How to Eliminate Ants

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

Rate: (8 Ratings)

Ants are social insects, but that does not mean that you want to have them in your home. If you want to eliminate them, here's what you need to do.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

Laundry powder
Mint or lavender
Petroleum jelly or chalk
Caulk
White vinegar
Freshly ground pepper
Peppermint oil
Bait: baking soda, powdered sugar and dry active yeast or powdered vitamin C
Baking soda

Step1

Make it more difficult for ants to get into your home. Caulk cracks in your exterior walls, trim branches that hang over your home, and tighten door frames and window frames.

Step2

Maintain a clean home. Vacuum daily and properly store food. Keep all trash secured so that ants cannot get into it.

Step3

Make a bait out of baking soda, powdered sugar and dry active yeast or powdered vitamin C. This will kill many ants.

Step4

Create barriers where you do not want ants to be able to go by drawing lines with petroleum jelly or chalk. Other deterrents include white vinegar, peppermint oil, baking soda and freshly ground pepper.

Step5

Spray nests with white vinegar or sprinkle them with crushed chalk or talcum powder.

Tips & Warnings

Keep a log of where you see ants in your home; this will help you to determine patterns and find the nest, which will make it easier for you to eliminate ants.
The best way to prevent an infestation is to keep things clean and keep your pets' bowls (including water bowls) off the ground.
Laundry powder, mint and lavender, as well as petroleum jelly, can all be used to deter ants.
Many pesticides are harmful to children and pets; try natural alternatives first.
Killing ants is not enough to eliminate them; in order to get rid of the pests you need to destroy the nest and kill the queen.