The Invasion
I woke up one morning. It was a beautiful day, a nice ocean breeze, giggles emitting from my children and then, I made a mistake, I went downstairs for breakfast. What I found downstairs was an invasion, an invasion of epic proportions. The biggest intrusion I have faced thus far. I had a battle on my hands and my opponents were about 5 billion little black ants. For such tiny little creatures these little guys have caused some major disruption in our house this summer.
The Search
Finding an entry point. This is the part that is driving me the most crazy. I’m literally in bed, awake at night trying to think of a place I haven’t thought of that those ants could be coming in from. I have been scouring the internet, asking friends, what do I do? Where do I begin? Just when I think I have gotten those little bastards they come back! How can I get rid of them for good………or, at least, for the season. Most things I have read say DON’T KILL THEM, right away. track them. Follow their trail to the entry point. Find the cracks in the wall and seal them. If you seal all points of entry then it makes it much harder for them to wage an all out war.
I usually get ant invasions during the summer months. Mostly my ants don’t go for the sugary stuff, not the greasy stuff, not even the watery stuff, they are out for the adventure. I’m completely convinced of this. These guys have no little crumbs on their backs, they are not drinking out of a puddled ring mark on the counter, they are not attacking my mason jar of bacon fat. If the little buggers are in the kitchen it looks like they are coming in from the walls, literally coming up through the grout. If you follow the trail by the bathroom, that leads into the playroom, which leads into the family room, it’s essentially a big loop and I can’t find the ending point or beginning. The search continues……….
Ant Traps
We have used store bought ant traps, that work for a little while, but I can’t stand because of what is in them. I am on a mission to find the best natural, non-toxic repellent or killer I can. Yes, these ants have driven me to murderous thoughts! Thoughts of doing whatever it takes to get them out of the house and done with are constantly going through my brain. This last invasion made some sense. My son took a piece of candy, didn’t like it and spit it in the bathroom trash can. I understand the allure and appeal that this little, tiny, sugary morsel of food had on the ants. What I don’t understand is the trails to nowhere and nothing! For a non-toxic, natural ant trap you can put 1 part baking soda and 1 part powdered sugar in a lid or shallow dish, they are attracted to the powdered sugar and can’t discern between the two. Then the baking soda makes them sort of explode. I have not tried this method, but read that it works over a matter of about three days!
Repellent and Killer
As I am writing this I have waged an all out war against these little creatures. They have now invaded my pantry. This is more understandable, but such a pain in the rear to clean up and clear out. I have looked at numerous blogs from Mosquito Authority, heard more stories and ideas from friends and family, even gone the Raid route in the past. I’m going to give you a few ideas that have worked for me and that others have tried with complete success. I would like to get rid of them for good, or at least if they come back I can get rid of them quicker as opposed to going through an endless bag of tricks.
- 50/50 mixture of apple cider vinegar and water
- 50/50 peppermint essential oil and water
- 50/50 eucalyptus essential oil and water
- 50/50 cinnamon essential oil and water
- 50/50 lemon essential oil and water works well.
Spray along baseboards, where you find cracks and entry points. This seems to work pretty well. All of the above mentioned ingredients help to destroy their scent, or pheromone trail which is how they know where to go and get the food or water or protein or whatever the heck they are going for. They don’t like the scent either so it acts as a repellent as well. If you use straight vinegar it will kill them, so that can be handy too.
Since the ants ended up in my pantry, after cleaning out all the ants that I could find I placed cotton balls and balled up facial tissue and put a couple drops of peppermint oil on them. I add a couple drops every other day to make sure the little critters don’t come back.
I also tried a mixture of Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap (1/4 C) mixed with water (1qt) in a spray bottle and sprayed the trails I did find, kills them and helps confuse them. Also sprayed this around window sills and doorways. I have wood floors so I was hesitant to leave too much liquid just sitting on it. So far neither the essential oil/water spray nor the castile soap/water solution has discolored or warped my wood floors. It also works for a few days and then the ants start marching back in again. If you’re diligent and continue spraying after a few days they will be gone and stay gone. Of course if you have kids and those children eat, you will inevitably have another invasion on your hands.
Sprinkling cream of tartar, baking soda and ground cinnamon in the areas where it looked like they were entering the house, just don’t get them wet, it is much harder to clean up. I have yet to try, but have read and heard good things about chalk. Ants apparently don’t like chalk you can draw a heavy line of chalk in the areas they are entering, you can even draw up your wall if there is a trail there and they won’t cross the chalk line. I can’t wait to try this, my kids will think I have officially gone over the edge and they would be correct!
Other ideas that may help
I believe keeping the crumbs swept up and off of the counter tops helps quite a bit. Eating only in “designated eating areas” like a dining room or kitchen so that at least your area of clean up and extra cleaning diligence can be contained to those areas. Another tip is cleaning the counters with vinegar and water at night before bed, this has worked pretty well for keeping them off of my counters.
I have tried many different ways to fight off ants. So far my favorites are the 50/50 Apple Cider Vinegar/Water spray solution and Peppermint Oil cotton balls. The ants are gone. I believe I have won the war or at least this battle! I am also armed with an arsenal of ideas to continue to try in the future. The bonus for using these natural repellents is they smell so much better than the chemical alternative.
Here are a few blogs on ants that I found helpful during my ant battles. Check them out and investigate which ones work best for you and the ants that have invaded your home.
- Treehugger
- Mother Nature Network
- Wellness Mama
- Top 10 Home Remedies
- Everyday Roots
- Earth Easy (has many different insect repellent ideas on this page)
- Kitchen Stewardship
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Let me know if you have used any natural, non-toxic ways to rid your house of ants this summer. Have you tried any of the above tricks with success? Please share your ideas and methods below in the comment section.
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