Summer Vacation – Day Two
You’re putting on a pot of coffee when you see a line of ants marching across the floor of your Raleigh home, clearly on a mission. You follow them to see they are headed toward a popsicle stick left under the kitchen chair. A spray of household cleaner later, the ants are gone and the sticky spot is wiped up off the floor. You make a mental note to remind the kids to throw away popsicle sticks in the trash when they are done…
Summer Vacation – Day Five
You come home from work to see no less than 100 ants crawling across your kitchen counter, drawn to a large glob of jelly that has hardened. Crumbs and a peanut butter covered knife on the other end of the counter show that your kids fixed PB&J sandwiches for lunch and now ants are reaping the benefits…
Summer Vacation – Day 10
Your child’s entrepreneurial spirit led to an impromptu lemonade stand. Judging by the gritty texture of your kitchen floor, you’re convinced your child sweetened the pitcher of lemonade by tossing handfuls of sugar into the pitcher from across the room.
Ants have officially taken over your home.
While this may be a bit of an overdramatic description, summer means the kids are home all day, snacking, getting drinks, and making messes, and since summer is also when ants are most prevalent, that’s a combination that can lead to an ant infestation fast! Learn how to prevent and get rid of ants safely and naturally with these helpful tips!
Getting Rid of Ants Inside Your House
When ants are already inside your home you need to take aggressive action, but you want to make sure there’s nothing dangerous that can harm your children or pets. Use these natural ingredients to get rid of ants fast!
White Vinegar
Mix equal parts water and white vinegar into a spray bottle and use to clean where you see ants. You can use it on your counters, sinks, and any place where ants might go, such as pantry shelves and also use it to mop with.
Diatomaceous Earth
Use food-grade diatomaceous earth, a fine, silica-based powder where you see ants come in, such as around window sills and under sinks. The powder dries out the oils and fats from around the ant’s exoskeleton, causing it to shrivel and die.
Baking Soda
Create a safe ant trap by mixing powdered sugar with baking soda and placing it in shallow trays, like jar lids, bottle caps, or even pieces of cardboard. While baking soda is toxic to ants, the sugar masks any warning they may get, so they’ll eat it and take it back to their colony. Note: You can use borax in place of baking soda, but borax can be dangerous to children and pets so baking soda is a safer option.
Peppermint Oil & Castile Soap
Add two tablespoons of liquid castile soap (such as Dr. Bronner’s), and add 15 drops of peppermint essential oil. Mix it and add it to a bucket that has a gallon of hot water. Add some of the mixture to a spray bottle and clean surfaces where ants are or tend to be, then use the rest to mop your floors. The soap kills ants while the peppermint repels them. You can also add peppermint oil to cotton balls and place them at ants’ points of entry, like along window sills.
Citrus Peels
Add lemon, orange, or grapefruit (or all of the above) peels to a pot, add water (or half water/half vinegar) to cover them, and heat the water to steaming. Allow it to steep like a tea for several hours or overnight, then remove the peels and pour the liquid into a spray bottle and spray around your baseboards, entry points, and anywhere ants may be.
You can also use 15 drops of citrus essential oil per a quarter cup of water instead and spray areas around your home.
Prevent Ants from Entering Your Home
While you can kill off and repel ants, the best thing to do is prevent them from coming into your home in the first place. Whether you have common ants, or the larger carpenter ants, you need to act quickly before the problem spreads. While many of the actions above – spraying citrus, sprinkling food-grade diatomaceous earth around the border of your home, and pouring vinegar where you see ants is a temporary solution.
Often, when ants continually come in your home, it’s because there is an infestation on the outside. Calling a Raleigh pest control company to treat the exterior of your property, safely eradicate ant mounds in your yard, and provide a thorough, strategic method of pest control is the only way to truly prevent ants from coming inside your home.
Call Our Raleigh Pest Control Company to Get Rid of Ants Fast
If you’ve got ants in or around your home, our experienced team at Stomp Pest Control can help. We have effective, affordable pest control packages that come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee! To learn more, call us today at (919) 231-3292 or fill out our contact form below!
