Do Ants Hate The Smell of Vinegar?

Whether they’re big or small, if you’ve got ants invading your home, then you know that besides the annoyance they cause, it can become a big problem just trying to get rid of them. If these uninvited guests are causing you grief, you’ll probably do anything to make sure that they go away for good.

However, before you reach for the bug spray, or even call in the exterminator, you may be pleased to know that there’s a solution you may not have considered that’s probably already in your kitchen cupboard — and you won’t even have to kill them.

Wait, what? Yes, vinegar can be your ant removal savior. So, how does it work? Do ants hate the smell of vinegar? Read on to find out…


Do Ants Hate The Smell of Vinegar?

So, how is it that a simple solution like vinegar is so repellent to ants? And will using vinegar on its own provide a good result in getting rid of these household pests for good?

Well, first things first, ants dislike vinegar, and the smell of it is enough to make them stay away. They may even leave your house alone forever. Why is this you may ask? It’s because vinegar interferes with the pheromones of ant colonies, which means they lose their way and won’t follow each other.

You may have noticed that ants crawl in a straight line, and they use their pheromones to follow each other. When vinegar gets in the way, the interference that it causes will have them leave the situation, and they’ll follow each other away from the area, rather than get lost and separated from the pack.

When vinegar gets in the way, the interference that it causes will have them leave the situation, and they’ll follow each other away from the area, rather than get lost and separated from the pack.


Getting Ants

If you’ve decided that you want to try using vinegar to get rid of your ant infestation, then now is the time to take a look at the different types of vinegar solutions you can use to do this.

There are different kinds of vinegar, so you may need to mix and match solutions, depending on the types of ants that are causing your problem.

To start, for smaller sugar ants, a solution of white vinegar and water in equal proportions can be combined in a spray bottle and sprayed along the trail. This should help to get rid of your infestation.

If it doesn’t get rid of them completely, then you can simply use the vinegar straight, without mixing it with water. And make sure that you also spray the areas where they are coming into your house.

For a more severe infestation or larger ants, you will need to use apple cider vinegar, because white vinegar won’t do the job here. Again, combine the apple cider vinegar with water in equal amounts in a spray bottle.

And although you may not love the smell of vinegar, this solution will help you to clear your ant infestation without causing harm to the ant (because, you know, karma), or to you or your family.

Although you may not love the smell of vinegar, this solution will help you to clear your ant infestation without causing harm to the ant (because, you know, karma), or to you or your family.

Ants can smell the vinegar even if it has dried, so although using it won’t be a permanent solution to the problem if they can still get in from holes you can’t see, if you use vinegar on the spots where they do come in 3-4 times a week, they will eventually find somewhere else to gather.


Other Natural Insect Repellants

According to Rentokil, there are a few other natural and effective remedies that you can use to rid yourself of pesky ants that may be causing havoc in your kitchen and home.

For example, using peppermint oil can do the same trick as vinegar for repelling ants. You can simply have peppermint plants around your home, or use drops of peppermint essential oil in places where they frequent, like corners of your kitchen cupboards. Ants hate the smell.

If you want to go all out and make sure that the ant will leave by killing them off, then you can use cinnamon powder, which you can sprinkle in their path. When ants inhale ground cinnamon, it kills them, although a gentler remedy would be to use cinnamon essential oil as you would with peppermint.

Another way to kill the ants with a natural product is by using food-grade diatomaceous earth. This powder, which is made from the fossilized remains of marine phytoplankton, has razor-sharp edges that can cut through the exoskeleton of ants. This causes the ant’s body to dehydrate so that it dies.

If you use diatomaceous earth, though, you will have to sprinkle the powder everywhere you find the ants daily until they eventually stop invading. And make sure that it’s food grade, so as not to poison any of the food in your cupboards by accident.

Our Conclusion

After reading this article, you now have all the information you need to conclude that ants hate the smell of vinegar. So now you can get rid of an ant infestation in a more natural way, without the use of pesticides that could cause more harm to your health, never mind that of the ants.

Of course, if you have an invasion of giant ants in your home, and all the above natural solutions have failed, then it may be time to call in the exterminator to help.

However, this won’t usually be the case, and you can rest assured that the above suggestions will work to rid your homes of these invaders both safely and easily.