Two of the best ways to eliminate ants are Borax and diatomaceous earth. Essential oils, including peppermint and clove, are a natural way to repel and kill ants. Food and moisture attract ants, so keep your home clean and dry to get rid of ants permanently.
Boiling water
If you notice ant holes near your home, pour boiling water into them. This method will effectively and immediately kill many of the ants inside.
Vinegar—whether white vinegar or apple cider vinegar—is a common ingredient in many kitchens. That's probably why many homeowners hope that vinegar or a mixture of apple cider vinegar and dish soap will kill ants. Unfortunately, it doesn't work.
Cinnamon. Natural and non-toxic, cinnamon not only kills ants, but its strong smell makes it shine as a repellent, too. According to Spicer, Saigon cinnamon can be especially effective when sprinkled around anthills, across their paths, on kitchen countertops and along floorboards.
Ants hate the smell of strong citrus fruits. Save your orange, lemon and grapefruit peels and scatter them around entry points. It's a natural way to deter ants without harming them.
On the other hand, plain table salt does not. It is only effective in intercepting the ants. This should not be applied on heavy ant-infestation.
The smell of Vinegar will cause them to stay away from it or permanently leave the house. Ants crawl in a straight line, marching towards the food sources. The Vinegar solution will interfere with these pheromones, and the ants will get lost.
Use this white vinegar solution to spray all entry points of your home, try to spry all windows, doors, baseboards and the common paths that ants would travel within your home. Give about an hour for this solution to take effect, then after a few hours the ants should be dead.
Home Ant Control Tips
Windex, the glass cleaner, is a known insect killer. When you have an ant swarm in your house, spray them all with Windex and they will die nearly instantly. Windex can also eliminate some of the scent trails that ants follow to find food.
"Mix equal parts of vinegar and water, place the mixture in a spray bottle, and spray on the ants directly," says Barrett. "The mixture will kill them and you can clean the area by collecting the dead ants using a wet wipe or damp cloth," they add.
Peppermint is a natural insect repellant. You can plant mint around your home or use the essential oil of peppermint as a natural remedy for control of ants. Ants hate the smell, and your home will smell minty fresh! Plant mint around entryways and the perimeter of your home.
Moisture: Ants require a water source to survive and can even store water for later within their colonies, so they will return to the same home again and again if there is moisture available.
Milder winters provide ant colonies with the resources needed to grow larger and spread out into areas where they may not have thrived before. Because of this, homeowners can expect to see an increase in ant activity in 2022. Some of which may include species of ants that have migrated to a new area.
Use Vinegar Instead of Ant Traps or Ant Spray
Spraying these vulnerable areas with a solution of one-half white vinegar and one-half water should cause ants to flee while discouraging them from coming back. Like many people, ants detest the smell of vinegar, though it will not harm them.
Diatomaceous earth (DE) is not only inexpensive and effective; it's non-toxic to kids, birds, and pets. And yet it destroys ants, earwigs, slugs, beetles, ticks, fleas, cockroaches, and bed bugs. As these pasts move across the powder, it sticks to their feet and legs only to get into their joints and exoskeleton.
To use vinegar as a homemade ant spray, simply fill a spray bottle with a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water. Spray the solution directly on the ants and then wipe the area clean with a damp paper towel.
The good news is that proven cleaning tips can keep them at bay, along with common pantry staples, such as baking soda, and even vinegar.
Better Than Hopscotch: Ants will not cross a chalk line. Draw a chalk line in front of exterior doors, to prevent ants from coming into the house. You can also draw a chalk line around tables on the porch or patio, to keep pesky ants away while dining outdoors.
Try combining three parts powdered sugar with one part boric acid. The sugar will lure the ants in and the boric acid will kill them, Pereira says. Liquid is better—adult ants prefer to drink their food—so water this stuff down a little. “I recommend this to a lot of people,” Pereira says.
Aside from garnishing your tea, lemons can also be extremely helpful when it comes to combating ants in your home. The smell of the lemons masks the scent trails that they use to get to and from food, and also generally deters them from taking up residence.
Creatures That Eat Ants
Other insects such as beetles, caterpillars and flies. Spiders, such as black widow spiders and jumping spiders. Snails and other hard-shelled organisms. Snakes. Fish and lizards.
It is advised not to squash ants, doing so will only release pheromones and trigger more ants to come to the location and cause more trouble to you and your family. Ants are known to pack a deadly bite that causes excruciating pain for a short time.