Get Rid of Ants Naturally, Inexpensively, and Permanently

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Is there anything more annoying than waking up in the morning, wandering into the bathroom or kitchen and finding a trail of ants? Well, you can get rid of most ants naturally by using items you most likely already have in your home. There are thousands, literally thousands of species of ants in this world, and some of them are downright dangerous.

Luckily for us, most of the ants that invade our homes are pretty harmless and in fact actually do lots of good in the environment by eating flea larvae, silver fish, flies, spiders, and bedbugs.

However, when they are lined up across your kitchen counter, they aren’t so cute. They also tend to be quite persistent and not always very easy to get rid of. Although many people turn to pesticides, these are really not the best solution. Besides filling your house with dangerous toxins, you could easily go through two cans in a week and still find that you have an ant problem. It’s much more eco-friendly to find a way to deter ants from coming in to begin with and convincing them that it’s a good idea to go live somewhere else.

Hopefully all you have is a mild ant infestation. If you aren’t so lucky, you have a major invasion or a mound of fire ants in your yard, which will call for some heavy duty tactics.

No matter the problem, one of the following methods is bound to work for you.

1. Soap and Water

An old tried and true method that is super cheap and works well. Simply fill a spray bottle with a couple squirts of dish soap and hot water. This kills ants and removes their trail so others cannot follow in their path. Spray as much of the path as you can find and allow to sit for 10 or 15 minutes, then wipe up.

2. Vinegar

Vinegar is a natural ant repellant. Add some plain, white vinegar to a spray bottle and spray all the entry points of your house that you can find. This usually includes places like under doorways, around window sills, and vent openings. Repeat this process every few days until the ants lose the scent that took them to your house in the first place and they move on. Find out other surprising uses for vinegar.

3. Diatomaceous Earth

DE is a terrific multi-purpose natural remedy that can get rid of all sorts of unwanted guests, including ants. Sprinkle it all around the perimeter of your house. You can also safely use it inside your house. This won’t kill ants outright, but it works over time as the ants eat it and it kills them later on. Always use food grade DE just in case your dog decides it tastes too good to resist.

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4. Coffee Grounds

For some unknown reason, ants don’t like the way coffee smells. So take those used coffee grounds and sprinkle them around the perimeter of your home, at entry points, and in the garden, to keep them out of your way. Find out more 15 outstanding ways to recycle used coffee grounds.

5. Salt

Now salt won’t kill ants, but they won’t walk over salt for some reason. Sprinkle salt everywhere you think they might enter or hang out such as along cement cracks, in garbage pails, outside trash cans, under doorways. Just be sure to keep it out of anyplace you want to grow plants because although salt will not kill ants, it certainly does kill plants.

6. Chalk

This is a folk remedy that works although no one knows the reason why. Ants will not cross a chalk line. So grab some chalk from your kid’s toys, or buy some at your local dollar store, and draw all over your property so keep ants from trespassing on your property. You will need to reapply after it rains, however.

7. Corn Meal

This won’t kill those ants directly, but if you find that ants have decided to live, for example, underneath your house, so you can’t reach the nest directly, corn meal is the way to go. It’s harmless to animals and humans, so leave little containers all over your property and in rooms where you find ants. They love corn meal! Their bodies just can’t process it. So ants eat the corn meal, take it back to the nest with them and pass it along but within hours it swells up in their stomachs and they die.

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8. Baby powder

Like chalk and salt, ants won’t walk over baby powder either, so if you have ants and you have a big bottle of baby powder you don’t know what to do with, spread it around the entire place where you think they are gaining entry.

9. Lemon Juice

Although lemon juice is good for your health, ants don’t like it. Spray pure lemon juice around openings and in places where you see ants walking. Watch how quickly lemon juice seems to mess up their little tracking system. Ants will quickly make tracks in the opposite direction.

10. Boiling Water

This is another tried and true method that works well when you find mounds around your property. Remember that boiling water will kill everything it touches so don’t let it near plants you want to keep and if the mound is in your lawn, be prepared for a patch of dead grass. Simply boil a large pot of water and pour it directly into the mound. You might want to do this a couple times to be sure you reached all areas underground. Then pour another couple pots around the outside of the mound, to kill any escapees and destroy any trails they have. Check daily to see if you have any more activity. If you should see any more ants, repeat the process. This is very cheap, easy to do, and remarkably effective. Read more about natural bug sprays for your garden.

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One Comment

Maria

Dec 26, 2017 at 9:00 am

When I was younger, my grandma used to put baking soda in the sink and other kitchen surfaces to prevent ants from appearing. The ants would eat the baking soda, and it killed them somehow. I thought this method had died out and people only used products bought from the store which had thousands of chemicals in them. So I was pretty surprised when I read http://ohealthyeah.com/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally/ that baking soda is still used in different combinations as a method to kill ants. I wanted to try other ways that are natural and non-damaging to surfaces since I have a new house and small children, so I wouldn’t want anyone of them sticking their hand accidentally into the baking soda and eating a hadfull of dead ants…so do you have any suggestions?