The Sunday Mail
White vinegar
MIX three parts vinegar and one part water. Spray the solution under doorways, in the yard or even on your picnic blanket. The pungent liquid helps cover up ant scent trails, messing with their tracking abilities. Next time you mop the floor, pour a bit of vinegar into the bucket for good measure.
Borax
Borax, a mineral used in many cleaning products, is lethal to ants; it interferes with their digestive system. Create a syrupy paste with borax, confectioner’s sugar and water. Put the mixture inside shallow containers with narrow, ant-sized openings, and place them near ant mounds or wherever you see these insects. Enticed workers carry the sweet substance back to the nest to share with their friends. Note: Although borax has a low toxicity rate for humans, home experts recommend keeping borax-laced bait away from children and pets.
Pepper
Pepper does not kill ants, but the strong odour will chase them away. Pour the ground black or cayenne version onto ant scent trails. Alternatively, mix pepper and water in a spray bottle and spritz your home’s entry points.
Cinnamon
Natural and non-toxic, cinnamon not only kills ants, but its strong smell makes it shine as a repellent, too. According to experts, cinnamon can be especially effective when sprinkled around anthills, across their paths, on kitchen countertops and along floorboards. Cinnamon essential oil can effectively repel and exterminate ants, too.
Fresh mint
Ants do not like the smell of fresh mint. As such, planting it in vegetable patches and flower beds deters ants and other insects while giving your garden a lovely aroma. Essential oils from peppermint, wintergreen, geranium, thyme, clove and rosemary work, too!
Cornmeal and boric acid
Contrary to popular belief, cornmeal does not kill ants, by exploding them or otherwise. Ants are pretty keen on cornmeal, so spreading too much of it around might worsen your infestation. You can, however, weaponise cornmeal in your fight against ants by mixing it with boric acid, a cousin of borax.
Mix nine parts cornmeal with one part boric acid, and add a generous amount of soya bean oil or peanut butter to create a paste. Place the homemade bait near gaps and crevices, anywhere ants are on the march. Like borax, any bait containing boric acid should be kept away from kids and animals.
Flour
Stop ants in their tracks. Scatter all-purpose flour liberally at door thresholds, on window sills and across foundations. Alternatively, use a sifter to apply a dusting of flour directly along their path to disrupt their pheromone trail.
Citrus
The natural acids in tangy citrus, such as lemon, orange, lime and grapefruit, work wonders at keeping ants at bay by masking their scent trails — at least temporarily. Squeeze lemons into a spray bottle, or rub a pureed blend of orange peel and water on window sills and door jambs to discourage the itsy-bitsy insects from crossing over.
Coffee grounds
This popular ant-repelling tactic has been around for years. Sprinkle coffee grounds around the stems of indoor and outdoor plants, and flowers. Some say it is the smell that repels them; others claim ants do not like the feeling of the grounds under their feet. Either way, it works!
Sugar
If you cannot beat them, divert them! Extend a sugar trail from your house to your outdoor compost pile. Ants can feast to their hearts’ content, and need not darken your door again.
Ant-repellent myth: baking soda
There is virtually no scientific evidence that supports the theory that baking soda can kill ants. It is best to save your soda for baking. — Wires
