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Every time mumma prepares, there is always an ant attack on it.

Well I have been suggested vinegar, but then that gives a stick. Is there any better, efficient, inexpensive way of avoiding ants?

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  • Why downvotes? its good question
    – Fennekin
    Apr 21, 2016 at 4:56

5 Answers 5

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What I do is hang/hook the sweets I bring home on a rope, in a polyethene wrap. In that way ants don't get to it as it doesn't touch the ground, and you can enjoy your sweets.

P.S.- You're unlucky if the ants found the rope.

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Here is a list of things you could do:

1. Deterrence
The best way to get rid of ants is to prevent them from ever considering your home an easy target. Ants are tiny, and can find thousands of doorways that you didn’t even know about. But as much as you can, block those entryways.

2. Caulk
Continuing on this theme, try sealing with caulk any windows, doors and any cracks the ants crawl through. This will also give you better temperature control and lower energy bills, and is one of the least risky methods if you have kids or pets.

3. Vinegar
Clean surfaces in your home with a half-and-half solution of white distilled vinegar and water. As an added bonus, this is a great mixture to use for cleaning in general, replacing detergents with polluting phosphorus. Vinegar works because ants hate its smell, and the vinegar removes the scent trails they use to get around.

4. Lemon Juice
Just like vinegar, lemon juice also seems to destroy those scent trails that ants follow. Try spraying lemon juice around the places you think ants are using for entryways.

5. Peppermint Oil
Here’s another super-easy one to try. Clean off your surfaces really well, and then wipe them down with a clean damp cloth that has a few drops of essential peppermint oil on it. Ants seem to really dislike the smell of it and it is also environmentally friendly, and safe for humans and children. Not to mention, your kitchen will smell minty fresh.

6. Spices and Herbs
Another deterrent to make your home smell awesome! Sprinkle black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili pepper, cinnamon, mint, chili pepper, cloves or garlic (whichever you have at hand) wherever you’ve seen ants and along your home’s foundation. You can also try placing bay leaves in cabinets, drawers and containers.

7. Coffee Grounds
Sprinkle your used coffee grounds in the garden and around the outside of your house. If you can locate exactly where the ants are getting in, be sure to put some there. You should see them move away from your home because they dislike the smell of coffee grounds.

8. Chalk and Baby Powder
Try drawing a line of chalk or sprinkle baby powder across the spot where the ants are entering your home. It works because talcum powder, an ingredient in both chalk and baby powder, is a natural ant repellent.

9. Cucumber or Citrus Peels
You can repel those ants by leaving these peelings in areas of known ant activity. That’s because cucumber and citrus peels are toxic to the types of fungi that ants feed on, so they don’t want to go anywhere near them.

10. Dish Soap
Put a very thin line of dish soap around baseboards, windows, doors and wherever else the ants tend to gather. You can also try pouring dish soap directly onto ant hills or mix the soap with some water in a spray bottle.

Information: Reference

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Store the sweets in a properly sealed box. E.g. a plastic box with a lid that gives a tight seal, a glass jar of the type used for long-term preservation of food.

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Ants are some of the most amazing creatures on Earth! Ant I find them maddening! I'm afraid, as good as the idea of hanging your sweets from a rope is, that it is simply not going to be sufficient. Ants can crawl up walls and across ceilings. They'll get to the rope... I've even had them come in through my back door and make trails under my living room carpet, the go under the baseboards to get to the kitchen!

Ants send out "scout ants" when they are hunting for food. One of three things will happen. If the ant returns home with food s/he lays down that well known chemical trail to tell the rest of the ants in the "hill" where the food was found so others can follow the path of the chemical. However, if the ant does not find food, it somehow (possibly a different chemical, not sure exactly) lets other ants know not to go that way, as there is no food to be found. But thirdly, the last outcome is that if the ant fails to return "home" (mostly likely because s/he's died), the ants will also not go "there", so to speak.

So...your NUMBER one line of defense should be to be SURE that ALL SURFACES in ALL food areas (ANYWHERE food is prepared, kept, OR EATEN (dining table, desk tops, furniture)) are kept not just wiped down with a paper towel for crumb collections, but TRULY cleaned to erase ALL food particles AND traces! Many people think that if they use the kitchen sponge to wipe down the kitchen counter top that that will be sufficient. But most people don't properly/sufficiently rinse/wash their sponges or clothes that they use after wiping down counter tops and stove tops. ANY trace of food scent or particle left on whatever is being used to wipe up surfaces that was previously used to do the same is simply spreading a trail of yummies, so to speak, that will attract ants. It does NOT have to be something YOU can see! During the spring/summer months I will about once a week soak my kitchen sponge in a solution of water and apple cider vinegar. Just a small bowl of water big enough to hold the sponge or dish cloth with about 2-3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar will do a fantastic job of removing bacteria and viruses as well as removing the scent of food, and will leave the sponge smelling clean and fresh. I usually let mine soak over night and then rinse well the next morning. The other alternative is to put the sponge in the dishwasher when you run it and pour in about 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar into the bottom of the dishwasher. It'll clean the sponge as above and help keep the dishwasher clean to. That to could be done weekly. Keeping ants out is again, ALL about keeping things REALLY clean. Keep floors vacuumed and swept, daily if necessary. Second line of defense is going to be to keep ALL foods (including pet foods (pet food bowls cleaned too daily)) properly contained. My dog tends to eat half his food at a time (no matter how much I give him). If he fails to eat his food fast enough, it draws the ants. If there's anything but dry food in the bowl, I have to wash the bowl when he's done, or I get ants. Spilled kibble on the floor draws them. I leave my butter out on the counter, I like it soft. One year, the ants ate right through the wax paper wrapper! There were LITERALLY HOLES in the paper!

So bottom line, keep EVERYTHING spotless, crazy CLEAN and keep your sweets in an air tight container, maybe even refrigerated, and you MIGHT not have an influx of ants! I deal with them every year to some degree or another. I found three today. So, the fight is on. I wish you (and your sweets) much luck against the ants!

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What my mom does is this:

  1. Put the sweets in one container or box (plastic/metal/glass)
  2. Take a plate or bowl that has some depth (at least 1.5 - 2inch) Also make sure the base of this plate or bowl is wider than the sweets container, such that their ends don't touch at all.
  3. Fill this plate/bowl (about 3/4th) with water.
  4. Now place the container of sweets in this water filled plate/bowl.

We do this regularly at home. Ants have never got to the sweets since then.

Oh and the good thing about this method is you don't have to you any other ingredient due to which you will lose the original aroma of sweets.

Enjoy!

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