Many essential oils can kill or deter ants from your home. One of those is peppermint oil. This is one of my favorite solutions because I love how it smells, AND it gets rid of ants. Just put a few drops on a cotton ball and wipe down common ant entry points (windows, holes, doors, etc.). This breaks up the scent the ants leave behind to get to the food.
Another great essential oil is teatree oil. Just like peppermint oil, you can place the teatree oil on a cotton swab and rub it on the places where ants are most likely entering your home from. However, teatree oil is also great as a general household cleaner, so you could just add it to your homemade cleaning solution and help deter ants that way.
If you want to get serious about dealing with ants, then you’ll want clove essential oil. Unlike the other two oils, this one will actually kill ants upon contact. So only use it if that’s what you’re going for.
For another approach, get some food-grade diatomaceous earth. It’s a substance that does no harm to humans but is lethal for ants and other bugs. Simply sprinkle the diatomaceous earth on the ants and where they walk, and it will eventually kill them.
Vinegar is another way to deal with ants. Since it’s so strong, it wipes away the pheromone trail that ants leave for each other, effectively cutting them off from one another. Add ¼ cup of white or apple cider vinegar to ¼ cup of water in a spray bottle. Shake and spray the mixture on the ants and their entry points to get rid of them.
Lemon juice is another fantastic option to repel ants. Add equal parts purified water and lemon juice to a spray bottle and go to town. You can also add some of the aforementioned essential oils to make it even more potent. But it’s up to you.
A really simple yet effective solution for ants is just soap and water. Mix liquid soap with water in a spray bottle and then spray the ants and their entryways. The soap will breakdown their exoskeleton, killing the ants and solving your problem. So easy!
Pepper is also a great natural way to repel ants. You have two options. You can put pure pepper around high-traffic areas for the ants, and that should deter them. You could also mix pepper with some water and spray the ants. It won’t kill them, but they won’t like it, so it will deter them.
