Small, but with high power to take anyone seriously. You thought about ants, right? Because you nailed it.
No one is free to experience an invasion of ants and if this is happening in your home right now, don't worry anymore.
Today's post is totally dedicated to them. We will teach you once and for all how to kill ants.
Come and see:
Understanding the enemy
Before engaging in combat it is necessary to know and understand the enemy, which in this case here, are the ants.
First of all, you need to know that ants only appear inside the house if they notice the presence of food and water. Therefore, the first thing to do is to give no reason for them to invade your territory.
Wash the dishes and remove food scraps from the sink every time a meal is finished. It is also important not to leave food scraps in the rooms or elsewhere in the home. Vacuum or sweep the house constantly to remove crumbs and small pieces of food from the floor.
Second, ants are very organized and work as a team. Ants that appear in your home are only part of the problem. You can be sure that there are still hundreds of them in the nest that must be very close to you. And that's just why they come back.
Therefore, it is important to root out the evil, that is, you need to find the path that leads to the anthill. How to do this? Turning Sherlock Homes and following the ants.
Finally, understand that urban ants eat everything (absolutely). They are passionate about sweets, but do not dispense fat, meat, food in general, such as rice, pasta, beans, leftover drinks and even small dead animals, such as earthworms, spiders and cockroach (credo!).
That is, before entering the fight against ants, make sure that your house is clean and sanitized.
Why you need to get rid of ants
Ants are not a nuisance just because they took care of the cake that was on the table or because they carried all the leaves of that beautiful plant of yours.
Believe it or not, but ants can be dirtier and disgusting than cockroaches. That's because these little insects spend their lives looking for food, no matter where. In other words, they wander through sewers, litter, animal feces, sidewalks and streets, carrying bacteria and microorganisms harmful to human health.
Not to mention that many people are allergic to ants. A simple contact and ready! The skin is already red, itchy and even blisters.
How to kill ants naturally – Homemade tips and tricks
Everyone knows that homemade and natural recipes are a thousand times more suitable than those chemicals that are super toxic to human health and the environment.
Therefore, we have listed below the best homemade tricks to eliminate ants. Look that:
Soapy water
The first recipe on the list is very easy to make and takes only two ingredients: water and neutral detergent. You will also need a spray bottle.
Add equal parts of water and detergent to the spray bottle and mix well. Then just spray this mixture on the ants. But here it is worth mentioning an important detail: the mixture kills only the ants that are in the place, not reaching the anthill. That is why it is important that you find out where they are and apply the solution directly to the site, exterminating the entire colony.
Vinegar
Vinegar, another great ally of homemade formulas, is also excellent in fighting ants. To use it is very simple: just mix equal parts of water with white vinegar and put the mixture in a spray bottle. Then apply this mixture directly on the ants, in their path and on the anthill.
Lemon
Use lemon to chase away ants from your home. The acid and strong smell of the fruit leaves the ants confused, since they are located by the “smell” left on the trail.
The recipe is simple: squeeze the juice of a lemon, mix it with a little water and spray it over the ants' trail, also reaching corners and cracks in furniture, doors and windows. Before long they leave the place.
Cloves
Cloves can be used as a natural ant repellent. The reason that this tip works is similar to the previous one, that is, it is related to the smell.
Ants cannot tolerate the smell of the spice and leave. Use cloves inside the sugar bowl and spread some more inside furniture and appliances, such as an oven and microwave.
Orange zest
Orange zest is also great for chasing ants away, working very similarly to cloves. Use them inside furniture, appliances and sugar bowls.
In addition to the orange zest, you can still choose to use the peel of the fruit.
Cayenne pepper
Ants hate pepper and this is great for you who want to expel them from home.
Stop the invaders by rubbing cayenne pepper over the eaves of windows, doors and other places where they can enter.
But if you have children and pets at home, it is best to opt for another method of preventing and eliminating ants, since contact with the pepper can cause allergic and uncomfortable reactions.
Vaseline
Vaseline is also on the list of homemade recipes against ants. Use the product by spreading it over the surface of doors, windows and other paths that ants normally take.
School chalk
It may seem like a silly and baseless trick, but it's true. School chalk sends the ants away!
This is because the calcium carbonate present in the product is intolerable by ants.
Just put a few pieces of chalk in the ants' path and they will leave.
Peppermint oil
Spreading peppermint essential oil around the house is another way to send the ants away.
To do this, spray some of the oil mixed with water in the ants' path.
The use of peppermint oil is especially suitable for leaf-cutting ants.
Cinnamon powder
Mounds of powdered cinnamon around the house also help to eliminate ants, you know?
Place the spice in the spots where the ants attack most and bye intruders!
Physical barrier
For those who suffer from an infestation of ants on plants, a good tip is to resort to physical barriers around the plant being attacked.
Do this by forming a cotton circle around the plant or by spraying talc.
Ant baits
If you've tried everything and still haven't had the expected results, you can go for heavy artillery. In this case, the tip is to use baits for ants.
You can find these lures easily at garden stores. These lures aim to reach the anthill, including the queen ant.
The bait must be placed in the path of the ants. Upon realizing the bait, the ants begin to take it to the anthill. However, when they eat the bait they end up dying.
Important tip: look for brands that do not affect children and pets.
Prevention is the best medicine
When it comes to ants, prevention is always the best solution. Therefore, our tip here is to always keep your home clean and free from food scraps.
But some other tips can also help:
- At the end of a meal, cover the remaining food and keep it in the refrigerator.
- Always keep your trash covered.
- Your pet's feed can also attract ants. That is why it is important to keep the dish clean and free of debris that may attract them. If he doesn't eat everything, collect it and serve it later.
- If you notice small cracks or cracks in the wall or floor, have the repair done. Ants can take advantage of these openings to pass.
- Ants' trails must be physically and olfactorily eliminated, since they are located by smell, remember? Therefore, after removing the ants from inside the house, apply vinegar or lemon on the trail so that the smell is eliminated as well.
- Do you know that corner behind the sofa? Remember him when it comes to cleaning the house. It may be that the ants are entering your home just for a little bit of food that is found in that place.
- Always find the anthill. This is important to prevent further invasions.
And, remember, ants are opportunistic and only enter the house because they noticed the presence of easy food. That is, better than exterminating them is to prevent them from reaching you. So, be forewarned and the ants stayed away.
