Is your kitchen being overrun with ants? Do you know where they’re coming from or are you only seeing the path they travel from one destination to another?
Well, the frustration can stop here. Don’t be concerned about introducing an abundance of store-bought solutions and the chemicals they contain.
Instead, reach for natural solutions. You probably already have many of the ingredients on hand. Put them to good use and stop ants in their tracks.
Here are some ideas for natural ant repellent:
1. Cinnamon
Don’t you love the sweet and spicy scent of cinnamon? Well, ants don’t. The scent drives them crazy and makes them want to avoid your home altogether.
If you know where the ants are entering your home, sprinkle cinnamon at the entry points. You can also put a few drops of cinnamon essential oils and water in a spray bottle. Spray the mixture on the area they travel and wipe it down. Do this one time per day.
2. White Vinegar
My kids and ants are on the same page when it comes to white vinegar. Neither of them can stand the scent of it. Thankfully, this solution is inexpensive and easy to put together.
Follow a 1:1 ratio of white vinegar and water. Place it in a spray bottle and squirt the areas the ants travel and their entry points one time per day until no ants are remaining.
3. Borax
This is my favorite option for kicking ants out of my house. I use it anytime I have troubles with them. I create a borax sugar syrup. I use approximately one-part borax to two parts sugar. I’ll add enough water to make the mixture into a thicker syrup.
From there, I dip a cotton ball in the mixture until it’s soaked. I put the cotton ball on a paper plate and wait as the ants draw to it because of the sugar in the syrup. The borax is lethal to the ants and will, in turn, take care of their invasion in your home.
4. Lemon
Lemon is excellent for numerous things, but one of the unique uses for lemon is to deter ants from your home.
Rub a little lemon juice at the spots in your home you know ants are entering through. It could be windows, doors, baseboards, and any other areas where they can fit. The ants don’t like the scent and will stop using these entry points.
5. Peppermint
Do you enjoy the fresh scent of peppermint? This is great because it could be a great way to get rid of the ants in your home while adding a fresh smell.
The scent will deter the ants, and it also makes it difficult for them to smell possible food sources. You can grow peppermint in your indoor herb garden, or you can dry it out and sprinkle some at their entry points.
6. Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth is a wonderful product with many uses. It’s great to rid pests both indoors and outdoors as well.
You’ll sprinkle DE at the entry points and paths the ants travel. This will cut through their exoskeleton and dry the ants out.
7. Boiling Water
If you know where the original ant hill is where the ants are coming from, consider taking out the problem in one swoop.
All you need is a pan full of boiling water and to dump it onto the ant hill. This will take out the entire colony and stop your home invasion.
8. Water and Soap
Dish soap has a way of getting rid of unwanted pests. Ants are no different. Put water in a spray bottle and add a few drops of dish liquid.
From there, spray the mixture in the path of where the ants travel. This will keep them from being able to smell their routes and prevent them from roaming around your home.
9. Chalk
This one is an interesting idea which has worked for generations. When my grandmother had an issue with ants, she’d draw a chalk line.
If they were traveling on the counter, she’d draw a line where they traveled. If they were coming in through a window seal, she’d seal the window with a chalk line. For whatever reason, ants won’t cross through the chalk.
10. Baking Soda and Sugar
This is a way of using an ant’s make-up against it. You’ll need to mix equal parts baking soda and powdered sugar in a bowl.
The powdered sugar will draw the ants, but the baking soda will mix with an ant’s normal acidity level and cause them to die.
11. Coffee Grounds
When you have leftover coffee grounds, don’t toss them. Instead, use them as part of your ant defense system.
Ants don’t like the smell of coffee. You can put the coffee grounds directly on the ant hill or apply them at entry points. This will cause the ants to move their entire home and get away from your house.
12. Cornmeal
Cornmeal is another humane way of dealing with ants. You spread the cornmeal where the ants enter and travel.
Again, this is a substance they don’t care for. This won’t kill the ants, but it will deter them from traveling near the cornmeal.
13. Cream of Wheat
If you aren’t quite as worried about the humane treatment of an ant and more concerned with simply getting rid of them, this is an option for you.
Place cream of wheat out for the ants to eat. They’ll ingest it, and it will work like blow-up powder. As the cream of wheat expands, it causes the ants to explode.
14. Aspartame
This one is somewhat scary. How many of us use artificial sweeteners on a regular basis? I’m guilty, but did you know they can be used by themselves to kill ants.
Between the sweet flavoring and the actual substance itself, the ants are drawn to the sweetness and die from the consumption of the artificial sweetener.
15. Castile Soap
If you don’t have diatomaceous earth, but you do have castile soap on hand, put it to good use. It will work the same way as diatomaceous earth.
Spread the soap at the entry points and areas traveled by ants. They’ll march through it, and it’ll dissolve their exoskeleton. This will cause their bodies to dry out.
16. Garlic
Garlic is a delicious crop to keep around, but did you know it’s beneficial at ridding your home of ants as well?
You guessed it. Ants don’t care for the smell of garlic either. Be sure you place fresh garlic where the ants enter your home to deter them.
17. Oranges
Would you imagine ants don’t like oranges either? Well, they don’t. This is excellent news for you, though because this is one more natural repellent.
Place the orange peels where they come into your home, and you’ll automatically deter them with the scent.
18. Pepper
Pepper is another natural ant repellent. Ants don’t like the smell of it. Therefore, you should sprinkle pepper at the entry points.
But remember to sprinkle pepper anywhere you see ants traveling. They’ll avoid it and leave your home alone in the process of staying away from the pepper.
19. Salt
You don’t need a fancy type of salt to get rid of the ants in your home. Regular table salt will do the trick and send the message they aren’t wanted in your residence.
Be sure to sprinkle the salt at the entry points and along the paths the ants travel in your home. This should be an inexpensive and natural method of getting rid of them.
20. Prune
Did you know many times ants are drawn to your home and make their way into your home by what you leave outside?
For instance, if you have shrubs which aren’t being manicured, they could draw carpenter ants. The ants will go from the shrubs to your home with ease. Be sure to keep your home well-manicured, but especially take care of the plants near your home.
21. Seal Your Home Up
Ants make their way into your home through cracks in windows, doors, and baseboards. Anywhere in your home, you can tell there is an opening, know an ant can get in this way.
With this in mind, be sure to caulk cracks in baseboards, add weather stripping to windows and doors, and seal off any other openings in your home to keep ants out.
22. Tansy
Finally, tansy is a herb which has many unusual uses. It has been used for years to keep pests at bay in the home and garden.
If you’d like to have a beautiful flowering herb near your door to add beauty and keep the ants away too, this could be what you need.
Well, you now have 22 different options for keeping ants away naturally. These options will hopefully be sufficient for you and keep the uninvited guests out of your home.