Things You'll Need
Sugar
Borax
Spray bottle
Soap
Water
Pan
Ants may be small, but they can be a big problem inside your house. While your first thought may be to reach for a pesticide, that isn't the best solution for your health or the environment, particularly if you have children or pets around. You can kill ants inside your house naturally using materials that you probably have around your home. When combining different methods, you'll see an immediate reduction in the number of ants, and they very well could be gone within a few days.
Step 1
Discover the source of the ants. One of the best methods for getting rid of ants naturally is to discover where they are coming from and why they are coming into your house. Follow the ant trail to see if you can find their home. If you notice that the ants are all congregating in a particular area, there's probably something sweet that you need to clean.
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Step 2
Spray ants with a solution of soapy water. Put some liquid detergent and water—two parts soap to one part water—into a spray bottle. Wherever you see ants, spray them with this mixture. This will kill them instantly. Leave the solution in the area for a few minutes before cleaning up to potentially kill a few more ants.
Step 3
Attract and kill ants with sugar water and borax. Borax is another solution for killing ants without pesticides. Mix a solution of a tablespoon of sugar and a tablespoon of borax into a cup of water and place the mixture in shallow dishes. The sweetness of the sugar will attract the ants, while the borax will kill them. Place a few of these in the areas that you have ants. Leave the dead ants there for several minutes, as live ants may sense the dead ones and warn others of danger.
Step 4
Pour boiling water on the ant hill. If you found the anthill that the ants are coming from, you can kill the whole colony instantly. Simply boil water and slowly pour it over the ant hill.
Step 5
Prevent ants from returning to your home. After you've killed the ants that were coming into your home, you want to prevent them from coming in again. You can do this with chalk or talcum powder. Ants do not like to walk over these substances. Draw a line with the chalk around the perimeter of each room. Alternatively, sprinkle a line of powder around the outside of your home.
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