Let us admit it. No one likes their kitchen taken over by ants. These unwanted guests can be annoying to deal with. Few things are more certain to spoil a spring morning than picking up a packet of sugar or a jar of jam only to discover it crawling with ants. Click here to learn more.
If you want to bid farewell to ants invading your kitchen, here are a few tips.
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Maintain A Tidy Kitchen
Ants are tenacious in their pursuit of food. They are especially fond of anything sweet, oily, sticky, meat-based, or pet food. Consider the following as an excellent motivator for your family to maintain kitchen cleanliness:
- Ensure surfaces of countertops, shelves, and cabinets are cleaned properly and often.
- The kitchen must be cleaned and vacuumed daily, and dirty dishes must be swiftly washed (or at least sealed tightly inside the dishwasher).
- Garbage is frequently removed and is well enclosed.
- You should all carefully rinse your recyclables.
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Lock Up Your Jars
Ensure all your containers’ lids are intact and firmly latched to prevent ants from accessing your food. Another recommended practice is to give the containers’ exteriors a thorough cleaning. To create a cheap yet effective ant barrier, you could also wish to submerge specific ant favorites in a shallow water dish, such as jam, jelly, or honey jars.
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Disallow Their Admission
While cinnamon or dish soap may smell nice, they are not always successful in keeping ants away. Ensuring any holes in doors, walls, or windows are effectively covered, sealed, and caulked if necessary can provide a better long-lasting solution.
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A Test of Acid
Ants are poisoned by boric acid. You may purchase ant poison kits or make your own by encircling a saucer of syrup with a ring of boric acid.
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Employ Experts
The aforementioned techniques should be sufficient to keep the neighborhood ant population under control and away from your cutting board. Still, some ant species need the assistance of a specialist. Carpenter ants may be identified by their fine sawdust droppings, small wings with broken tips that harmed woodwork, and rustling sounds coming from inside your walls.
Most ant species are not dangerous to people and can even be helpful by eliminating other pests. Still, they are unattractive in your kitchen and can contaminate your food. You may use common home products to use basic household things to keep your kitchen clean and free of ants all summer long by following the guidelines above as soon as the first few ants are noticed.
