When you use chemical pesticides to kill ants, you risk polluting groundwater and harming beneficial species like bees, butterflies, and beetles.
Instead, try these natural ant-removal methods in your yard and house. They’re better for your family, pets, and the environment. How to get rid of outside ants?
Although not all of the compounds we offer are derived from nature, they are all far safer than chemical insecticides and do not pollute water. These techniques should work on the majority of ant species that infest lawns and dwellings.
How to Get Rid of Ants in a Natural Way
Diatomaceous Earth Is A Type Of Diatomaceous Earth (DE)
Diatomaceous earth (DE) is made up of microscopic organisms called diatoms that have left behind small fossils. Although the fossils are too small to harm people, they are lethal to ants. DE particles slash through the exoskeletons of ants, causing them to dehydrate and eventually die.
What you should do is:
Step 1: Purchase DE that is food-grade rather than industrial-grade. It resembles powder and is usually packaged in a bag. It’s available at most garden supply stores.
Step 2: Sprinkle the powder over anthills, ant trails, and other areas where ants have been sighted.
Step 3: To eliminate ants that try to infiltrate your property, sprinkle additional powder around patios, driveways, swing sets, and other high-traffic areas of your yard. You can contact franklin for ant pest control at the best rates.
Step 4: Sprinkle powder in front of any possible entry points into your home, including doors, windows, vents, and other openings. Spread DE powder about your pantry and sink, where ants are most likely to find a food source, if you already have ants inside.
Step 4: If the DE powder gets wet, replace it. That means every time it rains and you water the yard.
Downsides: DE loses its effectiveness when it gets wet, so you’ll have to reapply it frequently, especially if you’re outside. While DE isn’t poisonous, inhaling it or getting it in your eyes might cause irritation. While applying DE, we recommend wearing a dust mask and safety eyewear.
Baby Powder/Baking Soda
Baking soda and baby powder suffocate ants by obstructing their spiracles, which are the pores in their exoskeleton through which they breathe. Baking soda, when consumed, causes a chemical reaction within the ant that kills it.
What you should do is:
Step 1: Sprinkle baking soda or baby powder within the anthill, all around the anthill, along ant paths, and wherever else you’ve seen a lot of ants.
Step 2: Use baking soda or baby powder to create a barrier surrounding your outdoor living places, potential entry points, and interior food sources. Ants may pass through the barrier, but they should perish quickly.
Step 3: Make an ant bait with equal parts baking soda and powdered sugar for more extensive control. Ants will be drawn to the sugar and will consume it before returning it to the nest for consumption by other ants. They’ll die after ingesting the baking soda and sugar.
Downsides: While baby powder can be used anyplace, baking soda can cause your grass and soil to dry out. Both will be washed away by water, so reapply after rain or watering your lawn.
Bring Water To a Boil
How it works: When ants come into touch with boiling water, they are burned and killed. It also ruins the nest’s interior, so any ants that survive will most likely relocate to a new location.
What you should do is:
Step 1: Bring a big saucepan of water to a boil.
Step 2: Remove the mound that has formed over the entrance to the underground nest.
Step 3: Slowly pour the boiling water into the entrance of the nest. Instead of soaking the ground around the hole, make sure as much water as possible enters into it.
Step 4: If the ant colony is still active after a few days, repeat the process.
Cons: Boiling water can cause severe burns, so use caution when handling it. It also burns your grass and soil, potentially resulting in a damp spot on your lawn. Furthermore, there’s a chance that the water will cool before reaching the queen down underground, resulting in her death.
Boric Acid / Borax
Borax is a powder that contains boron, oxygen, and sodium. Boric acid is essentially a refined form of borax. Both include boron as a primary element and kill ants by disturbing their digestive processes when consumed.
What you should do is:
Step 1: Combine borax or boric acid with ant-attracting food to make an ant bait. Make many baits if possible, some with solid food (such as sugar) and others with liquid food (such as syrup).
Step 2: Place many baits in various ant-infested areas, both indoors and outside. Next to an anthill, in the center of an ant route, or near a food supply are all possibilities.
Step 3: If you observe ants swarming the bait, don’t kill them. Allow them to take the food (together with the borax or boric acid) back to their nest, where it will be devoured by even more ants.
Cons: If inhaled or consumed, both borax and boric acid are harmful to humans and pets. Wear gloves and protective goggles while constructing and setting up the baits because they may irritate you if they come into contact with you directly. Plants are also harmed by direct contact with borax or boric acid.
Water That Is Soapy
The soap dehydrates the ants by breaking down their cell membranes and destroying the protective wax coating that prevents them from losing water and dying. If you use oil, it will plug the ants’ spiracles (which they need to breathe) and cause them to suffocate.
What you should do is:
Step 1: For every quart of water, combine 1 tablespoon liquid dish soap or 14 cup Castile soap. To make the mixture even more effective, add canola oil, olive oil, or vegetable oil.
Step 2: Directly spray soapy water on any ants you observe outside the nest to destroy them.
Step 3: To kill the ants that remain underground, pour the solution into anthills in your yard (or inside ant nests, if possible).
Step 4: If necessary, spritz and pour the solution again. Soapy water will only kill ants that come into direct touch with it, and it will have no long-term impact.
Downsides: Because soap can harm some plants, it must be used with caution on the lawn and garden.
When Natural Methods Are Insufficient
If natural methods fail and your ant problem becomes unbearable, chemical pesticides may be necessary. In our complete guide to getting rid of ants in your yard and home, we go over the various ways to use insecticides.
Even pesticides aren’t always enough to eradicate an ant infestation. If you’re having trouble figuring out why your ants aren’t going away, you may need to hire a pest control company to help you.
How can you avoid an ant infestation in the first place? One of the most effective methods of prevention is to maintain a consistent lawn care regimen. However, maintaining a healthy lawn demands a significant amount of time and effort. That’s why Franklin Pest Control specialists are here to assist you.
Franklin Pest Exterminators provide the best services of ant exterminator in Indiana. If you’re looking for how to keep an ants out of house then this post is for you. For more information, you can contact us at (219) 600-4910.