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Ants invaded my kitchen this week. That used to happen every once in a while at FF's house, but hadn't happened in this house until now. I couldn't find anything specific that was attracting the ants; they were just scouting/wandering all over the counter-tops and stove. I wanted to get rid of them before they *did* find something.
I read that ants don't like mint, and I had some peppermint liquid soap, so I mixed some of that with water and spread it around. I also rubbed some spearmint essential oil in a few places. The ants avoided the wet areas, but by evening when it had dried, they were walking everywhere again, pretty much ignoring it. I sprinkled cinnamon in one spot; that didn't seem to bother them much. I sprinkled black pepper near the window where they were coming into the kitchen; that didn't seem to affect them much either.
I looked to see how they were getting into the kitchen and into the house, and found some spots that needed to be caulked shut. I waited until night-time, when most of the ants had left the house and gone back to their nest (or where-ever), and then caulked those spots.
In the morning, I checked again. There were still some ants crawling around, but not nearly as many as yesterday. I found another spot that needed to be caulked. I took a brush/dustpan, and swept up all the ants I could find, and dumped them outside. (I don't want to hurt the ants, and most of them don't seem to be hurt by the brushing). Then I caulked the remaining spot. There were still a few ants crawling around, so I continued brushing them up and dumping them outside, and rubbed some vinegar around the areas where they had been.
Now I only see still a very few ants, here and there. Hopefully this has done the trick, and they won't come back.
I read that ants don't like mint, and I had some peppermint liquid soap, so I mixed some of that with water and spread it around. I also rubbed some spearmint essential oil in a few places. The ants avoided the wet areas, but by evening when it had dried, they were walking everywhere again, pretty much ignoring it. I sprinkled cinnamon in one spot; that didn't seem to bother them much. I sprinkled black pepper near the window where they were coming into the kitchen; that didn't seem to affect them much either.
I looked to see how they were getting into the kitchen and into the house, and found some spots that needed to be caulked shut. I waited until night-time, when most of the ants had left the house and gone back to their nest (or where-ever), and then caulked those spots.
In the morning, I checked again. There were still some ants crawling around, but not nearly as many as yesterday. I found another spot that needed to be caulked. I took a brush/dustpan, and swept up all the ants I could find, and dumped them outside. (I don't want to hurt the ants, and most of them don't seem to be hurt by the brushing). Then I caulked the remaining spot. There were still a few ants crawling around, so I continued brushing them up and dumping them outside, and rubbed some vinegar around the areas where they had been.
Now I only see still a very few ants, here and there. Hopefully this has done the trick, and they won't come back.