Ants in the house or on the patio can be a nuisance, but you definitely don’t need to resort to chemicals to get rid of them. Since ants have an extremely sensitive sense of smell, their keen sense of smell can be used to great effect against them.
Here are the best natural remedies for gently but effectively repelling ants:
- Scent Barriers (The Odor Stop)
Ants lay invisible scent trails (pheromones) that the other worker ants follow. If you mask this scent, the ant trail will collapse.
Essential Oils: Lavender, mint, or tea tree oil are unbearable for ants. Add a few drops of oil to water and spray it on their trails and entry points (such as door cracks).
Herbs & Spices: Place cinnamon powder, cloves, chili, or fresh marjoram leaves directly on the ant trail.
Lemon juice or vinegar: Wipe the affected floors with a 1:1 mixture of vinegar and water or lemon water. This completely neutralizes their pheromone trail.
- Mechanical barriers (The chalk trick)
Ants avoid certain alkaline substances because they irritate their sensitive antennae and respiratory system.
Chalk or baby powder: Draw a thick line with regular white chalk or sprinkle baby powder in front of doors and windowsills. Ants will usually not be able to cross this barrier.
- The gentle relocation (For the garden)
If an entire ant nest is located in a flowerpot or in an inconvenient spot in the garden, you can simply relocate it.
The flowerpot trick: Fill a clay flowerpot with wood wool or dry straw and place it upside down directly on the ant nest. After a few days, the ants will begin to move their nest, including the queen and pupae, into the cozy pot. Once the move is complete, carefully pick up the pot with a shovel and release the ants at least 30 meters away (e.g., at the edge of a forest).
Important to know: Please do not use the often-recommended baking powder or baking soda. If ants ingest these, they will swell internally and die a painful death. Since ants are extremely beneficial pest controllers in the garden (they eat aphids, mites, and dead insects), using scents to deter them is always the more humane and better option.