With six legs and a pair of pain-inducing mandibles, ants aren't the type of guest you typically invite over for an afternoon brunch. But -- with or without an invitation -- ants will gladly enter your kitchen in their never-ending quest for food. When they show up, use the three simple recipes below to send them scurrying away (without coming back for seconds).  

1. Peppermint Victory

If you're worried that prepping for ants is complicated, fear not! This peppermint recipe has just two ingredients:  peppermint oil and water. The combination may not sound like much, but ants despise peppermint oil.

To make this recipe, add a few drops of peppermint oil to a cup of water. Stir until the oil is fully mixed with the water. Next, use a clean cloth to rub the menthol-smelling concoction on surfaces where the ants are entering your kitchen.

You can also use this recipe to spray ants directly. Then, as the ants run away, cherish the minty-fresh smell of victory!

2. Coffee to Go

If you don't want your kitchen smelling like peppermint for the next week, consider serving your ants coffee instead.

Coffee has a powerful odor that throws ants off when they are detecting trails. Knowing this, you can easily use coffee to keep ants out of your kitchen. You won't even have to turn on the espresso machine. All you'll need are fresh coffee grounds and -- optionally -- cheesecloth.

Place the coffee grounds on the trails where the ants are entering your kitchen. For easier cleanup, pour the coffee grounds into cheesecloth first, and then use it to block the ants' trails.

Of course, you'll want to be sure to keep your kitchen clean, which will help prevent the ants from using new trails to enter your kitchen.   

3. Lemonade (Hold the Sugar)

If you love your coffee too much to give it to the ants (and who could blame you), then make the ants some fresh lemonade instead.

You won't even need to add sugar. Just use a damp cloth to wipe lemon juice on the areas where the ants are entering your kitchen.

Repeat this process several times until the ants leave and stop coming back.

In many cases, it's easy to get rid of ants invading your kitchen using the simple recipes above. However, large infestations sometimes require more drastic measures. For these situations, call a pest control technician (such as one from Aardvark Pest Control) to keep the unwanted guests out of your kitchen.  

Share