How To Get Rid Of Ants Without Insecticide

When you open the drawer and see the ants swarm with the scattered sugar particles, you probably just want to use a strong chemical to get rid of the ants as quickly as possible. However, insecticides are not good for human health, pets and other beneficial creatures need to have around the house. Fortunately, there are very effective ways to get rid of ants without the use of insecticides. See Step 1 and the next for how to make ant traps and ant sprays, how to get rid of ant nests and keep ants out of your home, all without the use of insecticides.

Table of Contents

Use Natural Insect Repellents

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Use soap and water. Pour one part dishwashing liquid and two parts water into the bottle, shake well to dissolve the solution completely. When you see a swarm of ants (or just one, as that doesn’t matter), spray the mixture on them. Immediately the ants will stop and suffocate. Use a wet rag to wipe off the dead ants, and keep the spray bottle for next time. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Placing shallow dishes of soapy water is another great way to kill ants. Lure the ants by spreading the sweetener in a path onto the plate.
This method is effective when killing a colony of ants, but cannot eliminate the entire nest. If the ants keep coming back, you probably need to get rid of the root.
Soap water can kill most insects, not just ants. Try using it to get rid of cockroaches.

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Try white vinegar and water. Ants hate vinegar, so you can make a cheap and easy ant killer with just vinegar and water. Mix equal amounts of vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Spray directly on ants to kill them, then wipe clean with a damp cloth and discard.

You can use vinegar and water to keep ants out of your home; Spray around windowsills, doorways and other places where you see ants crawling in.
Some people find that using a vinegar solution to clean floors, windows, and tops of cabinets can make ants less likely to crawl on those areas. Vinegar is a great household cleaner, and when it dries it doesn’t leave a smell.

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Make a lemon juice solution. If you can’t stand the smell of vinegar, you can spray the ants with a solution of lemon juice. Ants hate the citric acid in lemon juice. So you can spray this solution around the house to prevent them from crawling in. Mix one part lemon juice with three parts water to make an all-purpose home spray. ^{[2] X Research Source}

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Scatter diatomaceous earth in the house. Fossilized Algae Soil is a very effective insecticide with minimal harm to humans and animals. It is a type of fossilized diatoms that are pulverized. As insects crawl through this powder, tiny sharp fossils scrape off the waxy outer shell of the insects and dry out their bodies. Sprinkle this powder along baseboards, window sills, and around the house to kill ants.

One recommendation for you: Wear a mask when handling fossilized algae soil. This powder is harmless when swallowed, but the tiny particles can harm your lungs if you inhale them.
Fossilized soil will no longer be effective when wet, even if the humidity in the air is high. However, it will become effective again when it dries, so if high humidity in the house makes fossilized algae soil less effective, you can use a desiccant where it needs to be treated. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

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Use boric acid. This substance is completely natural and very effective in getting rid of ants. When ingesting boric acid, the ant’s stomach will be poisoned and they will die. Boric acid also destroys the hard outer shells of ants by the same mechanism as fossil algae. This substance is white or blue in color. You can sprinkle them on places where ants are often seen, such as the base of the wall or the window sill.

Boric acid is not a toxic insecticide, but it should also be avoided by people and pets. Avoid using in places where children and pets often play. Do not use near food storage and in kitchen cabinets.
Boric acid is non-toxic to beneficial insects, birds, reptiles and fish.

Trapping

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Boric acid sugar trap. These substances are easy to mix, inexpensive, and most of all, extremely effective. All you need is just a few cards (one for each trap), a bottle of corn syrup or any sticky molasses, and boric acid powder. Here’s how to make a trap:

Mix 2 tablespoons corn syrup and 2 tablespoons boric acid in a small bowl.
Make sure the mixture is sticky but not too liquid. If it’s too liquid, add boric acid.
Use a spatula to spread the mixture on the cardboard. Each card is a trap.

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Set traps in places where you often see ants. If they like to congregate on the bathroom floor, place a trap there, one under the kitchen sink and one at the front gate. Set traps around the house where you see ants gathering.

Because ant traps contain boric acid, you should avoid placing them in kitchen cabinets and food storage areas.
You can also place ant traps outside your home. Place in flower beds or near trash cans.
The taste of molasses can attract creatures other than ants, such as children or dogs. Make sure you keep it out of the reach of children and pets.

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Wait for the trap to attract ants. If your home is spreading “ant plague”, soon the traps will be full of ants looking for food and they will “eat” the boric acid syrup. Although not immediately dead, but the poison will work in their stomach. At the same time, the ants will return to the nest and bring food to their companions. In turn, the ants in the nest will eat this poison.

When you see ants coming and going from the trap, just let them crawl freely. If you kill them, they don’t have a chance to bring the poison back to the nest to kill dozens more ants.
This method may not kill the entire colony, but it will greatly reduce the number of ants around your home.

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Replace the trap when the syrup has dried. After a few days, you may need to make a new trap. Mix up a batch of ant bait, spread on the cards and set traps.

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Continue setting traps until the ants stop coming. After about a week or two, you should see a significant reduction in the number of ants that come to eat the syrup. When you start to see dead ants around the trap and no longer see the ants “march” into the house, your job is done.

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Use ground corn to kill the larvae. Worker ants eat liquids, not solids, but they will bring the ground corn to the nest. They feed the larvae with bits of these solids, which are then converted to liquid and eaten by the worker ants. ^{[4] X Source of study} Thus, boric acid will be passed down through generations of ants.

Make sure that the platters of ground corn and solder are shallow enough for the ants to get in and out.
You can also mix a paste of ground corn, borax, and a few drops of water. Apply to areas where you often see ants.

Eliminate the ant nest

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Follow the ants to locate their nest. If you’ve sprayed ants and set up traps but they’re still concentrated in your home, then you’ll have to attack at the root: the ant nest. When you see a line of ants crawling in the house, follow them as long as you can to find the ant mound. Depending on the type of ant, their nest may be outside, hidden in rocks or fences, or inside your home.

Small black ants are one of the most common types of ants that invade homes. They crawl in long and slow rows. With just a little attention, you can spot these ants’ nests if you follow them outside. You will find their nests in hidden places in the yard.
Foul ants (due to the smell of rotting coconut they release when you squeeze them to death) build nests indoors in window frames or in walls. They also build their nests outdoors, under piles of firewood, rocks or other openings outside. ^{[5] X Research Sources}
Sidewalk ants often nest in cracks in walkways. You may not be able to see the ant nest, since it’s hidden under the sidewalk, but you can find their entrance.
Fire ants don’t normally enter your home, but there may be ant colonies in your garden that keep you from walking barefoot around the yard. Look for large mounds of earth extruding from the ground composed of small sand-like particles.

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Prepare a pot of boiling water. Take a large pot and fill the pot halfway with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. When the water is just boiling and still very hot, you must take it out of the stove to the ant nest you find.

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Pour boiling water into the ant’s nest. Try to pour the right entrance to the nest. Boiling water will kill hundreds of ants on the spot and will collapse the nest. If the nest is large, you need to add more boiling water, not just a pot.

If the ant nest is in the house, then using boiling water can damage your home. Instead of water, you can pour a bowl of soapy water into the anthill. You can also put on gloves, shovel the ant nest into a bucket and submerge it in water.
If you’re dealing with fire ants, be sure to wear long pants, tuck the hem under your socks, and long sleeves when approaching the nest. The ants will definitely get angry, they may burst out of the nest and try to crawl into your clothes.

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Check for ants in a few days. If the boiling water is effective in killing the ants, you will no longer have to suffer with the ants. If you still see ants slowly returning, treat with boiling water again. Sometimes it takes several applications to get rid of the ants.

If boiling water doesn’t seem to work, poke the nest with a stick and wiggle it until a relatively large hole is formed. Fill it halfway with baking soda and pour vinegar over it.
If you’re trying to deal with fire ants, you can try a method called “touching”. Wearing long pants with hem under socks for protection, use a shovel to quickly shovel the fire ant mound into a large bucket sprinkled with baking soda to prevent the ants from crawling out. Continue to shovel the entire anthill into the bucket. Drown the ants with vinegar and water or boiling water. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

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Seal the entrance to the nest if you can’t get it out. Sometimes it’s hard to get the entire nest out, but you’ll usually find a hole in the nest. You can pour boiling water over it, but usually simply filling in the entrance to the anthill has the same effect. Fill the hole with gravel and soil and sprinkle more boric acid around. The ants will have to move the nest to another place.

Prevent Nature

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Create lines that ants can’t crawl. There are many substances in nature that ants are afraid of and will not dare to come near. If you sprinkle these in lines around your windowsills, around your house, and anywhere ants come in, you can keep the ants out of your home. You should redo the lines every few days, because ants can cross if the line is broken. Here are a few substances that work for this purpose: ^{[7] X Research Source}

Cinnamon
Red chili
Orange peel or lemon peel powder
Ground coffee

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Squeeze lemon juice along the edges of the outside walls of the house. By doing so, your house will not be dirty, but the ants will be blocked because of the strong scent of this citrus fruit. You can also mix half a lemon, half a part water and water around the outside of the house.

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Use essential oils to repel ants. Ants hate many essential oils that humans find fragrant. Add ten drops of essential oil to 1 cup (240ml) of water, then spray this solution both inside and outside the house to repel ants. Here are some essential oils you can try:

Lemon essential oil
Menthol
Eucalyptus essential oil (do not use this around cats! It is toxic to cats, but harmless to dogs).
Lavender essential oil
Cedar tree essential oil

Advice

Try making mixtures with dishwashing liquid, vinegar, and other household substances to spray. It always works!
Always check entrances and window sills; One ant can invite thousands of others to come. Ants can leave an invisible path with odors that only other ants can smell, so use an ant-specific cleaner to remove this path.
Ants don’t like mint toothpaste. You just need to smear them where you see them. They will leave very quickly!
Take a piece of cardboard, spread glue or another sticky solution on it and place it where you can see the ants. They will come and stick to it, and when the cards are full of ants, you just throw it away!
If you don’t want to kill the ants, put a jar of honey on a tree in your garden as summer begins. Ants will be happy outside your kitchen!
The best way to avoid ants is to keep the house clean. Regularly clean countertops and cabinets and don’t let food crumbs fall.
Have the adhesive tape ready. When you see an ant, put tape on it and press down with your finger. Ant corpses stick in the adhesive tape, so it doesn’t cause dirt. Repeat several times until the tape is no longer sticky.
Chalk and salt are said to be barriers to ants, but many people don’t find them effective.
Squeeze the ants with your fingers. Then remember to wash your hands, especially for foul ants.

Warning

Always keep ant baits and traps out of the reach of children and pets. Place only where ants can reach.
The ants may return; Be prepared to handle it again.
Remember: Ants are an important part of the food chain. Don’t try to kill all the ants in the surrounding area, just kill the ants on your premises.

Steps