Ants are everywhere! These tiny pests seem to find their way through any crack or opening into your home. With spring in full bloom, I’ve started noticing an ant scout here and there, and I want to handle it before they overrun the place. Since my kids and pet spend a lot of their time rolling around on the floor, using pesticides isn’t an option for me.
Luckily, there’s a lot you can do to get rid of ants naturally without putting your family’s safety at risk. I’ve talked about natural pest control before, but today I’ll focus on dealing with ants specifically.
Ant colonies dispatch scouts to find food. These tiny insects will wander around until they locate food, then they’ll return to the colony, leaving a trail of pheromones. Other ants follow this trail, strengthening it with their pheromones until all the ants are marching back and forth, taking your goodies to their home base. It’s both fascinating and frustrating at the same time.
So, how can you naturally get rid of ants? There are several methods: repelling them at the entry point, controlling and eliminating them once they’re inside, and ultimately targeting them at their source.
First, make sure any sweet foods are sealed tightly at home. Clean up any drips on your honey jar and ensure your maple syrup lid is secure. It’s also a good idea to keep floors swept and counters clean, though I admit that this isn’t always possible in a busy household. Just do your best to manage it.
Here are some more tips to keep ants out:
If ants are already indoors, what’s next? My gut reaction is to squash any bug I see (or ask my brave daughter to do it for me). However, this isn’t usually the best way to get rid of ants for the long haul. If you can hold off on killing them right away, you can make a bait that they’ll take back to their colony, which will eventually get rid of more ants.
Option 1 is Borax. I learned this trick from Katie at Kitchen Stewardship. It doesn’t get rid of ants instantly (you might even see more ants at first, which is actually positive) but it works effectively in the long term by targeting the colony. Mix equal parts Borax and corn syrup and spread it on an index card. The ants are drawn to the corn syrup and carry it to their nest. The Borax in the mix will kill any ants that eat it.
Option 2 is baking soda. If Borax makes you uneasy, give baking soda a try. Mix equal parts baking soda and powdered sugar and place it near where the ants seem to be entering. The powdered sugar lures them in, but because ants can’t tell sugar and baking soda apart, they carry both back to their nest. When they consume baking soda, it reacts with their body acids and is fatal to them. This isn’t an instant fix but is highly effective in the long term.
Diatomaceous earth (make sure it’s food grade) is another great method for dealing with ants and other crawling pests. DE is a fine powder made from fossilized diatoms, which are tiny algae. It’s safe for humans and animals and even beneficial to consume. However, DE dehydrates ants upon contact by damaging their protective coating, killing them. They won’t take it back to their colony, but applying it along doorways, windowsills, and other entry points will help keep them out. I’ve dusted it on my carpet during an ant invasion, and after a few days, the ants were gone, and I vacuumed it up.
Use caution when applying it outside, especially in areas where honey bees are present, as DE can harm them.
Castile soap is another option that compromises the ants’ protective coating. Mix a quart of water with 1/4 cup of liquid castile soap to create a spray. Use it on doorways, windowsills, or anywhere you spot ants entering. Reapply a couple of times a day until you see improvement.
If you’re struggling with other pests, there are additional natural pest control methods for your home and garden.
What strategies have you used to tackle ants? Did I miss any tips that worked for you?
