TOP SECRET! Stop ants from carrying off your picnic. Place each picnic table leg in a plastic container, and fill it with water. The ants won’t be able to crawl past.
1. Create a “moat” around the object the ants are going for. Simply surround it with adhesive tape placed sticky side up.
2. Draw a line with chalk around home entry points. The ants will be repelled by the calcium carbonate in the chalk, which is actually made up of ground-up and compressed shells of marine animals. Scatter powdered chalk around garden plants to repel ants and slugs.
3. Some other household things ants hate are talcum powder, cream of tartar, borax, powered sulfur, and oil of cloves. You can put these items around your foundation and other points of entry to keep ants out.
TOP SECRET! Stop ants from carrying off your picnic. Place each picnic table leg in a plastic container, and fill it with water. The ants won’t be able to crawl past.
4. A baster is the right tool for hard-to-reach spots. If you’ve sprinkled a powdered ant deterrent, like boric acid, along any cracks or crevices where you’ve spotted the intruders, use a baster to blow small amounts of the powder into hard-to-reach corners and any deep voids you come across. Note: Keep in mind that boric acid can be toxic if ingested by young children or pets.
5. A flowerpot can help squelch fire ants. Place the flowerpot upside down over the anthill. Pour boiling water through the drain hole and you’ll be burning down their house.
6. You don’t need insecticides or ant traps to ant-proof your kitchen. Just give it the lemon treatment. First squirt some lemon juice on door thresholds and windowsills and into any holes or cracks where the ants are getting in. Then scatter small slices of lemon peel around the outdoor entrance.
7. Deter ants that are beating a path to your home by sprinkling salt across the doorframe or directly on their paths. Ants will be discouraged from crossing this barrier.
8. In a blender, make a smooth puree of a few orange peels in 1 cup of warm water. Slowly pour the solution over and into anthills in your garden, on your patio, and along the foundation of your home to send the little pests packing.
9. Cayenne pepper sprinkled in spots where the ants are looking for sugar, such as along the backs of your countertops or on your baseboards, will tell them that no sugar is ahead.
10. Keep cooking essentials, including sugar and paprika, safe from ant intruders by slipping a bay leaf inside your storage containers. If you’re concerned about the sugar picking up a bay leaf flavor, tape the leaf to the inside of the canister lid.
11. An anti-ant aromatherapy trick is to tape sachets of sage, bay, stick cinnamon, or whole cloves inside cabinets. This will smell pleasant while discouraging ants.
12. Ants hate the smell of vinegar. So pour equal parts water and white vinegar into a spray bottle. Then spray it on anthills and around areas where you see the insects. Also keep the spray bottle handy for outdoor trips or to keep ants away from picnics or children’s play areas.
13. If you have lots of anthills around your property, try pouring full-strength vinegar over them to hasten the bugs’ departure.