Home remedies for ants: do vinegar and washing up liquid work?
Home remedies such as vinegar, washing up liquid, cinnamon or chalk disturb an ant trail for a while at most; no home remedy reaches the nest. For most of them we know of no research on how well they work against ants. Below you can see what each remedy does, when it makes sense and what to do if the ants keep coming back.
In this article
What do ants hate?
Anything that spoils their scent trail: a strong smell makes the trail hard to follow, so the ants lose their route for a while. That is what most home remedies do, from vinegar to peppermint and coffee grounds. The nest notices none of it, and once the smell has gone, scouts lay a new trail.
| Remedy | What it does | Evidence | When it makes sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vinegar | Wipes away the scent trail when you clean | No research known on ants | Cleaning the trail once you have finished with a bait; not on the nest |
| Washing up liquid in water | Cleans the trail; can kill the ants it soaks | No research known on the nest | Washing the trail after treatment |
| Chalk or talc | A line as a barrier | No research known | Hardly |
| Cinnamon, peppermint, lemon | Strong smell disturbs the trail | No research known | Briefly, by a threshold indoors |
| Coffee grounds | Smell disturbs the trail | No research known | Hardly |
| Baking soda | Said to harm ants that eat it | No research known | Not as a homemade bait |
Does vinegar get rid of ants?
Vinegar gets rid of the scent trail, not of the nest. Wipe the trail with water and vinegar and the ants lose their route for a while, but the nest stays and scouts lay a new trail. How long vinegar keeps ants away depends on how quickly the smell fades. If you use a bait, wait with cleaning until the bait has done its work.
Does washing up liquid kill ants?
It can kill the ants it soaks, but not the nest. Soapy water is useful for washing a trail away once you have dealt with the nest, so new scouts cannot follow it. Spraying it on a trail where a bait is down sends the workers away from the bait.
Do cinnamon, peppermint and coffee grounds keep ants away?
They disturb the scent trail for a while, nothing more: we know of no research showing that they drive ants away or kill them. A strong smell by a threshold can send scouts onto another route for a time. Do not put them on a trail where a bait is down.
Does chalk stop ants?
We know of no research showing that a line of chalk or talc stops ants. At most it sends a single ant round it. The nest and the trail stay, so for an ant problem it is no solution.
Does baking soda kill ants?
We know of no research showing that baking soda kills ants. The idea is that ants eat a mix of baking soda and sugar and cannot digest it. Such a homemade bait follows no label and sits indoors where children and pets can reach it.
Why don't we recommend borax or boiling water?
Because they bring more risk than they solve. Borax and boric acid are harmful to people and pets, and a homemade borax bait sits in the house where children and pets can reach it. Boiling water can scald you and kills other life in the soil too, while a nest under the paving often goes deeper than the water reaches.
What should you do if the ants keep coming back?
Then there is a nest that home remedies do not reach, and you tackle it through the workers. Follow the trail, clear away the food, put a bait on the trail and leave the trail alone for as long as the label says: the workers carry the bait back to the nest and share it with the larvae and the queen. Step by step, it is in our guide how to get rid of ants in the house.
Use biocides safely. Always read the label and product information before use.
