With temperatures starting to warm up, many of us feel more comfortable leaving the warmth of our homes and venturing outside. Us humans aren’t alone in venturing outside of our homes though. Ants are starting to wake up too, which means it’s time once again to start thinking about how you’re going to keep ants out of your home and deal with them if they make it inside.
White Vinegar and Water
White vinegar is a staple in many households, both for its uses in cooking and cleaning. That’s not all it can be used for though. You can mix white vinegar with water to create an insect repellant solution. Mix equal parts of both together. You can then use the solution to spray ant trails. Ants use pheromones to create pathways to show other ants where to go. The vinegar and water solution can hide the smell of the pheromones, preventing other ants from finding their way around your home.
Soap and Water
Dish soap isn’t just for cleaning your dishes. You can also use it to help rid your home of ants. To use soap as an insecticide, mix some dish soap with some water in a spray bottle. You can then spray the solution on the ant trails or on the ants themselves. The soapy solution will suffocate the ants so they can’t get to your food or other parts of your home.
Baking Soda
Like vinegar, baking soda has plenty of uses for cleaning and cooking in the home. It’s also a natural insecticide. When ants consume baking soda, it dehydrates them to the point of death. Of course, ants aren’t going to just eat baking soda by itself. To use it as an insecticide, mix it with an equal amount of powdered sugar. Place the mixture near ant trails. The ants will pick it up and bring it home as food for the colony. Unlike other insecticides, this one isn’t dangerous to your kids or pets if they happen to consume it by accident.
It seems like ants can and will get to just about anywhere they think they can find food. Sometimes that means invading our homes. Fortunately, there are multiple ant control solutions that you can make from things you probably have in your own kitchen. If your own efforts aren’t enough, remember that you can always contact the pest control professionals at Proterra Pest Control.
Do you need pest control services? Click here to contact Proterra Pest Control today!