Consumption

Too many ants in your home can become a nuisance: here's how to make them leave your home as quickly asap!

There are natural remedies to keep these insects away, without using pesticides or products that are toxic to humans or the environment.

Copper as a repellent

Placing copper coins on your floor? Sure, it works... but it's not very practical for cleaning or when you have visitors.

However, you can use copper adhesive tape, sold in garden centers and DIY stores, which is usually stuck around plant or vegetable boxes to repel slugs.

Carefully apply the adhesive around the front door and on your floor. Ants fear copper and will not cross this obstacle. A real copper barrier around your home, which will keep the ants at bay.

Clear the trail

When they find a food source, ants leave a scent trail to it. Their peers then follow this trail and gradually colonize your home.

To disorient them, regularly wash your floors with detergent to erase this marked path.

You can also place a mint tea bag, coffee grounds or cucumber slices across their path.

The following products can help block the ants' trail:

- coffee grounds
- onion and garlic
- spices such as pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, mint, lavender
- vinegar dissolved in water
- chalk: draw thick lines around the places where you don't want them to go

Lemon, the ultimate weapon

Fill a spray bottle with a mixture of lemon juice and dishwashing liquid. Citric acid has a repellent effect on ants.

Mix 1/4 lemon juice to 3/4 water. Spray this mixture on the path that ants generally take. You can also pour lemon juice along the exterior walls of your home. The strong lemon scent will keep them away.

(MH with JaG with Skwadra/Picture: Unsplash)