Get Rid of Ants in Kitchen
Now that the warmer weather has arrived, you’ll notice that there are a lot more bugs around. Hopefully they’ve decided to stay outdoors, but your home may appear to be a welcoming location for them to stay.
Ants in the kitchen are a very common problem in the springtime. Trying to figure out how to get rid of ants in your kitchen? Here’s how you can do so safely.
Remove Garbage
It’s common for garbage to accumulate in your kitchen area, and this is a main reason why ants are in your kitchen. You probably have a garbage can where you throw out food scraps, packages and more. It doesn’t take long for these items to give off an odor. Ants will become attracted to this smell.
Make sure you’re taking your garbage out frequently to minimize the odor. You should also keep countertops cleaned up.
Wipe Down Surfaces
A clean kitchen will deter ants much more than a dirty kitchen will. You can use a homemade vinegar spray to keep surfaces clean. Vinegar is a smell that ants don’t really prefer. You can also use dish soap. Dish soap creates a deadly surface for ants, and the fresh scent that many soaps come with will naturally repel all types of ants.
Look for the Source
The ants are coming inside from somewhere on your property. It may take a little bit of investigative work, but you need to spend a little bit of time looking for the source of the ants.
Most of the time you will find an ant hill nearby on the outside of your home. If you destroy the hill, there won’t be ants that will be trying to get in. You can then fill up the cracks or gaps where they were getting in.
Look for Safe Products
There are a number of pesticide sprays that you can use outside your home, but you can also look for something that can be safely used inside of your kitchen. There are bait traps that attract ants. They will eat the bait and die shortly after. Some traps will keep the ants contained so they aren’t wandering around your kitchen.
Just make sure that you purchase something that is completely safe if you have pets or children in the home. You can also consider spraying the base boards of your home with a safe product that will deter ants from coming into your kitchen and other living areas.
Use Natural Products
There are a number of items in your home right now that will repel ants. We talked about using vinegar, but you can also set out some lemons, cinnamon or peppermint.
The strong smell from these items will act as a natural repellent. Placing salt around the area where the ants are will force the ants to walk through the salt. Salt will make for a very dangerous situation for the ants to try and survive.
Ants are just one of the annoying pests that will try to get into your home in the spring and summer months. Being diligent early on will typically prevent ants from making their way in.
In addition to keeping your kitchen clean, you can use a preventative home defense spray on the exterior of your home. This will prevent bugs from getting to the foundation.
