Ants are tiny creatures that you might have seen on trees or at the playground, growing up as a kid. Kids tend to play with them but after becoming an adult people generally start to despise them. These are harmless little creatures when alone however, if you spot an ant in your home, in your backyard, in the kitchen, or anywhere within your home it should be a cause for concern. You see, ants do not live alone or act alone.
That single ant you saw was probably out there marking the way so that thousands of its colony members can attack your left-over food or crumbles lying around in the house. It is imperative that the ant infestation should be taken care of right after the first sight. Through ant pest control, you would want to eliminate the problem before it becomes out of hand because it only takes a few months for ant colonies to grow into thousands and another few months to grow into millions.
Getting rid of ants is not a cumbersome affair. There are multiple remedies for pest control & treatment Sydney which can be utilized to get rid of an ant infestation. Some of the best home remedies are mentioned ahead that will enable you to make your home ant free in the best possible manner:
- Liquid detergent and glass cleaner mix: Believe it or not, this quick mixture can help you deter the ants from getting in your house. What this mixture does is that it removes the pheromone trail left behind ants for their friends to follow.
- Silicon Dioxide: Diatomaceous earth also known as Silicon Dioxide is one type of silica which comprises of fossilized organisms of the sea called diatoms. This silica simply absorbs all the oil in the skeletons of ants and other bugs drying them out. Just ensure you do not breathe in or apply this on your skin to avoid irritation/allergy.
- Peppermint spray: This one is a natural insect repellent that helps you keep ants and many other bugs out of crucial places and crevices. Just add 20 drops of this essential oil in 2 cups of water and you are ready to spray it around your house. You do not need to wipe it off. Just let the mixture dry and see it in action.
- Pepper: Ants tend to avoid pepper as its smell irritates them. You should sprinkle some pepper behind appliances and boards to deter that ants from reaching those places.
- Tea Tree Oil: This oil has so many uses in home remedies that it would be foolish not to mention it here. Tea Tree oil works like a charm to remove ants as it also kills them. You just need 10 drops of it in 2 cups of water and you can go around in a spraying frenzy around your house if you wish. Just remember to keep it away from pets as it can make cats sick, just like other essential oils. Keeping concentrated cotton swabs around the house will also do the trick if you do not want to spray it.
- Corn starch: If your home becomes infested with a lot of ants and you want a quick fix then using corn starch and liberally pouring it off the group of ants or at their source will smother them. Although this remedy turns out to be messy and requires immediate cleaning after the process, you will have a lot of dead ants using this method.
- Boiling water: Not recommended for indoor but outdoor use in your garden, lawn, or backyard. Ant hills are small on the surface but can turn out to be huge colonies underneath. Adding boiling water on the source will result in instant kill. This might not be effective for 100% of the colony but doing it multiple times on all the holes will definitely make the survivors run away.
- Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus: OLE can be found across the length and breadth of Australia. Grandparents love it and it can be found in many households even today. PMD chemical found in OLE is a bio-pesticide and can be used to repel ants like other essential oils, either by spraying or rubbing it on the affected areas.
- White vinegar: This one is the fastest and the easiest remedy for pest treatment like ant infestation. Whenever you spot an ant or a group of ants you can wipe them with 50 50 water solution or use it straight. Wipe the countertops and floors of your house with it as ants can smell it for days while you can smell it only for hours.
- Cinnamon Leaf essential oil: when you see biting red ants in your house and are concerned about your kids then use cinnamon leaf essential oil. This kills those ants that can harm your kids and act as a deterrent later. It is easy to find it in health stores and is as effective as ant control Sydney
There are many other substances available at home that can be used to repel or kill ants like boric acid, Neem Oil, Borax, Coffee grounds, etc. that have been found to be effective in removing ants from homes.
It should be noted however that a clean home does not invite so many bugs including ants hence it is important to regularly clean the house and avoid leaving food all around. Indoor plants too can be a haven for ant colonies to develop hence you must treat your indoor plants regularly with citrus rinds.
This will repel ants and discourage them from making their home in the pot. If all the natural remedies do not work for you, then it is up to the professionals to help you out.
You can always get in touch with the local pest control guys who will treat your entire home in a safe and hygienic manner that will keep your house free of ants for a long time.
