Don’t wait until ants have overrun your kitchen to find out how to get rid of ants. These easy, non-toxic steps will get them out of your home and keep them away for good.
I get asked a lot of cleaning questions, with one of the most common being how to get rid of ants. (The very most common is: “Will you come clean my house?”) If ants have ever invaded your home, you know they’re unsightly and seem to appear out of nowhere. Plus, after you see the first ant it seems like there are suddenly dozens all over your house.
Now, while I won’t come clean your home, I’m happy to share with you these tips about how to get rid of ants without having to call an exterminator.
How To Get Rid Of Ants Indoors
1. Destroy the scent trail. Ants you see crawling on your counters or floors are there in search of food. As they forage, they leave behind a trail for other ants — those outdoors, along with others already nesting in your home. Destroy this trail by cleaning with a mixture of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water. (My homemade disinfecting wipes will destroy the scent trail on counters, while my homemade floor cleaner will kill it on all hard flooring surfaces.)
2. Clean their feeding grounds. Crumbs on the floor, spills near the stove, and open containers of food in the pantry or cupboards are all-you-can-eat buffets for ants. Once you’ve started seeing them in your kitchen, it’s time to get out the serious tools. Sweep or vacuum your floors, paying particular attention to the base of appliances, cabinets and walls. Do a thorough weekly kitchen cleaning routine and a full pantry cleaning, too.
3. Clear out their hiding places. Toss or recycle any stacks of newspapers that have piled up in your home, as ants love to hide in them. Put away pet food between feedings and wash pet bowls after each use. (A thin coat of petroleum around the base of the bowl will keep ants from climbing into it.) Sort through clutter under your kitchen sink and wipe up any spills there with a microfiber cloth, then clean your kitchen and bathroom trash cans.
4. Use other deterrents as needed. There are a few scents that ants cannot stand, lavender and peppermint being two that humans often find very pleasant. Turn these into your allies by adding their essential oils to your homemade cleaning mixes. You can also leave an opened package of sugar-free peppermint gum on pantry shelves to keep them ant-free, or grow pots of lavender and peppermint near your doors to keep the ants outside.
How To Get Rid Of Ants Outdoors
Ants enter the home through cracks and crevices, so it’s important to address outdoor sources and entry points if you want to control them indoors.
1. Find the colony. Ants enter your home scouting for food. Once they find it, others from the colony will follow their scent trail to the buffet. To stop them, you need to locate the colony and destroy it. Look in your yard and along your home’s foundation. You can often recognize the colony by the soft, fresh soil on top of it. Carpenter ants build nests in damaged or moist wood. Places to look include your home’s siding, wood piles, damaged trees, and rotting stumps.
2. Destroy their homes. The easiest way to destroy the colony or nest is by pouring boiling water on it. Obviously, this requires a bit of planning and care. You’ll want to make sure you have enough water to soak the area. If you’re working solo, move a beverage cooler close to the area and pour boiling water into it, then close the lid while you heat another pot. Once you’ve got enough water, open the cooler and tip it onto the ant colony.
3. Make them unwelcome. To keep ants from re-establishing colonies or nests in your yard keep your lawn mowed and foundation plantings trimmed. Don’t grow ant-attracting flowers (like peonies, clematis, lilies) or vegetables (artichokes) near your home’s foundations. Pick up fallen wood, keep your trees in good condition, and extract stumps rather than letting them rot in place.
4. Create a barrier to entry. Ants enter homes through any available crevice. Keep them out by using caulk to seal gaps around doors, windows, and window casings. Sprinkle diatomaceous earth below washer/dryer vents and other openings; it cuts through their exoskeletons so ants won’t walk through it.
Clearly, how to kill ants naturally is a bit more involved than placing a call to a professional exterminator, but it DOES work. Plus, once you get into the habit of using a peppermint-scented cleaning solution year-round, you’ll find your home isn’t invaded by ants every time the seasons change. Putting an end to that aggravation is worth the effort!
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Great info about the lavender scent that ants don’t like! Ants always make me just a little twitchy (I have been known to cry about ant invasions) and while I have found something that works to get rid of them once they have arrived, knowing what repels them is super!
Ants make me twitchy, too. Ever notice how, once you see them, every little itch makes you jump around because you’re certain they’re crawling on you? Ugh!
I feel the same way would apple cider vinegar work to kill the trail
It should, yes.
Cornmeal is also a good way to get rid of ants. They can’t digest it once they eat it, and they take it home to their nests to share! In the Spring we had a lot on the front walk and a nest in the yard. I sprinkled cornmeal and then they were gone. It’s good because it’s not poison and won’t harm the birds or squirrels.
I hadn’t heard that one. Thanks!
It will not work on the TINY black ants that we have been faced with. They seem to be immune to the natural or clement remedies that work for medium and large sized ant species. Admittedly, cornmeal has worked in the past. It just will not work for these. These are some very, very “determined” TINY ants. Bleach and/or mop cleaner don’t even destroy their scent trail/thwart them. Once it dries, they are back as if you did nothing at all. I don’t know if they are protein or sweet ants, because they seem to have no presence at all. Anything made of liquid(including water itself) kills them on contact instantly–far more quickly than larger ants, but larger ants are far, far easier to get rid of. Am trying cologne now; maybe that will work.
The peppermint works on the little ones. I tried it once and have used it every year since then. If I don’t use it then we are infested with these little nuisances around our home. I take the oil and mix with a small amount of water and wipe down all surfaces then I mix a small amount with water in a spray bottle and spray around windows, doors and appliances every day, sometimes several times daily and pretty soon the ants are gone. Not to mention this makes your house smell amazing!
When I see the ant I feel irretated. Do you give me any suggestion/home made easy process which I use at the time of daily floor cleaning for avoid ant/any other insects?
Please keep me updated on latest ant home made pesticides
It’s so tough to get rid of those things once they find their way in! Last year I found that Borax was really the only thing that would do it for us.
Borax is wonderful stuff!
Ants are brilliant, industrious, little workers. That’s about the only thing admirable about them. Your tips are excellent as well. I have two more that you might like to add to your post later on. Bay leaves and cinnamon are deplorable to ants. My grandmother used to lay bay leaves out when the ants began coming inside. She kept bay leaves tucked around inside of the kitchen cabinets and sprinkled ground raw cinnamon on the paths that the ants marched one by one. I think the bay leaves work a little better than cinnamon.
Thank you for sharing with us at Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
Olivia, co-hostess
Reinvented Collection
Excellent tips. Thank you for sharing them!
Thank you for sharing this- every spring we have a week or two where no matter how clean I keep our home, the ants come in. It drives me nuts! I’ll be pinning this for that time!
Our ants seem to show up in the first two weeks of March, year after year. I try to go through this list at the end of February for that very reason. 🙂
I just noticed some today in my pantry….. I wanted to cry….. I am a clean freak!…..Will use some of these wonderful tips… Thanks!
You’re welcome! It’s that time of year when even clean freaks are likely to see ants, so don’t get down on yourself. 🙂
Peppermint and lavender scents is not something I realized would help. I will definitely have to give this a try this summer. Thanks for the suggestion. #TTT
They really help!
I do have this ant issue every so often. Finding out how they are getting in is key. You had some great tips. Thanks
Thank you for visiting!
I’ll definitely try the lavender and peppermint on the tiny ants that have just shown up here for the first time.
Oh, those tiny ones are so annoying, aren’t they? Just remember to spray daily so the scent stays fresh. 🙂
What great hints – I’m especially liking the lavender and peppermint since they’re wonderful scents. 🙂 Your post was also voted most on Inspire Me Monday today! Congrats! 🙂
Thank you! I love those scents, too. 🙂
Hi Katie, ant problems are such an aggravation and your post has some great tips and tricks! This post was the most viewed link at last week’s Creative Muster Party – Congratulations! Thank you for linking it up and we hope you’ll stop by tomorrow night at 6 pm EST to party with us again. Because your post was the most viewed it has been shared on all of our social medias, along with the other benefits of being featured! 🙂 ~Heather
Thank you for hosting, and for the feature!
where do I get the lavender scented item? and is it peppermint scented extract?
Both are essential oils, not extracts. You can find them at Target or Walmart sometimes, along with hobby stores (Michael’s, Hobby Lobby). I buy mine on Amazon.
A 50/50 mixture of sugar and borax works great at killing ants. The ants carry it back to the nest too. I’ve used it succesfully on those tiny black ants. For years my parents had tons of ants crawling in and out of the foundation of their sun porch. I mixed up a batch and sprinkled it all along the perimeter outside and they were gone. If ants are dying at the site of the mixture, cut back on the borax. And since this has sugar in it, please be sure to keep it out of reach of children and pets!
Thanks for the tip!