How to Get Rid of Ants in the Kitchen

Last Updated on September 30, 2018 by Diane Hoffmaster

A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting with someone on Facebook about my intense dislike of cockroaches.  After living in Houston for 7 years, those things give me the heebie jeebies!  I said (and I quote!) "I would rather have hundreds of ants in my house rather than one single cockroach!"  Well, God must have heard me because within 24 hours my kitchen was overrun by ants!  I kid you not!  Talk about a coincidence, right?  Well, now I have been spending weeks getting rid of the ^&%*@! things and figured I would share my tips about how to get rid of ants in the kitchen.

Since you don't really want to spray nasty chemicals in your kitchen right where you are preparing your food, how do you get rid of ants?  If you have tiny black ants in the kitchen, they can be a major sense of stress because every time you turn around, they are back again! Want to kick them out permanently? Here are a few suggestions to help you rid your kitchen of an ant invasion!

How to Get Rid of Ants in the Kitchen

While you may be tempted to grab a can of ant spray, the kitchen really isn't a good place for that.  Learn how to get rid of ants naturally so you don't have to fear for the safety of your kids as they eat cookies off the counter.  Try these tips to get rid of your unwanted kitchen ants!

Remove everything you can from the infested area.

You are going to need to do some serious work if you want to get rid of ants in your kitchen.  For this, you will need access to every nook and cranny so move the toaster oven and dish drainer.

Watch your new ant friends for a few minutes. 

Figure out where they are coming and going from.  Is it from the window?  A pipe under the sink?  A mysterious portal into Antlandia? Before you figure out how to get rid of ants in the kitchen, you need to know where they are coming from. If you can track them out of the house to an outdoor source, kill them where they live.  Yes, that sounds harsh, I'm sorry, but they are persistent creatures and death is the easiest solution.

You can sprinkle ant killer on the mound or use orange peels steeped in boiling water for a few minutes. Figuring out how to get ride of  ants outside may solve your issues with kitchen ants completely.

Start cleaning.

And I do mean that you need to clean like your mother in law is coming to visit.  Sterilize the crap out of your kitchen!  Vacuum and mop floors, scrub counter tops, clean out the toaster, empty the counter top compost bin, etc.  Ants can be attracted to the tiniest crumb or the itty bittiest drop of juice on your kitchen counter.  You will need to repeat this process every  day until they take the hint that the kitchen is closed and ants are no longer welcome.

More Kitchen Cleaning Tips

• This is the Easiest Way to Clean the Microwave!
• DIY Dishwasher Tablets Give You Clean Dishes for Only Pennies!
• How to Clean Your Dishwasher: The Grimy Reality!

Clean your counters, cabinets and floors with distilled white vinegar frequently.

Make a deadly ant bait for any really determined stragglers.

Use Herbal Ant Repellents: 

There are many natural scents that deter ants.  They dislike spices such as cinnamon, cayenne pepper, mint, bay leaves, black pepper, cloves, and garlic.  Sprinkle these strategically where they tend to enter your house.Peppermint oil and orange oil are also good deterrents and will make your kitchen smell nice.  Put one teaspoon of liquid dish soap into a spray bottle, add a few drops of orange oil or mint oil, and fill it with water. Use this to clean your counters daily.

Homemade Ant Repellent Spray To Get Rid Of Ants For Good

Watch this video by LifeHackz for a DIY ant repellent spray! Add this spray to your spring cleaning bucket and stop the ant problem before it starts!

Do you have any other tips on how to get rid of ants in the kitchen?

(NOTE: Post updated and content added from previous publish date)

Check out this DIY spider repellent!

Save

Diane Hoffmaster

Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician at Good Pill Pharmacy.  She has two college aged kids, one husband and more pets than she will admit to. She earned her BS in Microbiology at the University of New Hampshire  but left her career in science to become a stay at home mom. Years of playing with LEGO and coloring with crayons had her craving a more grown up purpose to her life and she began blogging and freelance writing full time.  You can learn more about her HERE.