Summer is a wonderful time to break out the skirts and shorts, enjoy swimming, and most importantly to enjoy deliciously sweet and cooling food. Unfortunately, it is also the time when ants break out by the barrel and ruin the sanctity of your kitchen. In this article, we will see how to get rid of these pests with a homemade ant killer.
How to Make a Homemade Ant Killer?
It is always a good idea to use a natural, homemade ant killer. Most of the commercial ant killers are toxic to us as well. In addition, they are not half as effective as many D.I.Y ant killers. Of course, to use the most effective homemade ant killer, it helps to know what works on which type of ant. For example, argentine, honey, and odorous house ants prefer sweeter things. While little black ants, big-headed ants, and pavement ants prefer greasier, sometimes salty, things. Read on to see what homemade ant killer you can use.
1. Borax plus Sugar to Kill Ants
One of the main problems with commercial ant killers is that they come in a gaseous form. As a result, this is toxic when inhaled by children, adults, and pets. The advantage of this D.I.Y. ant killer is that it is in a liquid form and is not toxic to humans. The low toxicity in borax makes it safe if accidentally ingested by children or big pets. Borax acts as a natural pesticide. The role of sugar in this is to attract the ants to their doom. Follow these steps to make this basic homemade ant killer.
- You will need: ½ cup of sugar, 1 ½ tablespoon of Borax powder, 2 cups of plain water. Also needed are an empty jar and cotton balls.
- Bring the water to a boil, then pour into your empty jar.
- To this hot water, add the measures of borax and sugar. Stir till it dissolves. Leave it to cool down.
- Soak the cotton balls with this mixture. You can cut out little squares of tin foil, or just use discarded lids. Place the soaked cotton balls on this and leave it at the strategic points along your kitchen and house.
Note: Give this treatment a full 24 hours to work. By the end, you will see the ants stuck to the cotton balls you left around. Depending on the size of your infestation, repeat this treatment twice or thrice.
2. Baking Soda to Treat Ant Infestation
The mixture of baking soda and powdered or icing sugar is a simple and easy homemade ant killer. Once ingested, the baking soda in this treatment reacts with the formic acid in the ant’s stomach to create gas at a rapid pace. And unlike human bodies, the ant cannot expel this gas. Usually, an ant would know to stay away from soda bicarbonate. This is where the sugar plays a vital role. Powdered sugar is as fine as baking soda, and the ants will be unable to differentiate one from the other.
- You will need: 5 tablespoons of baking soda, 5 tablespoons of powdered (icing) sugar, 3 tablespoons of water.
- First, mix the two powders well together. Now add the water and mix to form a loose paste.
- Lay this in small amount along the walls and wherever ants gather. Now, wait and see this work its magic to eliminate ants.
Note: Don’t kill any ants that come to this. They will eat some and then carry the rest back to the nest. Repeat this once more after 2 days and then watch as the ants completely disappear.
3. Peanut Butter to Cure Ants
Some ants are simply not attracted to sweet things. You will see them attacking salty and greasy food items instead. This is where peanut butter comes into play. However, peanut butter is simply the attraction factor of this homemade ant killer. Borax is the real killer here.
- You will need: 3-4 teaspoons of borax powder, 4 tablespoons of peanut butter, 6 tablespoons of honey.
- Mix all these together to form a semi-loose paste.
- Place it in small blobs around the areas that ants frequent. If you don’t want to place it directly on the floor, put them in shallow bottle caps that ants can easily access.
- If you have children or pets that can access this easily put it in a glass jar. Leave the jar open. The ants will easily find the bait and carry it back to their nest. Eventually, the whole colony will be wiped out.
4. Treat Ants with Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is a fine natural insecticide made from 100% organic powder of water plants. This homemade ant killer is highly potent in killing bugs. It is nontoxic and easily available in any gardening store. On an ant, the DE works to dissolve the waxy protective coating on its exterior. While the ant will not die instantly with this method, it will slowly die of dehydration. This remedy is especially relevant to treat carpenter ants.
- Sprinkle a fine layer of DE wherever you notice the ants gathering. Focus on the entry points, near major food resources.
- If you can locate the ant hill which sources these pests, you can lay down a line of DE around the hill. This will catch any existing ants.
- Sprinkle a fine line close along the seams where the wall meets the floor. Ants usually travel along this path.
Note: Make sure to get only food grade DE. The pesticide grade and pool grade DE may be toxic to children and pets if ingested.
5. Vinegar to Get Rid of Ants
White vinegar as well as apple cider vinegar contains insecticidal and fungicidal properties that are deadly to ants. This makes it a good homemade ant killer. In addition, the odor of vinegar acts as a natural repellent for ants.
- Put some undiluted vinegar in a spray bottle and spray this directly on any ants you see wandering around your home.
- Use a diluted form of vinegar to wipe over kitchen counters. This eliminates the trail chemicals that ants leave behind to find their way back, or to lead other ants to that location.
- If you know where the nest is, pour undiluted vinegar in and around the nest. This will kill the ants quick and effectively. Use approximately 1.5-1 quart of vinegar to achieve this result.
6. Cream of Wheat to Kill Ants
This homemade ant killer is effective in exterminating the pests. When it is ingested by an ant, cream of wheat reacted with the formic acid in the ant’s stomach to expand. Within hours of ingesting it, the ant will quite literally burst.
- Sprinkle this in areas that the ants gather frequently. This could be at points of entry, kitchen counters, or along the wall.
- Flavorless, plain Cream of wheat should work, but if the ants don’t seem attracted to it, then mix in a little brown sugar. You can even try some flavored product.
Note: If you are using a flavored cream on wheat then stay away from the cinnamon flavored one as cinnamon repels ants.
7. Treat Ants with Dish Soap
This is an inexpensive and easily available homemade ant killer. Most of all, this method does not require specific effort to obtain the ingredients. Dish soap works to dehydrate the ants, and as a result, they die.
- Combine 1-quart water, 5ml dish soap, and 5 ml oil in a spray bottle. Shake well to combine.
- Spray this solution on any wayward ants that you see. You can also spray this in the areas the ants frequent, but note that it is only effective when it is still wet.
8. Eliminate Ants with Apple Juice
Sweet and sticky apple juice serve the role to bait and attract the ants. In fact, it is an artificial sweetener that will kill the ants. This artificial sweetener should contain dextrose, aspartame, and maltodextrin. This mix works as a neurotoxin on the ants. As a result, this is another quick and easy homemade ant killer.
- Into a ½ cup of apple juice, add 10-15 ml of the artificial sweetener.
- Mix this well and add into a spray bottle. Spray this solution in the areas that ants will frequently gather, like doorways and along the walls.
9. Kill Ants with Cornmeal
Cornmeal is an inexpensive homemade ant killer. It disrupts the digestive process of the ant’s stomach. Cornmeal works in a way that the ants will die of starvation. Ants will carry it back to the nest. As a result, soon the whole anthill will die out.
- Leave small piles of cornmeal near entry points and frequented sources of food.
- If plain cornmeal does not attract the ants that have invaded your home, mix in a little sugar as well. The cornmeal must be ingested for this remedy to work.
Note: Get the coarser cornmeal and not the fine corn flour for this to work.
10. Use Natural Repellents on Ants
Sometimes the ant problem is not that big, and you would simply prefer to keep them out of your house and kitchen. There are many natural repellents that you can employ for this. However, keep in mind that their success depends on the species of ant that you want to keep away. Here is a list of natural repellents in lieu of a homemade ant killer,
- Cinnamon, ground black pepper, used coffee grounds, sage, bay leaves, and red chili powder.
- Look for cracks and holes around your house that the ants could come in from. Spread any of these repellents around these to inhibit the movement of the ants. You can also spread it around windowsills, outside the doors, and in corners.
Note: Since cinnamon, ground black pepper and red chili powder are prone to be blown around, make them into a paste. You can do this by adding just a little water and mixing it.
