Common household products can be used as natural solutions against ants. For instance, chalk lines will prevent them from crossing them because their powdery surface disrupts their scent trail.
Pepper powder can effectively deter ants. Simply sprinkle it along their paths or combine it with water to spray around home entry points for effective results.
Bay leaves
Bay leaves are highly effective at deterring ants due to their unpleasant odor and bitter taste, as well as by disrupting ant pheromone trails. Plant them in your garden or place them around your home – these natural alternatives to chemical pesticides are safe for both children and pets!
Red chili powder makes an effective ant repellent by serving as an insecticide and blocking off airways of insects that pass through it. You can sprinkle this around areas where ants frequent, either alone or combined with borax for maximum effectiveness.
Fresh or dried bay leaves make excellent natural ant repellents, particularly in food storage facilities. Place some in your pantry, dry goods containers, and near entrances of your home as a preventive measure against moths and flour beetles that cause grain infestations.
Chili powder
Chili powder is one of the best natural ant repellents, as it works by irritating and suffocating ants. Easily available in most markets, chili powder can be saturated onto ant trails or sprinkled around entry points into your home to deter ants from coming near sensitive plants and vegetables.
Rub rubbing alcohol around aphid-infested plants in your garden to combat them safely and effectively, yet safely against health hazards associated with harsh commercial pesticides that pose numerous risks. Rubbing alcohol offers an effective alternative that provides much lower health risks than its harsher commercial counterparts.
Citrus fruits contain natural acids which work wonders in keeping ants away, as do their peels. Try adding lemon juice or orange peels near entryways of your house while mopping, and squeezing lemon juice onto mop bucket while cleaning, then placing peels near entry points to deter ants from coming in. Alternatively, spray white vinegar mixed with water or sprinkle cayenne pepper, cinnamon or peppermint oil on surfaces around entry points as ant repellents.
Talc
Talcum powder has a musty scent that deters ants, making it an inexpensive solution. You can sprinkle it around entryways or directly on them. Talcum powder works by disrupting their pheromone trail – which pests use to communicate within their colony – by disrupting it with disruptor molecules from talc or cinnamon; its scent cannot be tolerated by ants so they avoid areas touched by it.
Vinegar is another proven natural treatment for ants. Mixing it with water makes a spray that can be used on ant trails to disrupt their pheromone trail, making it harder for pests to find food sources. Boric acid can also be used effectively as it works by eroding their outer shells and stomachs – mix it in with sugar water solutions before spraying on colonies or garden spaces for best results.
Salt
Salt is a versatile household ingredient and an effective treatment against ants. This method relies on its dehydrating effect, which causes them to die off. Table salt (not health-promoting rock salt) should be sprinkled around the home as needed for best results.
As an alternative method of controlling pests, combine equal parts table salt and boiling water in a spray bottle before liberally spraying ant mounds with this solution. It should kill many of the ants but may not completely eradicate all of your problems.
Molasses can also help, by masking the insecticidal properties of borax and making its use even more effective against ants.
Ants tend to avoid areas with cayenne pepper due to its spicy fragrance irritating them and dissuading them from entering your home. You could sprinkle pepper over any entrances to keep ants at bay.