Ant control can be a nuisance as once one venture inside your home in search of food, and scores something yummy, he’ll send a message home to call in all the troops.
Never fear, as you can get ready for battle with these three ingredients:
- Sugar
- Water
- Borax
Warning: Keep these traps away from kids or pets, as they are not safe to consume.
Get battle-ready – when there’s an ant infestation at your place, it means there’ll likely be loads of ants everywhere! Picture: Getty
How to create a homemade ant trap:
- In a small bowl, mix together 3 tablespoons of sugar with 1 tablespoon of Borax (or baking soda). The Borax shouldn’t overpower as ants won’t take the bait.
- Separate the mixture into 2-3 small sealable containers.
- With a straw or teaspoon, take a few drops of water and drip into each container. You want to create a paste, so slowly add more liquid as needed. Stir together until it’s like the consistency of maple syrup.
- Seal the lids tightly, then pierce small holes in the lid and upper side, which are big enough for the ants to crawl into the container.
- Now that your traps are ready, place these in areas most affected by ant intrusion, such as behind the fridge or at the back of a draw. Leave for a few days to attract the ants but don’t kill them, as you want to track the ant back to his colony. If you don’t see where the ant goes, spray a little vinegar on the next ant seen and watch it reverse back to the colony.
Powdered borax is white, consisting of soft, colourless crystals that dissolve in water. Picture: Getty
It’s the colony you really want to treat to remove the underlying issue. A chemical-free approach is to run a hose up to the colony and let it saturate the area so the ants get packing and move on.
A more hardcore option is to boil a saucepan of water with a decent amount of cayenne pepper (or vinegar will do the trick). Once boiled, remove the pot with protective mitts and pour over the colony to immediately destroy the nest.
Ant infestation prevention tips from cleaning experts UrbanYou
Now that you’ve gotten rid of the ants, it’s best to create a barrier to prevent an ant infestation from occurring again.
In a spray bottle, fill half with vinegar and the rest with water. Add a few drops of dishwashing mixture and shake well, then spray the areas where the ants used to be seen.
4 everyday tips to get rid of ants:
- Keep pet food off the floor on a pedestal. Or, place the pet dish inside a saucer or larger bowl. Pour some water around the outside to create a moat.
- Never leave food scraps laying around, especially those which are sweet like honey, and wipe the exterior of the bottle before placing back into the pantry.
- Rinse your recyclables and Tupperware containers well before storing.
- Spray a vinegar and water solution inside your garbage bin each time you remove the bag.
The super-clean kitchen at 5/1 Longworth Avenue, Point Piper. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
With these tips, you’ll have the ants marching one by one, right on out the door. Hoorah, hoorah!
Originally published as How to get rid of ants by Elke Keeley. Author at realestate.com.au.
