If you happen to run across an ant in your home, know that there are thousands more hiding out in your yard. Failing to deploy preventative measures that ensure that they don’t invade your home will result in an infestation, which is why you’re probably here.
This article will teach you the best methods to eliminate invasive ants in a cheap and non-toxic way, so let’s dive in.
Best Way To Get Rid of Invasive Ants Indoors
The fight against invasive ants begins indoors. Start by thoroughly cleaning your whole house – especially the kitchen. Doing this prevents ants from being tempted to enter your home.
Here are three scientifically proven home remedies you can use to get rid of invasive ants inside your house.
1. Chalk
As funny as this sounds, chalk can help combat invasive ants. It contains calcium carbonate, an element that kills ants upon ingestion.
Get a piece of chalk and draw a line along with all the entry points in your home, and you’ll start to see fewer ants coming in every day. Calcium carbonate is in baking soda and borax as well. That means both of these can also be applied if you don’t have chalk.
Advantage: Cheap and effective.
Disadvantage: The ants survive if they don’t ingest the chalk powder.
2. Vinegar
White Vinegar has a bitter smell that ants hate so much that they’ll keep away.
- Get an empty spray bottle.
- Pour some vinegar and water of equal volume into it.
- Add a few drops of essential oil.
- Shake well.
- Look for points that ants use to enter your home and spray your solution there.
- Also, spray along trails that the ants love using that you have identified.
This method deters ants from getting into your house and forces those that are in to move out.
Advantages: The solution is quick and easy to make.
Disadvantage: The smell can irritate you and your pet as well.
3. Lemon
Lemons are a great source of a sour smell which ants can’t stand.
- Get a handful of lemons,
- Slice them up
- Squeeze them onto any point where ants could invade your home. That could be by the door, windows, and airbricks.
Advantage: This method is cheap and can be free if you have a lemon tree in your yard.
Disadvantage: The lemon scent wears off over time. You’ll have to re-apply the lemon juice after a certain number of days to be effective.
Best Way to Get Rid of Invasive Ants Outdoors
There are three effective home remedies that I have found to be very effective when combating invasive ants outdoors. These are:
1. Citrus Peels
Citrus peels intoxicate the fungi that ants feed on, so ants often stay away from areas with these peels.
- Get some citrus fruits.
- Peel them.
- Place the peels at any point of entry into the house and throw some in your garden and plants.
An ant infestation in the garden will leave it barren. That’s because ants will eat up all the nutrients in the soil, leaving nothing for your plants or vegetables. Having citrus peels as the watchdog will ensure your plants are safe from ants at all times.
Advantage: Non-toxic to humans and animals.
Disadvantage: Placing citrus peels in a visible area look untidy.
2. Ash
Our very first point in this article talked about why calcium carbonate is bad for ants. Well, ash, which is a byproduct of burning wood, contains calcium carbonate. Ants die upon ingestion of this element, so they know they should keep a safe distance. It’s a basic instinct to them.
- Get some firewood and start a fire.
- Leave the fire to burnout and cool down.
- Collect the ash in a can and distribute it along the wall of your house.
Advantage: DIY-Friendly
Disadvantage: Ash can be very messy.
3. Boiling water
Boiling water kills ants on contact. Boil some water on the stove, take the kettle and go around the house pouring the hot water into the ant holes. For you to be even more effective with this method, you should:
- Look for all ant hills and holes in and around your yard.
- Destroy them with a spade or sledgehammer.
- Pour hot water into them.
Doing this will destabilize or even exterminate the colony – especially if the queen dies. The remaining ants will then need to look for a safer habitat elsewhere, leaving your home in peace.
Advantage: Fast and effective.
Disadvantage: You’ll need to repeat this method regularly.
If All Else Fails
If the infestation persists, the next best step is to call a professional exterminator. These guys are well-trained to find and root out this problem.
Exterminators can be very costly sometimes, so be sure to shop around for prices before making your final decision on one.
What Attracts Invasive Ants?
- Food crumbs,
- Garbage,
- Spills,
- And dirty dishes all attract invasive ants.
How to Prevent Attracting Invasive Ants Again?
To prevent attracting invasive ants again, you’ll need to:
- Clean your house regularly,
- Throw away garbage into the trashcan,
- Wipe spills immediately,
- Don’t place firewood near the walls
- Trim your trees to ensure that ants don’t use the branches to get into your house,
- And last but not least, take the various preventative measures we talked about in this article.
Final Words
Getting rid of invasive ants is not a one size fits all type of endeavor. Try all the various methods I laid out for you here, and if the infestation continues, call a professional exterminator to assist.
I hope you enjoyed today’s article. Which method are you going to try out first? Comment down below because I would love to hear from you.
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I mix 50% borax and 50% peanut butter. Thin it with a little water. The ants love it and take it back to the nest to feed their babies. The colony will die in a day or two. I smear the mixture on the bottom of a brick and put the brick next to the ant hill if the hole is outside. If it is inside, I pack the mixture in a 2″ piece of a straw and put it next to the ant trail in a place the dog can’t reach. Once again, the ants are gone in a day or two.