{"id":2533,"date":"2015-06-10T11:26:21","date_gmt":"2015-06-10T17:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/?p=2533"},"modified":"2023-05-06T08:15:15","modified_gmt":"2023-05-06T14:15:15","slug":"how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ant.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"528\" height=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ant.jpg\" alt=\"Get rid of ants naturally\" class=\"wp-image-2829\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ant.jpg 528w, https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ant-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ant-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ant-400x264.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 528px) 100vw, 528px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ant.jpg\"><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>My friends, tell me if you agree with this statement:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&ldquo;The depth of one&rsquo;s dedication to organic gardening can be tested when one discovers a writhing mass of ants on the patio.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ants have set up homes in a number of areas in and around our yard, including a couple of ant mansions smack-dab in the middle of the lawn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since I&rsquo;m trying to be a good citizen and not use chemicals, I began researching natural ways to get rid of ants. I found four methods that called for ingredients I had on hand, and tried all but one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. The first treatment I tried was <strong>cayenne powder<\/strong>, which I sprinkled lavishly around the ant hills. The spicy red pepper seemed to deter the ants for a day or two, but after one rain storm they were back and frisky as ever. Was it my imagination, or did they seem to be salsa dancing as they returned?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2. Next, I sprinkled a thick line of <strong>salt<\/strong> around the ant hills on the pavement. (I was afraid to try this method on the grass-dwelling ants.) This just didn&rsquo;t do a thing for my ants, except perhaps to raise their blood pressure levels a wee bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3. One site suggested pouring <strong>boiling water<\/strong> on the ants. I bet this works, but I just couldn&rsquo;t bring myself to do it. I never said I wasn&rsquo;t a wuss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4. Finally, I read that sprinkling <strong>coffee grounds<\/strong> around would motivate ants to leave. This sounded like the least plausible treatment, but to my surprise the coffee grounds seemed to work and I&rsquo;m not sure why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If I were an ant, of the four choices presented here I would request the coffee ground punishment myself. Perhaps the ants are pretending to be cooperative while secretly training me to bring them caffeine.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, I&rsquo;m imagining an ant setting up a phony blog that suggests Heath bar bits and Chardonnay as effective ant killers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>UPDATE &ndash; Readers have suggested <strong>ground cinnamon<\/strong>, <strong>cinnamon oil<\/strong> and <strong>cornmeal<\/strong> as natural ant deterrents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How about you?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you ever dealt with ants in an organic way? Have you found a treatment that works to add to this list? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&rsquo;d love to hear your ideas and experiences, so drop a comment below! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If rabbits are a problem in your yard, be sure to read our ideas about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/rabbits-enjoy-a-nice-salad-bar-in-our-garden\/\">naturally repelling rabbits<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> &#8230; <a title=\"How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-garden","category-green-living","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally - Happy Simple Living<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how to get rid of ants naturally with an organic ingredient you may already have on hand at home, and what remedies don&#039;t work.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally - Happy Simple Living\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn how to get rid of ants naturally with an organic ingredient you may already have on hand at home, and what remedies don&#039;t work.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Happy Simple Living\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HappySimpleLiving\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-10T17:26:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-06T14:15:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/rid-ants-naturally.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eliza Cross\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@happysimplelivn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@happysimplelivn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eliza Cross\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Eliza Cross\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8cfc422eef6826ba43859b74661310a4\"},\"headline\":\"How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-10T17:26:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-06T14:15:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/\"},\"wordCount\":409,\"commentCount\":4,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/rid-ants-naturally.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Garden\",\"Green Living\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/\",\"name\":\"How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally - Happy Simple Living\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/rid-ants-naturally.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-10T17:26:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-06T14:15:15+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn how to get rid of ants naturally with an organic ingredient you may already have on hand at home, and what remedies don't work.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/rid-ants-naturally.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/rid-ants-naturally.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Black ants on a white floor.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Garden\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/category\/garden\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/\",\"name\":\"Happy Simple Living\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Happy Simple Living\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/logo.jpg\",\"width\":460,\"height\":148,\"caption\":\"Happy Simple Living\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HappySimpleLiving\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/happysimplelivn\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/happy_simpleliving\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/happy_simple_living\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8cfc422eef6826ba43859b74661310a4\",\"name\":\"Eliza Cross\",\"description\":\"Eliza Cross is the creator of Happy Simple Living, where she shares ideas to help busy people simplify cooking, gardening, holidays, home, and money. She is also the award-winning author of 17 cookbooks, including Small Bites and 101 Things To Do With Bacon.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/about\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/happy_simpleliving\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/happy_simple_living\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally - Happy Simple Living","description":"Learn how to get rid of ants naturally with an organic ingredient you may already have on hand at home, and what remedies don't work.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally - Happy Simple Living","og_description":"Learn how to get rid of ants naturally with an organic ingredient you may already have on hand at home, and what remedies don't work.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/","og_site_name":"Happy Simple Living","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HappySimpleLiving","article_published_time":"2015-06-10T17:26:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-05-06T14:15:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/rid-ants-naturally.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Eliza Cross","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@happysimplelivn","twitter_site":"@happysimplelivn","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Eliza Cross","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/"},"author":{"name":"Eliza Cross","@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8cfc422eef6826ba43859b74661310a4"},"headline":"How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally","datePublished":"2015-06-10T17:26:21+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-06T14:15:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/"},"wordCount":409,"commentCount":4,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/rid-ants-naturally.jpg","articleSection":["Garden","Green Living"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/","url":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/","name":"How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally - Happy Simple Living","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/rid-ants-naturally.jpg","datePublished":"2015-06-10T17:26:21+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-06T14:15:15+00:00","description":"Learn how to get rid of ants naturally with an organic ingredient you may already have on hand at home, and what remedies don't work.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/rid-ants-naturally.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/rid-ants-naturally.jpg","width":1200,"height":1200,"caption":"Black ants on a white floor."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Garden","item":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/category\/garden\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/","name":"Happy Simple Living","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#organization","name":"Happy Simple Living","url":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/logo.jpg","width":460,"height":148,"caption":"Happy Simple Living"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HappySimpleLiving","https:\/\/twitter.com\/happysimplelivn","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/happy_simpleliving\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/happy_simple_living\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8cfc422eef6826ba43859b74661310a4","name":"Eliza Cross","description":"Eliza Cross is the creator of Happy Simple Living, where she shares ideas to help busy people simplify cooking, gardening, holidays, home, and money. She is also the award-winning author of 17 cookbooks, including Small Bites and 101 Things To Do With Bacon.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/about\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/happy_simpleliving\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/happy_simple_living\/"]}]}},"mv":{"thumbnail_id":6519,"thumbnail_uri":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/rid-ants-naturally-300x300.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2533"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6821,"href":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2533\/revisions\/6821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}