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Are you also troubled by ants in your apartment or house? This social species of insect moves into our dwellings because it hopes to find some food there.
A few ants wouldn’t be so bad. The problem is that they usually appear in large numbers.
Classic ant sprays are indeed effective, but fairly expensive and also contain many toxic chemicals that are better to avoid.
Fortunately there are also cheap and purely natural things that will help you get rid of ants in the house forever.
How to get rid of ants
Before we move on to the actual recipes, let’s go over a few general rules on how to protect yourself from ants.
Ants have a very well-developed sense of smell and are mainly attracted to sweet things.
Therefore do not leave food freely lying in a cupboard or on the kitchen sink, especially those that contain sugar.
The same goes for the packaging of such foods. Ants will even smell an empty soda can because there are residues of a sweet drink in it.
It’s also best to wash immediately all dishes and cutlery that have come into contact with such foods.
And now let’s take a look at 3 homemade remedies for ants in an apartment or house:
1) Cinnamon
For some reason ants hate the smell of cinnamon. And you can use that against them.
You will need:
1 glass of water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon essential oil
a cloth or cotton balls
Instructions
1. Pour the oil into the water and mix well. For better dispersion you can first dilute a little soap in the water.
2. Then soak a cloth or cotton balls in this solution and rub them onto places in the house where ants tend to gather.
3. Do this once a day until you no longer see any ants at home.
2) Vinegar
The smell of vinegar repels ants similarly to cinnamon.
You will need:
water
vinegar
a spray bottle
lemon essential oil
Instructions
1. First, pour water and vinegar into the spray bottle in a 1:1 ratio.
2. Then add a few drops of lemon essential oil, close the bottle and shake it. Do this before each use as well.
3. All you need to do now is spray the mixture on places where ants usually appear.
4. Do this once a day until you get rid of the ants.
3) Borax (sodium tetraborate)
You can get this cleaning substance for a few euros in drugstores or chemical supply stores.
Borax does not repel ants like the previous substances; instead it attracts them and then kills them. They take it back to their nests and there consume what proves fatal to them.
You will need:
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon borax
a sharp object
a plastic container with a lid
Instructions
1. Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix well.
2. Then transfer the mixture into a sealable container and close it with a lid.
3. Next, make several holes in the bottle so that only ants can enter and exit.
4. Finally, place the bottle in a spot where ants usually walk and leave it for some time until they feed on it and die.
5. However, you must be careful that your children do not get access to it. In such a case, it’s better not to use borax at all to be safe.
