How to get rid of ants
One ant scurrying across your kitchen floor likely means there are thousands more nearby. Ants build their homes — or nests — in dirt (occupied by anthills), fallen leaves, and decaying vegetation (like old tree branches). With over 12,000 species, ants are found almost everywhere on earth except Antarctica, Iceland, Greenland and some island nations. Ants (unless they’re overrunning your pantry) are fascinating insects with the ability to carry up to 10 times their weight. If you notice that the crumbs on your floor or counter seem to be moving on their own, ants are more likely to be the culprit than your possible poor eyesight or lack of morning coffee.
Decades ago, my first apartment in New York City was the ground-floor rear unit of a four-story brownstone in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. Although small, it included private access to the backyard. And because the building was old, there were numerous cracks in the walls around the windows and baseboards that allowed ants to get into my kitchen. Keeping them away has been an ongoing battle that I’ve never quite won in the 10 years I’ve lived in this apartment. I used all sorts of methods to kill and/or repel them, all of which worked moderately well.
I lived in this apartment with a black indoor/outdoor cat, so all of my ant control techniques also took his safety into account. The good news is that there are numerous ways to get rid of ants, many of which are non-toxic, pet-friendly, and natural.
white wine vinegar
Mix equal parts white vinegar and water to create a cleaning solution that both kills and repels ants. Use it on your counters and floors. Although imperceptible to humans, the smell of vinegar lingers after drying and continues to deter ants from entering your home.
Lemon Eucalyptus Oil or OLE
Packed with a chemical called p-menthane-3,8-diol (PMD), OLE comes from the Australian gum eucalyptus tree. The Environmental Protection Agency classifies PMD as a biopesticide, meaning it’s safe (meaning not harmful to humans, wildlife, or the environment) and an effective means of killing ants and other pests.
Spray around baseboards and windows and anywhere you see ant activity.
diatomaceous earth or silicon dioxide
HARRIS FAMOUS ROACH TABLETS
amazon.com
$8.99
Diatomaceous earth consists of silica, one of the most common minerals in the earth’s crust, and contains the fossilized remains of diatoms, an aquatic organism. It absorbs the oils in ant and other insect skeletons and dries them out—kind of a disturbing and sci-fi kind of way of dying, if you think about it.
Silica itself is a white or colorless crystalline compound, most commonly found in nature as quartz. Some other examples of silica compounds include glass, beach sand, silicon, and granite.
natural oils
Artisan Blends
amazon.com
Peppermint oil, tea tree oil, and lemon eucalyptus oil are all known to be effective ant repellents, but they’re also harmful to pets, so so are they Not a good solution if you have furry family members.
To use, add about 10 drops of tea tree oil to 2 cups of water and spray the mixture anywhere you see ants. Another method is to soak cotton balls in undiluted lemon eucalyptus oil and place them in areas of ant activity. For peppermint oil, mix 20 drops in 2 cups of water and spray around baseboards and windows. Alternatively, you can purchase a pre-mixed solution from Mighty Mint.
Boiling water and cornstarch and coffee grounds
I consider these old school guerrilla techniques to eliminate ants; the sort of practices my grandmother used in her farmhouse kitchen and yard. She placed 3×5 cards with wet coffee grounds (which seem to deter ants) on window sills and near food bowls. If ants were foolish enough to trott around her kitchen in her presence, she would douse them in cornstarch (she carried a bucket of it for baking) and then pour water over them, resulting in multitudes of small, mummified cornstarch (and dead ones) ants. Outside the house, she poured boiling water into every anthill she found (again, a pretty grisly way to die).
Sprinkling black or cayenne pepper near baseboards and windows also works as a great natural ant repellent.
bait traps
If natural repellents don’t work, you may need to use pesticide-baited traps. Bait traps contain boric acid, borax (also used as a multi-purpose cleaner), or hydrmethylnon. They attract ants, which then eat the poison bait and carry it back to their nest, killing other ants as well as the original ant that ingested it. These chemicals are also toxic to other animals, so be careful where you place them.
I’ve used them quite a bit in my Brooklyn apartment, and although my cat has never taken an interest in them, there was an unfortunate occurrence when a brave squirrel walked into my kitchen through an open window and stole the bait in a pair, snapped and presumably the trap was eating. Unfortunately, this didn’t end well for the squirrel.
Although Raid makes a chemical ant spray, I always consider it a last resort as the chemical compounds imiprothrin and cypermethrin it contains are harmful if inhaled or ingested (again, think about the welfare of any animals you share your home with ).
Keeping ants out of your living space can be difficult, especially in older buildings. Try to caulk any cracks you find in your exterior walls, especially around windows and baseboards. Clean floors and countertops daily and wash pots, pans and dishes immediately. Also, make sure all food is kept in sealed containers or bags. If your unwanted bug guests can’t find anything to eat, chances are they’ll move on and look elsewhere.
If you have houseplants, check for swarms of ants nearby, which could mean someone has built a home in the ground. Lemon and orange citrus peels deter ants from building nests in your pots.
According to scientists, ants existed between 140 and 168 million years ago. When flowering plants appeared in nature (about 100 million years ago), ants began to diversify into the over 12,000 species known today. Given their resilience, ants are unlikely to disappear from the face of the earth anytime soon. However, with a little vigilance and dedication, you can prevent them from appearing in your home.