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Home » Lifehacks

How To Get Rid of Ants Overnight (The Easy Way)

Modified: Jan 13, 2023 by Elisabeth Kruger · This post may contain affiliate links · 27 Comments

There is absolutely nothing worse than going to the kitchen to make your morning tea or coffee, only to find a trail of ants leading from the door or a crack in the floor somewhere, to a little crumb that you overlooked the night before.

get rid of ants diy

Ants ruin everything!

Jump to:
  • Here are some other easy natural remedies to keep these annoying critters out of your house:

They’re so tiny but all show up in such massive troops that they manage to take over completely.


I’m not a fan of bug sprays and the regular repellants that have such strong odors—I get nervous about all the chemicals they contain, especially with my pets sniffing around—so I’ve been looking for some natural help to ward off nature’s army.

I found the answer in Borax. Borax is a natural mineral that is used in most bug sprays, so why not just go straight for the source?

All you need is one cup of warm water, half a cup of sugar, two tablespoons of Borax and some cotton balls.

Mix all your ingredients together and then soak the cotton balls in the Borax concoction.

Then you just need to place those balls anywhere where the tiny soldiers seem to come in and trail along. The next morning you’ll be waking up to dead ants and a cheerful smile! Idea from yalesafe.

Here are some other easy natural remedies to keep these annoying critters out of your house:

Vinegar – Ants hate vinegar, so this one’s real easy: make a mixture of half vinegar and half water in a spray bottle.

Simply spray all the areas where they come in from with your mixture and you won’t be seeing these suckers around anymore! You can also spray it directly on the ants to kill them if they’re already inside.

Chalk – A regular piece of sidewalk chalk can save your home from an ant invasion. Y

ou just need to draw a thick line with the chalk outside the door or wherever else they’re coming in from and the ants won’t cross that line.

Cinnamon – Use cinnamon just as you would the chalk – create a line of it around the outside of your house as well as any spots inside to keep them from coming in. Your house will smell nice, too!

Lemon Juice – A simple solution of half lemon juice and half water can sprayed around the inside of your home to keep the ants out – the strong citrus aroma deters the pests.

Essential Oils –These aromatic oils may smell nice to us, but ants don’t feel the same way. Make a mixture of 10 drops in one cup of water and spray that in the affected areas.

You can use lemon oil, lavender oil, peppermint oil, cedar oil or eucalyptus oil. Take note: eucalyptus oil is highly toxic to cats so don’t use this is you have a kitty!

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  1. judee@ Gluten Free A-Z Blog

    June 25, 2015 at 2:32 am

    I've used Borax and sugar in a bowl before. I like the cotton ball idea. Going to try it.. thanks

    Reply
    • Nomkhosi

      August 21, 2016 at 5:13 am

      Where can I can I get this Borax? I like water n viniger its an easy one

      Reply
      • Karen

        July 26, 2017 at 8:10 am

        you can find borax in the laundry detergent aisle at the grocery store

        Reply
  2. Addie Ross

    June 25, 2015 at 2:09 pm

    I had no idea that there are so many ways to get rid of ants naturally. With summer here, and the kids always in and out of the house, ants just seem to make their way in. But like I said, with my kids at home, I don't want to use any harsh chemicals. I love the idea of laying out chalk or cinnamon to keep them away. Such an easy solution, thank you so much for sharing!

    Reply
  3. Barb

    June 28, 2015 at 12:07 am

    Anyone of these sound great.thanks

    Reply
  4. Mariam :)

    January 30, 2016 at 9:44 am

    Even cucumber slices work like a pro! Ants hate them, so just place a slice of cucumber and keep it in the corners of your room (or more likely places where ants would come).

    Reply
    • kimmy

      May 02, 2016 at 6:41 am

      i tried the cucumber , my ants didn't seem to mind them at all.

      Reply
      • Terry

        June 08, 2019 at 6:00 am

        LOL 😀

        Reply
  5. nita booppacheun

    April 07, 2016 at 11:26 pm

    I really enjoy to read this web site, I hope you will send some more and thank for this.

    Reply
  6. wendy

    April 19, 2016 at 3:23 pm

    That worked overnight. It's been 3 days and no ants !

    Reply
  7. Stephanie

    May 12, 2016 at 1:39 am

    I have used borax and honey together every year and made it into a paste and then put into the fruit containers so the ants can get to it but other animals can't and the ants that don't die instantly take it back to the nest and it kills off a large portion of the colony . I use it every year!!

    Reply
    • DELFIN P. AGUILAR

      September 27, 2018 at 1:29 pm

      Thanks, Stephanie. The original instruction of using borax & sugar seems not to be effected for us. I'll try honey next time.

      Reply
  8. Tanya

    May 20, 2016 at 6:48 am

    Ant colonies are massive. Thete is a video on you tube that shows where they sprayed foam into a average size ant hill and then dug it out....it was the size of the enentire cow pasture and they are super intelligent. Cold storage for food. Waste trails. It's So very Creepy.

    Reply
  9. tammy

    May 23, 2016 at 4:59 am

    Baby powder works at our house

    Reply
  10. Leah

    July 15, 2017 at 6:12 am

    Cornstarch works well too.

    Reply
  11. Bonnie

    July 22, 2017 at 1:13 am

    Every spring a little line of tiny ants come threw my kitchen well Thanks to you I can say byebye ants.Thanks a million.

    Reply
  12. YellowChicken

    March 15, 2018 at 9:35 pm

    I can't locate the nest but the ants are always crawling on my walls where can i leave the bait?And I've tried a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water it doesn't seem to work,and I've made a paste of cinnamon and I put it on the walls but they just walk around it or go on the roof.Can someone please help me??

    Reply
  13. Karen Ackerman

    June 03, 2018 at 5:17 am

    I do want to try the cotton ball concoction, BUT I do not want to leave that lying on my granite counter tops or on hardwood floors. Erosion elements in those products;i.e., sugar and Borax. Please elucidate.

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      March 30, 2020 at 12:07 pm

      Put the cotton ball on something like a piece of cardboard or foil

      Reply
  14. TbW

    September 30, 2018 at 4:02 pm

    WIndex works instantly and deters future visitors.

    Reply
  15. Rae

    October 06, 2018 at 2:11 am

    yes you can kill an ant when you see it but I need help killing the Queen that continued to send ants to find food. I hired a pest company who set baits but the ants just kept coming. I have tried vinegar, winded & soap. IF i don't get the nest I'm doomed!

    Reply
  16. Susan

    May 08, 2019 at 7:09 pm

    Cayenne pepper, just sprinkle on ant hills. Did this all the way down my sidewalk. Works!

    Reply
  17. Anonymous

    October 02, 2021 at 3:44 am

    First time, Borax trick worked. However, the cotton balls sticks to the surfaces and hard to remove after drying. any solution for this? Tried soaking with water but no success.

    2nd and third time, I placed the cotton balls on Aluminum and not a single ant came-Perhaps, I also added peanut butter, as the commercial ant baits has peanut butter. Third time, only cotton ball, sugar and water and placed on Saran wrap but not a single ant came. However, I see ants everywhere in the house. Lemon juice did not work either. Even the ant baits from home depot did not work.

    Reply
  18. Destiny Brown

    July 11, 2023 at 4:05 pm

    I use Vinegar and they go away for a while, but always come back? Why is this?

    Reply
    • Dicaron

      October 18, 2023 at 4:49 am

      Vinegar erases the sent trails only. They will come back. Peppermint essential oil does kill them immediately.

      Reply
  19. Dicaron

    October 18, 2023 at 4:47 am

    Sugar and borax does kill ants, but it does not work over night. Peppermint essential oil kills them immediately

    Reply
  20. Liz

    July 15, 2024 at 4:22 pm

    I tried this but used only a half cup water, 1/4 c sugar and 1 T borax and that was more than enough to make several cotton ball traps. I placed them on wax paper along the trail of ants and they quickly died off. The next morning, not one ant was left behind.

    Reply

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