ants can’t bare strong smells, so the vinegar or oils will work a treat in deterring the house invaders and masking there scent trails, making them loose there direction.
If there are any rogue ants still searching for food, wipe them away starting from the beginning of their trail and all the way along to the end of it, then wash them down the plughole. This might seem cruel but stopping a few ants in their tracks like this, will in turn stop a whole army of them coming into your home.
Once the ants’ food sources are taken out of the equation, they’ll search elsewhere for food, preferably away from your home, however if they keep coming in you’ll need to take further action…
3. Block up entry points
Follow the trail of ants back to their nest to find out where they’re getting in, then fill any cracks and crevices with sealant, especially around the doors and window frames.
Related: How to get rid of mice – for a safer and cleaner home
4. Put down ant deterrent
If you’ve tried blockading them but they still keep coming in, line the doors with natural deterrents such as salt, chalk, curry powder, pepper and cinnamon. If you chose to do this, be careful as you don’t want any getting in your pet or child’s nose, mouth or eyes. To keep cupboards ant free, soak a few cotton wool balls in peppermint or citrus essential oils and pop them in the corners.
You can also use petroleum jelly and talcum powder to line doors, however if you’ve tried absolutely every natural deterrent going, to no avail, you might find that a domestic ant killer works best.
How to get rid of an ants nest in the garden
Ants are essential to a balanced ecosystem and help us by eating up other household and garden pests like fleas and bed bugs. For this reason, destroying an ants’ nest should only be a last resort.
The ants you see in your house and scuttling around the pavement are only 10% of the colony. If you are seriously struggling with an infestation, then you’re going to need to target the nest.
Natural ant killers
Vinegar and Lemons
All the detriments we mentioned earlier, will be even more effective when blasted directly into every nest entrance. Lemons and White vinegar are the most effective, undiluted vinegar will kill ants, but diluted is still an effective deterrent. The lemons can be squeezed into each entrance, with the leftover peel scattered around the entrances. Ants will go to great lengths to avoid the smell of citrus, it will also destroy scent trails. Remember to keep replacing the peels each day until all the ants have gone.
Boric Acid
If you want to make sure you’re targeting the queen, this is a good options. Ants adore anything sweet and sticky, so by rising boric acid with sugar or syrup you can guarantee it will be taken back for the queen to snack on. Mix one part boric acid with three parts sugar, and stir in one hot water to created a syrup-like paste. Blob the mixture around the entrances to the nest. The boric acid works quickly by damaging the ants exoskeletons as well as their internal organs,
Boiling Water
Find the offending ants’ nest, expose the top of the nest by proding it with a trowel and a pour an entire kettle of boiling water over the nest to destroy every single ant in the colony, including the queen ant.
Want more care and cleaning advice? How to get rid of damp, condensation and mould
We hope this ‘how to get rid of ants guide’ helps to get rid of your ant infestation. Do you have other pests around the house?
The post How to get rid of ants – the safe and simple way appeared first on Ideal Home.
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