It never fails that one day you’ll walk into your kitchen or lobby and discover that little trail of ants working hard to take some dropped cereal or toast your kids spilled back to their colony outside. Ants, though small, can be a big annoyance and if you don’t particularly care for insects, it can give you some pretty uncomfortable feelings in general.
If you have a large home with children and pets, it can be impossible to keep an eye on every scrap from every meal so it’s very easy to end up with some ants once in a while. Usually, they are very easy to get rid of. Just pick up the item they are swarming around and dispose of it and they’ll disappear on their own after some time. If you don’t like leaving them to their own schedule, you can simply give them spraying and wipe them away. As long as their scent trail is wiped out, they won’t remember how to get back into a particular area.
To get rid of ants a bit more aggressively, there are a lot of options at your disposal and these are cheap, effective and safe.
Barriers
The most popular old-school method to keep ants from entering specific areas is to use baby powder or talcum powder and make a line that you don’t want ants to cross. This is very effective as it sticks to their bodies and confuses their senses. This powder is completely safe for people and pets alike and you can pick up large containers of it for next to nothing.
Cayenne pepper, cucumbers, and ginger also work because ants don’t like these particular foods and won’t go near them. It’s up to you to decide what option is best for your needs.
Repellents
Everyone has seen those TV ads about devices you plug into the wall or placed in key areas of your home that repel ants and other insects in various ways. The jury seems to be very mixed on how effective these devices are against different insects in different environments so you might want to ask around and see if anyone you know has tried one or bite the bullet and try one yourself.
All-natural devices like satchels of herbs and special products that claim to keep ants away with other methods can sometimes work well also. These are almost always safe to have around and if placed in key areas ants can enter your home, they can work great. A little research can go a long way with these items also.
Sprays
Everyone knows chemicals found in normal bug sprays can be hazardous to people, animals, and plants but sometimes you may need to take this route to get things under control. You can try vinegar, diluted bleach, and “green” cleansers first to see if they work for your specific problems, however.
Your situation could be very minor like an unwanted ant trail in your kitchen or more severe like carpenter ants taking hold in the frame of your garage so you will need to tailor your approach to suit the task at hand. If you’re unsure about how severe your ant problem is, consulting Melbourne Pest Control Expert is always a good recommendation. We also do Bed Bug Spray.
