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You are here: Home / Natural Pest Control / How To Get Rid Of Ants + 9 Natural Ways To Prevent Ants

How To Get Rid Of Ants + 9 Natural Ways To Prevent Ants

By Jennifer Updated: December 1, 2019. First published: July 10, 2014. This post may contain affiliate links. 12 Comments  

Do you have ants in your pants? Gosh, I sure hope not! But I bet you have ants in other places. Your garden, your patio, your garbage, your kitchen maybe? Want to prevent ants from making a home in your home?

I haven’t had an ant inside my house for 11 years. Yes, 11 years. You want to know my secret? Sure you do! Read on and don’t be afraid to click on the product links. They will take you to the products I personally use to prevent ants from invading my living spaces.

Ants invading a bamboo tree with the words 9 natural ways to prevent ants written in green.

9 Natural Ways To Prevent Ants from Invading Your Home and Garden

Diatomaceous Earth – I have written about this before in my other natural pest control posts. Diatomaceous earth, a natural mineral dust, dries out ants quickly but better yet, they carry it back to their nest and spread the love. This is the best way to prevent ant activity. All you need to do is sprinkle it around your garden areas and areas inside your home where ants hang out. This is the brand of Diatomaceous earth I use.

Liberal use of vinegar – Wipe the place where you have spotted ants with a 50-50 mixture of vinegar and water. The smell of vinegar removes their scent trails and thus keeps them away. This is great on outdoor patio furniture by the way!

Coffee grounds – Sprinkle some coffee grounds in your garden around the house. This keeps ants away because of the smell. You don’t need anything fancy. Cheap old Folgers works.

Citrus peels– Put citrus peels in hot water overnight. Then pour it around the plants where the ants are found. (This also deters a lot of other bugs as well).

Dry herbs and spices – Ants hate the smell of bay leaves, cayenne pepper, chili pepper, black pepper, cinnamon, mint leaves, turmeric powder, cloves and garlic. Just crush one or more of these herbs up and sprinkle them in front of the areas they tend to hang out in.

Pine essential oil – A mixture of pine essential oil and water can be used as a repellent against fire ants specifically. Just spray the area you will be in with this mixture and fire ants will steer clear! This one is affordable and works well!

Tansy plants – Planting a tansy plant outside near your garbage can helps to keep ants away from them. You can find a live root to transplant here.

Neem oil – To keep ants away from kitchen shelves and cabinets, wipe them once a month with a cloth dipped in a neem oil and water mixture (about 5 drops of neem oil to a half a cup of water). I have had success with this brand.

If you find ants heading for your honey jar or sugar jar, simply place the honey or sugar jar on a plate and put a little water in the plate. That keeps the ants from getting into your sweet stuff.

How To Get Rid Of Ants

Ants climbing up a pine board with the words "how to kill ants instantly" written in white

So what do I do if a see an ant getting to close to my humble abode? I blast it with EcoDefense. Made with Natural, Organic, and non-toxic ingredients, Eco Defense Pest Control Spray is the perfect solution for those looking to keep their homes free of pests and insects without the dangers of artificial sprays, baits, and pesticides commonly found on the market. It has virtually no odor, is safe around people, pets, and plants, and is very cost-effective. A little also gets the job done which is nice. On squirt kills ants within seconds.

EcoDefense Home Pest Control Spray Bottle in front of a new home with a tile roof. Blue sky with some clouds above the roofline
EcoDefense Home Pest Control Spray

Where can you find the herbs to make these ant preparations?

I get most of my herbs from my affiliate partner Amazon. I love the Frontier brand and Starwest Botanical brand available from Amazon.

What are your go-to natural ant control solutions? Please share your tips and tricks in the comments!

Be sure to check out all my other great natural pest control posts as well. I will teach you how to get rid of houseflies, keep mosquitoes at bay, stop slugs from nibbling your garden, keep moths out of your pantry and closets, prevent a spider invasion,  make earwigs a thing of the past, and more!

Ants in the kitchen on the floor
 

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Filed Under: Natural Pest Control
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About The Author

Jennifer, author of Hybrid Rasta Mama, is a former government recruiter turned work-at-home mama to a daughter brought earthside in early 2009. She is passionate about and writes about holistic health and wellness, natural/green living, toxic mold awareness, and the benefits of coconut oil. She frequently shares allergy friendly recipes on her site as well as DIY herbal remedies, DIY natural body care, and natural cleaning recipes.

Jennifer graduated with honors with a Bachelor's Degree in Ethnic Studies. In January 2019 she became a certified mold and moisture intrusion inspector. She has completed coursework in the naturopathic series offered by the Avicenna Institute and accredited through the Board of Natural Medicine Certification Council.

Jennifer is a member of the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors as well as the International Society for Environmentally Acquired Illness.

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Comments

  1. david says

    July 10, 2014 at 10:18 AM

    Great awesome website love the helpful content you have

    Reply
    • Brenda says

      June 8, 2020 at 7:28 AM

      I was spraying everything in my kitchen to get rid of ants and I tried wd40. Just a little bit of it sprayed on my counter top, not only killed them, but I’ve seen any others since. Soooo thrilled.

      Reply
      • Jennifer says

        June 11, 2020 at 3:07 PM

        WD40 actually works for a lot of crazy things! I am not surprised it took care of ants!

        Reply
  2. Kelly says

    July 14, 2014 at 10:17 AM

    I always feel kind of bad about killing ants…they are so fascinating and probably much cooler than we realize! But of course I’m not a fan of them inviting themselves into my place!

    I’ve had really good luck with peppermint essential oil in deterring all kinds of bugs; probably helps too that I clean with vinegar.

    Appreciate the Neem oil link too; unrelated but that is one of the best mosquito repellents I’ve ever found and they’ve stopped selling it in my local store!

    Reply
  3. David Ryan says

    January 14, 2015 at 12:57 PM

    Yeah. I sure don’t want gnomes in my garden. LOL

    Reply
  4. Steve says

    December 15, 2015 at 11:10 PM

    It seems to be a great and useful home pest control tricks against ants. Things like coffee grounds, pine and neem oils are more effective in controlling ants. These DIY methods are easy to use and can be done by anyone.

    Reply
  5. Caro says

    March 4, 2018 at 2:41 PM

    I found that sprinkling granulated garlic power around the base of your sunflowers, that keeps the ants off of them.

    Reply
  6. vicky rafael says

    April 29, 2018 at 1:13 PM

    At the front and backdoor we sprinkled cinnamon and we don’t have ants from those directions anymore.

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      May 17, 2018 at 11:41 AM

      Whoo hoo!

      Reply
  7. Ralph says

    August 14, 2018 at 6:02 AM

    Thank you so much for all the help and support with all my bug problems.This is great

    Reply
  8. Tom says

    August 9, 2019 at 12:42 AM

    Yes, chili pepper, black pepper, cinnamon, mint leaves, turmeric powder works very well to get rid of ants and keep it from creating a mess in your garden. Very informative post about natural ways.

    Reply
  9. Nancy says

    August 9, 2022 at 5:02 PM

    I mix baking soda and corn syrup and put it out where I see ants.

    Reply

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