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Getting Rid of Ants Naturally

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Your kitchen is all decorated and set up just the way you want it when you notice a stream of ants walking across the counter. You don’t want to use dangerous sprays or chemicals to get rid of them. What can you do? Fortunately, there are natural alternatives you can use to safely rid your kitchen of pesky ants.

Here are 6 tips that can help you get rid of ants and keep them from coming back:

1) Keep all counters and kitchen areas squeaky clean. Ants require food and water to survive indoors. Clean all crumbs off of counters. Make sure honey, sugar and cereal is tightly sealed in plastic containers or bags. Don’t let drips of water collect on the counters or in the sink. Ants are also attracted to dry dog and cat food. You may have to put those away during the night. Take garbage out frequently.

2) Try vinegar. Wipe the counter tops down with a solution of 50% vinegar and 50% water several times during the day. This destroys the scent trail and keeps ants from coming back. While this method does work over time, it can take awhile and your kitchen will smell like vinegar until you don’t need to use it anymore.

3) Look in your cupboard for spices. Sprinkling strong smelling spices like cinnamon, chili pepper, cloves, bay leaves or garlic on the counters where you have seen the ants will repel some types. Strong scents disrupt their senses. You may have to experiment to see what works best. Other items that may repel ants: citrus oil or lemon juice, sliced cucumbers and mint tea bags.

4) Some people have had success by sprinkling catnip around the infested areas. Of course, if you have cats, too, they probably will not leave the catnip around long enough to get rid of the ants.

5) Spraying soapy water directly on the ants will kill them.

6) See if you can determine where the ants are entering your home. Once you find out, you can try sprinkling wet coffee grounds or spearmint leaves at their outside entrance to repel them.

By being vigilant, you can get rid of an ant infestation without using harsh chemicals.

Image courtesy of itsgreg