10 Powerful Homemade Ant Killer Recipes

What effective homemade ant killer with or without borax can I prepare at home easily? Find out more in this natural ant killer guide.

Ant invasion is a problem a lot of people face. You may not mind seeing termites and ants around your home, but when they storm your privacy, immediate action should be taken.

Sometimes this involves eliminating the problem from the source.

We are interested in discussing homemade non-toxic ant killer strategies you can use. These are not difficult and are environmentally safe too.

  • Identifying the Ant Species

There are several species of ants. Not all of these species will respond to the same treatment. You need to know exactly the problem you are facing to apply the most appropriate extermination method.

Some of the most prominent species include carpenter and odorous ants.

Identification will require proper observation.

  • What Makes Ants Thrive?

It is important to have an understanding of ant behavior. Ants live in highly organized colonies. These have nests from which the workers or foragers making 10% of the population go out in search of food.

An ant colony is likely to thrive when there is an adequate supply of food and water.

These are found in abundance around human dwellings.

  • Advantages of DIY Ant Killers

Multiple DIY methods of exterminating ants abound. One of the characteristics common to all includes readily available ingredients as well as a cost-effective treatment option.

DIY ant killers are easy to mix. You are likely to have most of the ingredients needed. If you don’t, do not fret as these are cheap items you can buy over the counter.

Most DIY methods are also environmentally friendly and safe around your kids and pets.

Types of DIY Homemade Ant Killers

There are several strategies to kill ants. This section will list some of these methods. You can choose to use one or more of these.

These include ant sprays and traps.

  • Cornmeal Colony Killer Trap

Using cornmeal as bait, you can use to exterminate entire colonies of ants. How can this be achieved?

First, you need to know that foraging ants do not eat solids but will rather carry these to their colonies. Good old borax is mixed with cornmeal and kept on a low plate and placed in areas where ants are most active.

To get the best results, 70 parts of cornmeal should be mixed with 30 parts of borax. It’s as simple as that! Ants will soon find their way and transport this bait straight to the rest of the colony. This is an easy way to wipe out an entire colony.

  • Sticky Cards

This DIY ant killer is made from pieces of cardboard. Other items include corn syrup as well as boric acid. An equal part of boric acid is mixed with the syrup. This forms a pasty and sticky solution. The paste should be applied to the cardboard or similar material. Boric acid is poisonous; therefore care should be taken when using this method.

Ants get killed by this bait as they feed and also get stuck. We recommend you skip this method if you have kids or pets around. However, if you prefer using it, utmost care should be exercised. Such should be placed in out-of-reach areas.

  • Water and Vinegar Water Spray

This is an easy-to-make spray that requires an equal part of water and white vinegar.

This should be mixed and poured into a spray bottle. You can spray this mixture wherever you see ants. It is very effective as well as eliminates worries about safety.

This is because it can be used around kids and pets.

Water and Vinegar spray can also be used in cleaning surfaces. This eliminates pheromones released by ants signaling a source of food to other members of their colonies.

Vinegar effectively repels ants.

  • Essential Oil Spray

Essential oils fix a lot of pest issues. These are also great ant killers you can use. There are several of these oils; however, some of the most commonly used include peppermint, clove, and tea tree essential oils. Using any of these would suffice.

To make this spray, simply get a cup of water mixed with an equal part of white vinegar. 40 drops of essential oil should be added to this mixture and poured into a spray bottle.

This should be properly mixed and applied accordingly. Essential oil spray can be used as an ant killer as well as a repellent. This means you can spray directly onto ants or spray around your home as a barrier to repel them.

  • Peanut Butter

This is a trap that is made from straws filled with a mixture of peanut butter and boric acid. Depending on the species of ants, peanut butter is a great bait that makes them ingest the boric acid poison.

To make this bait, you need a few plastic straws to pack the mixture of boric acid and peanut butter. After filling these straws with the mixture, they are cut and spread along ant routes or paths.

  • Sugar Cotton Balls and Borax Trap

To make this DIY ant killer, you first need to boil a cup of water. The same quantity of sugar is added plus 2 tablespoons of borax. This mixture should be stirred continuously until it is fully dissolved.

The next step is to get your cotton buds ready. These are soaked in the mixture and placed on a flat container. This sticky bait attracts and kills ants instantly.

  • Water and Dish Soap Spray

In making this homemade ant killer, you do not need to complicate things. Simply get some water and pour in a sufficient amount of liquid dish soap. This should be poured into a spray bottle and shaken well. You want to get a water solution that is soapy enough.

This mixture should be sprayed on ants wherever they may be found.

It is a cheap ant killer that gives you instant results.

  • Sprinkling Diatomaceous Earth Around their Exit Points

Upon close examination, you can easily trace the nests of ants. After establishing the location of the nest, you should sprinkle some diatomaceous earth around these entries/exits.

The hairy bodies of ants pick the particles of this non-toxic pesticide leading to death by desiccation.

This ant killer is safe to use around kids and pets.

  • A mixture of Baking Soda and Sugar (Powdered)

This is an effective ant killer you can make.

The only ingredients needed are powdered sugar mixed with baking powder in a ratio of 70:30. The sugar serves as the bait while baking soda will instantly kill ants.

This is most effective outside as the chances of pet poisoning are reduced.

Salt has also be found to control ants.

  • Sugar Liquid and Boric Acid Trap

Boric acid has a similar effect on ants that diatomaceous earth does. This ant killer not only traps and kills ants but is ingested by other members of the colony.

Sugar serves as a perfect bait for ants while boric acid kills them in no time. You should be careful not to use it around pets as it can lead to poisoning.

It is best to consider other treatments for the safety of your pets.

Preventive Measures for Ant Control

Having discussed the different homemade ant killers, it is important that we also discuss some preventive measures.

These are necessary because, with the right preventive measure, you are spared from committing a substantial part of your time, fighting ants.

Below are some effective ways to do this;

  • Mint

Mint plants give off a strong pleasant smell. However, ants do not like this. You can have potted mint plants within and inside your house. Another way is by sprinkling crushed mint leaves around entrances.

This is one of the ant-repellent plants that work like magic and keeps ants away.

  • Keeping a Clean Environment

Ants are less likely to get obtain food from clean surroundings. By cleaning up, you are eliminating every food crumbs that may attract ants. Also, you can use essential oils in cleaning up surfaces to eliminate any pheromones secreted by ants as a strategy for locating food sources.

  • Identifying all Entry Points

Ants will come into your home in a variety of ways. To get rid of them, there are several repellents you can use. Other strategies include caulking or plugging these entry/exit points.

Such repellents include used coffee grounds, swabbing essential oils like Lavender, Peppermint, and Eucalyptus around such points.

Others include the application of cinnamon, whole cloves; and sprinkling red chili powder or paste.

You can also apply bay leaves, sage, peels of cucumber, and ground black pepper to these points as well. These are effective in keeping ants away.

Do-It-Yourself homemade ant killers are very easy to make. The most important thing is that you know what to mix. Most types of ants are usually harmless when they are outside our comfort zone.

However, these are seen as threats when they are too close. Under such circumstances, you will need to exterminate them immediately.

Some of these methods are safe around pets while others are not. It is advisable that you only use those DIY homemade ant killer methods which are safe to use if you have kids and pets. These are cheap, yet highly effective ways to kill ants.

With these, you should have little worries about how to control these pests going forward.

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