They appear mainly in spring and can often become tenants for up to several months. Ants are very fond of visiting human dwellings because they usually find plenty of food there. However, they are unwelcome and especially very intrusive visitors who have no problem breaking into cupboards and pouncing on everything on the kitchen counter and dining table. Read on for 3 tricks to get rid of ants quickly and cheaply.
Why do ants crawl into the house?
Understanding why they visit us in the first place can help with removing and repelling ants.
- Easily available food
- Sugar-rich, sugary foods
- Comfortable climate without big temperature fluctuations
- Minimum predators
Draw a border from chalk
It may sound unbelievable, but it really works. If you know what paths ants take, take a piece of chalk and simply draw the boundaries. For some as yet unexplained reason, ants will not want to cross this chalk barrier.
Scents that ants can’t stand
An excellent tool is things that we have fairly commonly in the home. Their bright smell is so unpleasant to ants that they would rather give up their stay in our home and go back outside. Specifically, use, for example, lemon juice soaked into cotton swabs. Similarly, peeled garlic cloves can deter them. They also find the smell of coffee unpleasant, so you can put used coffee grounds in places where they frequent. You’ll find that if you give them a few surprises like this, they won’t want to stay with you anymore.
Baby Powder
The next tip is quite surprising, but it works nonetheless. It involves using baby powder. As with chalk, sprinkle the powder on areas where ants frequent and where they walk. Interestingly, baby powder also works great for repelling aphids from houseplants. So it’s definitely a good idea to get a pack even if you don’t have a small child.