Natural Ways to Exterminate Ants
Ants often find their way into homes, where they crawl on tables and countertops and make homeowners feel uncomfortable. Spraying insecticides in your home often takes care of the ant issue. However, it also puts your family at risk for coming close to potentially dangerous and harmful chemicals. Fortunately, you are not doomed to a life of living too close to the insects; you can get rid of them using natural methods. Does this Spark an idea?
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Get Help From Your Kitchen
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Although ants are often attracted to what's in your kitchen, you can repel the insects by using items often found in your pantries. Sprinkle cayenne pepper in the areas in which you've seen the ants. The strong odor of the seasoning often keeps ants away. Used coffee grounds, lemon juice, cucumber peels or slices and cinnamon placed at the ants' points of entry often works to keep the insects away. Garlic cloves are also effective in getting rid of ants as well.
Set a Trap
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Traps are helpful in eliminating ants, as their contents inflict harm to the ant that visits the trap, as well as others in the nest. Create your own natural trap by mixing a ½ tsp. each of borax, honey and aspartame together and placing the amount in two or three small plastic bottles. Place the bottles on their sides in popular ant areas. The ants will enter the traps and collect the sweet bait. They will take it back to their nests, where the other ants will eat the bait as well.
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Keep Things Clean
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Cleaning the areas in which the ants frequent with distilled white vinegar removes their scent trails. These trails are used by other ants to help them know where to go. If the ants don't pick up on the scent, they'll likely stop coming around. Additionally, spraying the small bugs and their trails with diluted peppermint spray keeps them away, as well. Pour equal parts soap and water inside a spray bottle, and then squirt the areas with the mixture. The soap wipes away the ants' scent and prevents them from coming back.
Leave a Light On
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You don't always have to kill ants to get rid of them. In fact, you can prevent them from coming back by simply disturbing their foraging patterns. Leave a night light on when it's dark for about a week where you often spot the ants. The light disturbs the ants' foraging pattern and causes then to look elsewhere to find food.
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References
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