The last thing you’ll want to see in your kitchen or living room is ants crawling along the floor or up the wall. However, the bad news is that it’s almost impossible to keep ants away from your home during the spring and summer months.
The best way to get rid of this problem is hiring ant control professionals. You should learn more about them and their services before hiring. There are also some home remedies that you can try to keep ants at bay temporarily before the professionals arrive. The section below talks about the most effective ones among them.
1. Chalk
The primary constituent of chalk is calcium carbonate, which is instrumental in eradicating ants. The moment you spot ants in your home spread some powdered chalk along that area. For best results, you should identify their entry points and spread the powder chalk there. Drawing lines with chalk around the infested areas can also be helpful.
2. Lemon Juice or Peels
Identify the spot from where ants are entering your home. Spray a solution containing water and lemon juice or place powdered lemon peel around that area. This will stop the insects from invading your home.
Apparently, ants are not fond of the smell of citrus fruits, particularly lemon. In fact, they don’t like anything that tastes bitter or sour. So, covering the entry spot with lemon juice or lemon peel will stop the tiny insects from entering your home.
However, for this remedy to show results, you must keep your kitchen countertop, sink, and racks clean.
3. Oranges
Oranges are also citrus fruits, which make them perfect repellents for ants. Prepare a paste by mixing peels of two or three oranges and a cup of warm water. Cover the entry points of ants with the paste. Leave the paste for at least eight to ten hours. This should be enough to stop ant infestation for a few days.
If you are not ready to put in so much effort, you can just place orange peels on your kitchen slab and other areas susceptible to ant attacks. This would also show desired results.
4. Boric Acid and Cornmeal
You must be extremely careful about the quantity of these ingredients when trying this home remedy. Ants are fond of cornmeal. So, if you end up using the ingredient in a large quantity, the infestation might become worse.
Boric acid helps in weaponizing cornmeal only when you blend the two ingredients in the right proportion. The ideal ant-repellant mix should contain a part of boric acid and nine parts of cornmeal. To give the mix a paste-like texture, you can add two teaspoons of peanut butter or soybean oil. Spread this homemade bait around all ant-prone areas of your home at night. You will not need to worry about ants at least for a few days.
Final Words
Other ingredients that work as ant repellents are black pepper, coffee grounds, and salt. Whatever might be the home remedy you choose to use, you cannot expect the results to be permanent. The only way to get rid of ants permanently is by hiring ant control experts.
