Just a few little black ant scouts? An ant infestation? Here a few tactics you can try with things you have at home.

I’ve recently been invaded by ants. I don’t like it one bit. So after scouring the internet and trying a multitude of things I listed below all of the basics so you could rid yourself of ants as quickly as I did! It’s easier than you think!

Rid your home of ants by erasing their trail and baiting the nest. With this proven method there’s no need to find the colony, let the ants do the heavy work for you. Stay calm and act quick before the colony finds you!

First understand that ant colonies send out scouts to… scout for new food sources. This is why you can occasionally find them combing your bathroom, office, or nursery. Yuck.

Before you start squishing every nasty little ant you see, look closely and observe where the ant trail is. They lay down a pheromone trail (up to 700 ft. mind you!) so that they can find their way back when they go tell their friends about your fabulous new sugar scrub recipe or where the kiddo dropped his sippy cup of juice. UGH.

How to destroy the trail

• Grab a couple small rags or paper towels.
• Vinegar. White or apple work great although I bet red wine vinegar could work in a pinch! It’s the acetic acid that you’re looking for.

You want to remove the pheromone trail. Try to remove as much as you possibly can because ants have an outrageously great sense of smell. Dampen a cloth with a bit of water and vinegar. Wipe away the trail and the ants with it. After you’ve destroyed their trail with vinegar and let it set for a few minutes use another cloth dampened with a bit of water to rinse the vinegar away as well as any straggling ants.

This works from discouraging the ants from setting up a super highway through your home although it means they will just look somewhere else.

At this point I like to cover the old trail with a scent that I like but the ants don’t. Peppermint, cinnamon, lavender, clove… I simply take a tissue or cotton swab doused with a bit of essential oil and wipe along the counter, base boards or walls… wherever the ants had their trail.

This not only helps repel the ants but covers the vinegar smell as well. I recently used peppermint essential oil in my home office and lavender in the nursery, keeping me energized and the nursery relaxing. Who knew that getting rid of ants in the home could be so therapeutic?

For heavier infestations

If ants are still coming into the house through a crack, they may be a bit confused when they find that their trail is washed away. Here is where you’ll most likely want to bait the ants with something they can take back to poison the colony. Keep in mind that black garden ant (workers) can live for about 4 years and the queen can live for up to 30!

Boric acid can be found naturally in soils and water. It is used as an antiseptic for wounds, helps prevent athletes foot, and is also an ingredient in eye wash. Too much can be poisonous but right now that’s exactly what we want to serve up to our little home invaders.

Do you have a tub of Borax in the laundry room? Great! If not, your grocery store should carry it near the cleaning supplies. Grab your Borax and let’s get going!

Here’s a classic recipe to get rid of ants and their colony:

• Borax (which contains boric acid)
• sugar
• water

Simply mix equal parts of Borax and sugar. Add just enough water to make a paste. You’ll want to put this by the crack where the ants can gobble it up and take it back to the colony. (By Felicia!) A few uncomfortable days of this is better than being a luxury suite for an army of ants, no?

Simply apply a blob of your solution onto a little dish (jar lid or bottle cap kind of thing) and set it where the ants are. Make it easy for them to reach. I’ve seen a few folks put it on a piece of cardboard.

Don’t have Borax on hand? No problem. Try some of these other home remedies:

• Cream of wheat or corn meal apparently expands in their bellies killing the ones who eat it.
• Equal and Splenda are toxic to ants. Mix with a bit of sugar and a touch of water and place on a shallow dish where the ants are.
• Diatomaceous earth, chalk and baby powder (talc) can be used to create barriers ants won’t cross.
• Baking soda and powdered sugar (or baking soda with a bit of apple juice) supposedly disrupts their pH causing them to die.

What if there are tons of ants everywhere?!

Perhaps you found a million ants swarming the dog food in the garage, or the sugar in the kitchen cupboard… stay calm. Bait them with the borax solution above and let them eat their fill! Remove what initially attracted them if possible. Leave it be for a day or so, I know it seems hard to do. When the activity decreases you can vacuum up what you can. Eliminate the trail with vinegar like detailed above. You’ll be glad you destroyed the nest!

Keep kids and pets out of your mix. Try putting it into a small plastic bottle or tub, secure the lid on tightly and then poke holes big enough for the ants to crawl in and out of. Be sure to put the holes high enough so the borax mixture won’t leak out. Rocks can be added to prevent it from being knocked over and also works well when using outside or around the garden.

Well there you have it folks! A few simple, natural remedies to safely rid your home of ants.

It took 2 days to get the ants out of my home. Now I suppose my neighbors should read this article!

Anything to add? Drop it in the comments below! XO