Ants always hunt for food, which is why it is not surprising to see ants marching in a line at a certain spot of your house. If in case you are often bothered by ants entering your home, the first thing that you’d probably do is to wipe down the surface with bleach or other chemical agents. However, using chemical agents are harmful to the human body, so instead of using those, here are some of the safe and effective method to eliminate ants in your home.
1. Use dishwashing liquid or water
Pour the dishwashing liquid and water into the bottle at a ratio of 1:2, and make sure to shake it evenly. You can spray the solution once you see ants (whether one or a group). After spraying the solution, you will notice that the ants will immediately stand still and suffocate to death.
⚠️ Soap water is a natural insecticide that not only kills ants but also most insects.
2. Use white vinegar and water
Since ants hate vinegar, using a vinegar-water solution is an effective way to easily kill them. Just put an equal amount of vinegar and water in a spray bottle, shake the solution, and directly spray onto the ants.
⚠️ Vinegar and water possess a strong smell that ants cannot stand. Spray this solution in a place that is often invaded by ants to kill or drive them away.
3. Lemon juice spray
If, in any case, you can’t stand the strong smell of vinegar, you can use lemon juice spray instead to eliminate ants in your home.
⚠️ The citric acid in lemon juice is effective to drive away from the ants.
4. Spread food-grade diatomaceous earth in your house
Diatomaceous earth is a very effective insecticide that is completely harmless to humans and pets. Once the pests, including ants, move across the powder, it will stick to their feet and legs and get into their joints and exoskeleton, thus dehydrating their bodies.
⚠️ It is recommended to wear a mask when handling diatomaceous earth to avoid swallowing or inhaling the powder.
⚠️ Wet diatomaceous earth will lose its effect, at the same time humidity will also make it useless, so as much as possible avoid the powder from getting wet.
5. Use boric acid
Boric acid is an all-natural substance that is very effective against ants. Once the ants eat boric acid, they will be poisoned and eventually die.
⚠️ Although boric acid is non-toxic, it should not be swallowed by humans and pets.
⚠️ Keep out of the reach of children and pets.
6. Set up a line of defense
There are some natural substances that are extremely annoying to the ant, including chili powder, orange, lemon peel (pounded), coffee grounds, etc. So, to prevent the ant from entering your home, you can make use of the mentioned natural substances to set up a line of defense along with the place where the ants appear.
7. Lemon juice spray along the outside edge of the house
In case there are also ants living along the outside of your home, spraying them with lemon water solution will drive them away from entering your home.
8. Use essential oils
In addition to lemon and vinegar, ants also hate the smell of a variety of essential oils.
Mix 10 drops of essential oil with 250 ml of water and spray it outside the house to prevent ants from approaching. You can use lemon oil, mint oil, eucalyptus oil (don’t use if you have a cat at home as this oil can be toxic to cats, but is safe for dogs), lavender oil, and cedar oil.
9. Keep your house clean
As much as possible, try to keep the floor, desktop, and cabinets spotless. This is a great way to prevent ants from invading. Make sure to there’s no traces or smell of food, ants will not be interested to enter your home.
⚠️ Remember to seal sugar food tightly
10. Block the possible ant entrance
In order to keep the ants outside your home, it is better to block every possible entryway. Find all the cracks that ants can enter and exit, including small cracks at the bottom of the door, around the window sill, and in the corner of the wall. Fill every hole you can see with filler or bee glue.
⚠️ Image source: Wikihow
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