Are you freaking out because a lot of ants have attacked your kitchen counter? These tiny creatures, although small in size can really piss you off by showing up every single time you leave your kitchen or clean the counter up. And one of the first concerns for almost everyone for their kitchen is “how do I get rid of ants on my kitchen counter?”.
It might seem like getting rid of these ants is impossible, but we have got your back! There are a few tips and tricks that might help you get rid of these, to get hold of all the tips and tricks to keep reading this blog until the end.
How Do I Get Rid of Ants on My Kitchen Counter?
The first step is to look for the entry point from where these ants are coming from. Then demolish the entry point by spraying the vinegar-water solution (half portion each) on the entrance. You can also use soapy water, lemon, herb, and spices, insect repellent, or other natural ingredients that work as insect repellents like cornmeal, rice, cucumber peel, coffee, and chalk and baby powder.
Getting rid of ants does not require any science but only a good observation and applying some common sense. Just cleaning up your counter is not a permanent solution to this problem as they can always come back. You will have to investigate permanent solution to this otherwise it’ll be a constant struggle.
Discover the entry point
Carefully observe the ants roaming around on your kitchen counter and trace their path to discover the entry point. It might be a window, split in floor, siding, or crack in your wall that is not properly seen by the naked human eye.
Just when you discover the entrance of the ants, half of your worry should already be squished away because if ants are marching out from that area, then all you have to do is to thoroughly clean it up to prevent the ants from entering and roaming around on your kitchen counter in the future.
You should keep in mind that it will not always be an easy task to locate them or the entry point, the first reaction that you can have to this problem is to immediately spray insect repellent on the colony.
Demolish the ant entry point
Destroying the entry point permanently can be a bit tricky because even if you see only a single ant on your kitchen counter, there will probably be chances of seeing more of them on your kitchen counter in a few minutes or so. This is because the ants leave a special odor for other ants to follow their track whenever they travel. This means that if one of them knows where you at, then everybody knows!
You should keep this thing in mind that mopping the floor with simple water will not be as effective as spraying about ½ a portion of vinegar with ½ a portion of water on the effected surface. Make sure that you spray this solution on the areas that are suspicious to be an entrance for the ants. In case you do not have vinegar at home, then you may go for bleach as an alternative for vinegar because essentially both bleach and vinegar eradicate the path of ants left behind for other ants.
Try to repel ants with soapy water
To repel the ants with soapy water, all you need is a spray bottle filled with water and a cap full of liquid soap diluted together. Shake the bottle well before you start spraying. After spraying the solution, wait for about 5 minutes before wiping up the counter because it would be easy to wipe off your counter once the ants stop moving.
This solution is safe to use as it does not contain any insecticides or any sort of ingredients that can be harmful to kids or pets. In case you are out of liquid soap, you may make your own DIY liquid soap by scrubbing off a chunk of soap bar and diluting it in about 1 tbsp of water and then microwaving it for about 30 seconds.
Try to repel ants with lemon
To repel the ants with lemon, all you need to do is to dilute about ¼ portion of lemon juice with ¾ portion of water in a big container so that you can dip your duster easily into the solution and wipe down your counter to repel the ants. The citrus smell of the lemon repels the ants. Moreover, for this purpose, you can use orange peels or cucumber rinds as alternatives too.
Try to repel the ants with herbs and spices
A lot of herbs and spices are known to be insect repellents (such as cinnamon). All you need to do is to scatter around some cinnamon on your counter right after you are done working. The only drawback of this hack is that the cinnamon might end up giving your kitchen a spicy scent. Apart from cinnamon, you can also use various herbs as an alternative such as basil leaves, bay leaves, mint leaves, black pepper, cloves, cayenne pepper, and chili powder.
Try using DE (diatomaceous earth) to expel ants
DE (diatomaceous earth) is known to be an insect repellent which is easily available in the market. Just observe the track of the ants that are marching around your kitchen counter. Before spraying the DE, make sure that you have read all the precautions and instructions mentioned on the bottle label. The DE does not work when wet, you will have to wait for a few minutes for the DE to dry out leaving behind a finely grounded powder that is known to terminate the ants.
Click here to have a look at the DE I could find which would be good.
Try to repel ants with natural ingredients
Just like organic herb and spices, there are a lot of natural ingredients out there that work as an insect repellent (such as, cornmeal, rice, cucumber peel, coffee, and chalk and baby powder). All you have to do is to sprinkle a little bit of the product on your counter evenly to check out which one of these ingredients may work out for you (because what might work for one household might not work out for another).
There is no harm in using these natural ingredients to get rid of ants from your kitchen counter because mostly we only need some strong smell to keep the ants off. They avoid traveling to the places where they suspect some kind of strong scent so if we can provide that with natural ingredients, then it’s well and good.
Seal the entry points
After trying out all the remedies, the only option left is to seal the openings or cracks in the wall with some sealant (Like caulk). That is because caulk is known to be the most effective and non-toxic sealant in the market which is safe to use if you have pets or children at home. To fill the holes and cracks effectively with caulk, all you have to do is to insert the tip into the hole and fill it until the caulk slightly overflows from the hold or crack indicating that the hole /crack is completely sealed leaving no space behind for the ants to enter.
How Do I Prevent the Ants from Coming Back?
To prevent ants from coming back all you need to do is to keep a strict check while cleaning your kitchen counter and making sure that there is no food residue left behind. For all this, you can try wiping out your counter with some bleach and vinegar or lemon juice diluted in the water right after you are done cooking or working in the kitchen.
Final Verdict
Once in our lives, all of us have been stressed out because of ants finding their way out to our kitchen counter and we wonder to ourselves, “how do I get rid of ants on my kitchen counter?”. A lot of remedies such as using vinegar, bleach, natural ingredients, herbs, species, and lemon have been discussed in this blog. Just do not lose hope. If one hack does not work for you, try the next one because you never know which one would suit you the most.
Apparently, the most precise repellent is known to be lemon and vinegar. If you are successfully getting rid of the ants on your kitchen counter, you will have to take safety measures for the ants not to come back, by keeping your counter clean 24/7. (It might seem difficult but it’s what you have to do.
Stay Happy and Safe! 🙂
