Say Goodbye To Ants In Your Kitchen With This Easy And Natural Solution

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Have you ever walked into your kitchen and found ants crawling across your counters? These critters can be attracted to the slightest bit of leftover crumbs and spilled drinks, and they can fit through the tiniest of cracks. While some restaurants have been known to serve dishes that include bugs as an ingredient or base (like the Danish fine dining restaurant Noma serving live bugs), you don't want them crawling around your kitchen because they can spread pathogens that cause illnesses. Along with avoiding certain storage containers in your pantry (mainly wicker) that attract bugs, a natural solution to your ant problem is to use patchouli essential oil.

A study published in Acta Tropica in 2013 found that patchouli essential oil is a promising natural repellent for three urban ant species: Camponotus melanoticus, Camponotus novograndensis, and Dorymyrmex thoracicus. Researchers found the oil worked well as a toxic deterrent to all of them. Even in low doses, the patchouli oil immediately caused paralysis, intoxication, and tremors in the ants. An average of 84% died after prolonged exposure. Additionally, other studies have found that patchouli essential oil repels some mosquitoes, termites, houseflies, and whiteflies.

Like the herb hack to clear out kitchen bugs, which involves using common herbs, such as bay leaves, or their oils around your kitchen, there's more than one method for using patchouli oil to keep ants at bay. To get started, you want an oil that's 100% natural, such as the one from Brooklyn Botany or NOW. Grab a spray bottle and alcohol, a diffuser, or cotton balls (or all of them for a comprehensive approach).

With the oil, spray bottle, and alcohol, you can create a patchouli oil spray. The alcohol acts as a solubilizing agent because essential oils don't mix well with water. Simply pour 1 tablespoon of rubbing alcohol (or even vodka) into the bottle with 30 drops of patchouli oil (add ½ cup of water at the end). Shake the solution well each time you spray it on the ants and where you see them entering your kitchen or other parts of your home. You can also add other ant-repelling essential oils, such as peppermint, cinnamon, lemongrass, and cedarwood.

If you really enjoy the smell of patchouli, you can put five to 10 drops into a diffuser. Then, just plug it up in your kitchen to let the scent fill the room and naturally deter the ants. A third option is to put five or six drops of the oil on cotton balls and put them at access points in your kitchen, such as the cabinets, doors, drawers, and windowsills. You could even rub the oil around these areas. Then, swap the cotton balls with newly oiled ones every two days until you no longer see ants.