Your home is infested with ants? This article on home remedies for ants in the house. We will cover non-toxic and natural ways as best home remedies for ants.
Check: Home remedy for roaches
Although they’re generally safe, there are several reasons you may not wish sharing your home with colony insects.
It’s not very clean first of all. Ants transmit bacteria and dirt and can contaminate food items and kitchen surfaces. Certain kinds of ants attack humans. Other types can cause damage to the building materials of your home.
Even the tiniest trace of food spills could be a prime source of food for these stubborn, persistent little bugs.
There are many insecticides available commercially that will aid you to remove insects in a matter of minutes but spraying chemicals across your house isn’t the most effective option. Particularly if you have children or pets around in the house, you may be interested in alternative methods to get rid of the ants.
Check: Home remedy for Bug Bites
Here are the seven most efficient, tested and proven home remedies to fight ants without putting your family members in danger.
Home remedies for ants in the house
Coffee Grounds
There isn’t a better alternative, more safe, and simpler method to eliminate insects. The majority of us have some coffee grounds that are used within our homes each and every day. Therefore, why not utilize it as a remedy for ants?
Ants don’t like the scent of coffee. Set some used grounds of coffee (especially in the case of fresh) in their path and they won’t walk across it. If you know precisely where the ants have entered your home, apply some coffee grounds across the crack, and you’ll ensure that it keeps them out.
Make sure you completely stop them from entering Don’t give them an opening to get back into. Make sure you have enough coffee grounds in the area, or they’ll simply get it out of their way and return to your home in a flash.
Vinegar
White vinegar is an excellent all-purpose natural cleaner, and there are many ways to make use of it in your home. On top of its antifungal and antibacterial qualities, it’s one of the top home remedies for ants.
It is believed that ants are averse to the smell and acidity of vinegar. Furthermore, the combination made up of water and vinegar eliminates the scent trails that ants leave leaving behind. These trails are the sole method for ants to discover their ways to. If you take the scent away and the ants leave, they walk off, searching for it in another place.
For the use of vinegar to fight Ants, you must first dilute it with a similar quantity of water. Utilize the solution to scrub your kitchen counters, cabinets and floors. Spray it on windowsills, doors cracks and any other areas you’ve observed insects around.
Lemon
If for some reasons, you do not want to use vinegar, try using lemon juice instead. Lemon juice has the same characteristics as vinegar and can be equally effective in home remedies for ants in the house.
The scent of fresh citrus that we all love is something that ants do not want to touch at any costs. You can make use of lemon juice to repel ants in the same manner as vinegar, but you must make use of three cups of water for 1 cup of lemon juice.
If the ants are persistent You can mix citrus peel(lemon grapefruit, orange, and so on.) and then pour it into the openings for ant hills within your home.
Cinnamon
In addition to making your home smell warm and earthy, it is also a great natural method to get rid of ants.
The two methods of that cinnamon will help you get rid of this. The first is to sprinkle cinnamon on the windows, doors and any other areas where you’ve seen ants.
And second, you can make use of an essential oil of cinnamon. The scent of cinnamon can be unpleasant for humans as well, but ants aren’t able to stand it. Apply dilute cinnamon essential oil to clean the counters and other surfaces that you’ve observed insects on, and spray the oil around gaps and cracks.
Mint
Another essential oil excellent at repelling insects and keeping them away from you home includes mint oil. Ants generally avoid scents that are strong, and mint has the scent that is strong enough to repel them.
Combine 10 drops essential mint oil with 1 cup of water. Spray the mixture on windowsills, doors, and cracks. It is also possible to take cotton ball soaked with essential mint oil and place them in cabinets in areas where you typically notice the ants.
Also, you can also plant mint and place the pots near your windows and doors. This will keep insects out of your home, and you’ll be able to keep some fresh plants to keep on hand.
Cayenne or Black Pepper
Pepper is a warm and has really strong scent which as a property matches with the cinnamon. And just like cinnamon, black pepper can also help you to repel the insects and ants from your house.
Capsaicin, which is found in black pepper in a very rich quantity, is very irritating to ants. They will try to avoid this problem from a mile. So pouring black pepper in a thick line around the entry as well as in the cracks will help you in stopping ants from entering your house.
Chalk or Baby Powder
This home remedy for ants is really inexpensive, safe, and very easy to have and use. Ants avoid crossing the chalk lines because the chalk particles disrupt the scent trails left by the ants.
To get rd of the ants and prevent them from entering your house, use chalk at the entry points and the cracks and places where they usually come to. You can also draw chalk line on the areas where they usually pass by.
You can also use baby powder as a replacement of the chalk. Or plain floor as well. They all have the same properties. One good thing about chalk is that it is non-toxic, hence does not affect household activities in any manner. Also, chalk comes in scented flavors which will be even better to use.