Tips for Ant-Proofing Your Kitchen

Summer has finally arrived. While this change of season is welcome, the pesky visitors that tend to show up in kitchens and homes during these hotter, summer months are definitely not. Ant invasions can be a huge damper on your day, causing unnecessary worry and work for you as you try to take care of the problem. At IPM Pest & Termite of Lexington, Kentucky, we want to show you a few tips for ant-proofing your kitchen, so you never have to worry about any unwanted guests.

Keep It Clean

The number one way you can eliminate ants from your kitchen is by keeping your counters and floors clean of food. Worker ants are on a mission to bring food back to the queen in their nest. The ones who go in search for food smell food that is left out and bring a trail of ants in their wake. If you do not supply them a food source to take back, the ant problem will be much less of a problem. Keep your counters free of crumbs, your floors swept, and store all food in sealed containers to deter any ant issues.

Keep it Closed

Your home may also be susceptible to ants due to ease of entry. Prevent ants from ever coming into your home by ensuring that all the borders of your home are sealed properly. Ants are tiny creatures, so even the smallest opening can lead to an infestation. Caulk window frames, door frames, and any crack or holes in the base of your home to limit their entry.

At-Home Remedies

There are a number of at-home ant deterrents that may work for your ant problem. Vinegar, lemon juice, peppermint oil, spices, coffee grounds, citrus peels, chalk, baby powder, and dish soap can all be used to break up ant trail scents or deter ants from entering into your home. Ants thrive on smell, so adding one of these strong scents into the area the ants are concentrated will greatly disturb their natural food searching process. Some of the above items, like baby powder and dish soap, are also poisonous to ants and can also work to exterminate them. While these at-home remedies may help your problem for a while, the true source of the infestation, the colony, will not be affected by these measures at all, which could lead to more infestation issues in the future.

Call a Professional

If you really want to rid your home of any current and future ant infestation problems in your kitchen, contact a professional to have your property sprayed and treated. Professionals can use products like ant bait to eliminate the colony or can locate and exterminate the colony manually. Experts can also help you determine where ants are entering your home, help eliminate an infestation, and keep the problem from becoming a recurrent issue. At IPM Pest and Termite, proudly serving the surrounding area including Nicholasville, Versailles, Georgetown, Richmond, and Winchester, as well as these neighborhoods: Pinnacle, Waterford, Cumberland Hills, Copperfield, Palomar, Masterson Station, Equestrian Woods, and Firebrook, we can help you with any and all infestation problems you may have in the upcoming summer months. With our team of dependable and reliable experts, we can rid your home of all pest problems in a clean and efficient manner that will protect your peace of mind. For more information about our services, contact IPM Pest & Termite today!