o conquer your house. These tiny creatures, popularly known as ants, are too small to deserve your notice, but in large numbers, you can be sure, they are a force to be reckoned with. You might ignore them, and feel that they couldn’t do you much harm, but when you find them scouting each and every corner of your room, most of the harm would already have been done. An ant-infested house is more terrible than one can imagine, and if the ants have chosen the kitchen to play mayhem then the reason to worry doubles up. No one would want to share their living space with a group of uninvited guests who are generally regarded as pests. They are truly an annoyance that needs to be tackled as early as possible. When it comes to ants, the above mentioned slogan gets dissolved as the only solution is the survival of either you or them. There are some wonderful, and certainly weird, ideas that can help you prevent the attack of ants. From old wives’ tales to the modern solutions, given here are some ideas that you can try at home, and expect a new morning without the annoyance of ants in your kitchen.
Getting Rid Of Ants In The Kitchen
- Sprinkle baby powder. Yes, you heard it right. Sprinkling some baby powder on the things that are infested with ants like the counter tops, grills, honey jar, sugar bowl etc. will get rid of them.
- A line of cayenne pepper usually stops the ants from crossing over it.
- Try plain old cinnamon. Put cinnamon at the site of the ant invasion, and you will be surprised to see them back off quickly!
- You can keep bay leaves on your counters, and preferably along their trail to hinder their progress.
- Another excellent option is to use vinegar. Fill a squirt bottle with plain old cheap white vinegar, and squirt it in the places where you have seen ants, and let it dry. Since, it's non-toxic it can be used in a kitchen.
- Black pepper is, as always, the non-lethal, poison free, cheap, and safe way to get rid of any pest. Sprinkle the black pepper powder where you see the ants, and watch them scatter. You can sprinkle it near all the holes and crevices from where they come out.
- A white chalk drawn in a line at the place where the ants come can disrupt them from concentrating in a place.
- Peppermint oil can be helpful against ants. Fill a spray bottle with water, and add approximately 10 to 15 drops of peppermint essential oil, sometimes called Peppermint Spirits. Ants won't cross the area because they hate the smell of mint.
- Put some whole cloves around. Put them on the windowsills and door jams, and you can see the ants vanish.
- Red chili powder is a strong ant repellent. Make a paste of it using a little water, and find out from where the little pests are coming in, and going out. Then paste the area. You can also sprinkle the powder. Ants do not like spice.
- To trap ants leave an open bottle of maple syrup since the ants love it and they will drown happy.
- Mix borax in sugar water. Place it on the ant trails, and in the places, they come from. Any ant that will have a scrumptious borax meal is sure to die an untimely death.
- Mint chewing gums help repel ants in the house. You can either place a stick or an open pack of chewing gum on a shelf. Planting mint plants in your kitchen garden is also beneficial. It makes a good groundcover.
- Mix boric acid and mint jelly and spread the mixture on a cracker. Punch pinholes in a cardboard box and place the cracker inside. Place the box in areas where the ants cause problems.
- Place a dish of wheat cream (made by mixing wheat flour and water) where the ants can access it. After they consume it, the cereal expands and the ants will explode.