How to Kill Ants in the Kitchen

Remove traces of ants. Even if you only find one ant in your home, you will see them appear more often. The reason is because ants leave a trail behind where they go so that other ants can smell and follow. ^[4] If you just clean the floor, this is not enough to remove traces of ants. This is a pheromone trail that is not easy to erase; you need to clean it with a sterilized detergent. Mix a solution of ½ vinegar and ½ water into a spray bottle and spray it on the entire kitchen surface. You need to focus on the places where the ants appeared before.

• Keep in mind that this solution will not kill ants that have crawled inside. This is simply to erase the traces that the ants create so that other outsiders can’t follow the pheromone tracks inside.
• You can also replace vinegar with bleach to make a spray solution. The most important component of the solution is a disinfectant to remove traces of ants.

Dispel ants with soapy water. Pour a full jug of hand soap and water into a plastic spray bottle. Shake the jar to mix the soap and water well. Then spray the solution on the ants every time you see them in the kitchen. Wait about 5 minutes and then clean, you can easily clean the ants on the stove after they stop moving. ^[5]

• In addition, you can use bar soap to make a soap additive: scrape a few grams of bar soap and add one liter of water. Then put the soap and water in the microwave to melt the soap, then pour it into a spray bottle. ^[6]
• This method is safe for children and pets because it contains no pesticides, and can be used in the garden to kill pests on plants.

Banish ants with lemon. Mix 1 cup of lemon juice and 4 cups of warm water in a large pitcher. Then dip a washcloth in the solution, and wipe down kitchen countertops, inside cabinets and drawers, above refrigerators, around kitchen windows, and any other surfaces where ants can crawl around in the kitchen. ^[7]

• The smell of citrus has the effect of repelling ants. Orange and cucumber peels also have a similar repelling effect.
• You can mop the floor with this solution, but it’s a good idea to thoroughly clean the areas on the floor where ants are likely to get inside.

Repel ants with spices and herbs. Sprinkle a little cinnamon powder around places where ants can get in (windows, doors, etc.), also around kitchen edges, and generally places where you see ants. The smell of cinnamon has the ability to repel ants, but also brings a strong aroma to your kitchen. ^[8] You can also sprinkle other spices and herbs to repel ants: ^[9]

• Black pepper
• Paprika
• Red chili
• Clove
• Garlic
• Laurel leaves
• Mint leaf
• Basil leaves

Repel ants with dry diatomaceous earth. Observe the area around the kitchen where ants are most concentrated. IF you often see ants in narrow places like kitchen edges, small crevices in walls, floor edges and skirting boards, or along windows, spread diatomaceous earth over these locations. ^[10]

• After spreading the diatomaceous earth, note if the ants have stopped crawling into your home or are looking for another way. If necessary you need to spread more diatomaceous earth on their new path. After about a month, clear out the diatomaceous earth, and add more soil if the ants have not disappeared. ^[11]

Repel ants with moist diatomaceous earth. Notice if the ants are moving to another flat and wider area, instead of crawling along the edges and crevices in the kitchen. If they crawl up the wall, you should use moist diatomaceous earth. Follow the directions for use on the spray bottle, and use the spray bottle on larger areas such as walls where you see ants crawling. ^[12]

• Again, try to monitor and see if the ants have stopped entering the house completely, or are looking for another way in. If after a month of using wet diatomaceous earth you still see ants, you should spread another layer of soil.
• Diatomaceous earth is ineffective in moist conditions; Soil comes into play when the water in the solution dries and evaporates, leaving behind a layer of soil that blocks out ants. ^[13]

Repel ants with other natural ingredients. Coffee grounds, cornmeal, rice, cucumber peels, chalk, and baby powder are all known to repel ants. ^[14] Try spreading these ingredients in areas where ant colonies are concentrated, and see what works for your home as well as for the ants. Repelling ants this way (using spices and random foods) is a much experimental process. The remedy may work for homes with a certain type of ants, but not for other homes.

• Many of the scents and ingredients of these ingredients are offensive to ants. As a result, ants generally stay away from areas where these ingredients are present.

Seal the entrance of the ants. Use glue to seal the crevices and cracks that ants use to enter the house. These crevices often appear near windows or doors. By sealing these areas with glue, you can both block the entrance of the ants and better regulate the temperature of your home. ^[15]

• To seal holes and crevices, you need to insert the tip of the glue bottle into the hole or crevice and start pouring the glue into it. When the glue spills out of the hole or crevice, this means that the mouth part has been sealed and there are no gaps left.
• This is a non-toxic ant repellant method that is safe for pets and children.

Find the most effective ant baits. Fire ants (the type of ants you see in the kitchen) are the type of ants that bring food back to the nest. Prepare to bait the places in the house where you see them a lot. Take a small plate and add sugary foods (such as honey, syrup, jam, etc.), and some dry food (such as chips or fried chicken). Try to see which food flavor attracts more ants. You don’t have to leave the food out for long to determine which foods the ants prefer. ^[16]

• Ants’ taste preferences can change depending on the time of year, so that’s why it’s a good idea to take the bait preparation step to accurately identify your ant’s favorite flavor, and purchase bait. Poison ants target their particular preferences.
• This bait preparation step isn’t necessary for all kitchen ant problems, but helps narrow down the scope and type of bait to use. If you are unsure, you can purchase bait that provides food for ants that like both sweet and savory foods.
• Poisonous ant baits are available in dry and liquid forms, but when ants prefer sweet foods, liquid baits are usually most effective.

Be patient while the bait attracts and kills ants. Immediately after placing baits according to the ants’ preferences you will see an increase in the number of ants in the house. The reason is because she is drawing them closer. This is what you want because the more ants focus on the bait, the more bait they will bring back to the nest to eliminate the entire ant colony. ^[17]

• Keep in mind that the process of getting rid of ants with baits usually takes some time. This is because you are not only getting rid of ants crawling around the house, but you are also killing many “generations” of ants, including adults, pupae (ants in their cocoons), larvae, and eggs. This process can take a few days to a few weeks. ^[18]
• When using this bait, you need to clean up all other food. Baits should not be used while allowing another food source to attract ants. You should make the ants only focus on the poison bait and not affect the ant colony or bait after the ants start eating the bait. ^[19]
• If after two weeks of placing the bait, it is still present, you should replace the bait you are using. Obviously this type doesn’t work or doesn’t work as expected. ^[20]

Make ant baits at home. Mix 1 tablespoon organic boric acid, 1 tablespoon maple syrup (or a sticky sweetener like honey, jam, etc.). Spread a mixture of boric acid and sweetener on a piece of bread or cookie. Then punch a small cardboard box, and place the baited food in the center of the box. Just like the ant bait sold in the store, the smell of food will lure the ants closer to the bait, and boric acid will wipe out the rest of the colony when the ants bring the “food” back to the nest. ^[21]

• Set traps outside at night, as this is the time when the ants go looking for food.
• Eliminate ant nests on the spot. If you find an ant nest, you can eliminate it by killing the entire colony of ants in the nest. Spray an insecticide containing the main ingredient bifenthrin on the nest and surrounding area. ^[22]

Call a professional if the ant problem persists. You may need to call an exterminator and ask them to evaluate if your method of killing ants is not working.

• A professional exterminator can identify entrances, and find other ant colonies, and thus provide useful suggestions and more effective methods of killing ants.

Clean the kitchen sink and let it dry. Rinse the dishes that you want to leave in the tub overnight. ^[23] Make sure you don’t leave leftovers that could attract ants at night.

• Consider pouring some bleach down the drain to get rid of leftover food odors.

Clean the kitchen floor regularly. Ants only need a small crumb of food to start calling for a colony, so it’s a good idea to clean up food that has fallen on the floor and stuck in household items. ^[24] Wipe the floor to remove the food source for the ants. Clean the floor with a solution of ½ bleach ½ water.

• As mentioned above, a floor cleaning solution can consist of ½ vinegar and ½ water. The most important ingredient is disinfectant bleach to wipe away traces of ants.
• You can spray a vinegar and water mixture around your pet’s food bowl to avoid attracting ants.

Vacuum cleanly in areas that come in contact with food. Just like sweeping and mopping, vacuuming helps clear away food debris that could potentially attract ants into the home. ^[25]

• This is especially important for carpeted floors, as food particles on carpets are often difficult to detect.