Springtime arrives, and so do these pesky ants! Tiny as they may be, they have the most unique ways to enter your home and kitchen in bulk-loads. Prevention seems to be a better way to keep them away, and here are some additional curative measures to get rid of them too.
- Vinegar-water solution or lemon juice: Ants hate the smell of vinegar and lemon juice. So cleaning your home occasionally with a part water-part white distilled vinegar solution or lemon juice helps keep them away. This removes the scent trails that the ants use to get around.
- Use Caulk: Caulk can help to seal entry ways for ants- cracks on the cement, doors, windows, any possible opening that allows those tiny pests away. It also gives you better temperature control.
- Peppermint oil: use a few drops of peppermint oil on a damp cloth and slide this cloth over a clean surface where you may see the ants to wipe off the pheromone trail that helps them navigate. It will keep the house smelling minty fresh and is also a no-poison solution apt for houses with children.
- Spices and herbs: bay leaves in the cabinets and drawers, a sprinkle of cayenne pepper, cinnamon, chilli pepper, black pepper, mint or keeping cloves or garlic wherever you have seen ants in the house are a great natural way to keep them away.
- Coffee grounds: ants dislike the smell of coffee grounds, so be sure to use these in the garden and around the outside of your house or at those places where ants may seem to enter from.
- Chalk or baby powder: Talcum found in these items is an ant repellent and sprinkling some powder on ant-trails can make them go away.
- Cucumber and citrus peels: where there are areas of ant activity, leave cucumber or citrus peels behind. They are poisonous to the fungi that ants feed on and hence the ants will not bother to come around.
These tricks should get the ants away from you home for good. They are natural, non-toxic measures to ensure you don’t add to the poison quotient of your home, and keep your home pest free in cost effective ways.
