Kill ants in your home with two household items that 'wipe out the whole nest'

Two common household items could be all you need to get rid of from your home.

For most of us, saying goodbye to winter and welcoming in the warmer seasons of spring and summer is a huge relief. However, the warm weather brings its own challenges - including an increase of insects that seem to want nothing more than to set up shop in your house.

One of the insects that you could start seeing around your is the humble ant. Ants typically emerge from their nests in the spring and summer and can mostly be left to their own devices - unless they decide to make their way into your kitchen.

Coming downstairs in the morning to find a swarm of ants on your countertop can make your skin crawl, but thankfully, there's something you can do to get rid of them quickly and stop them from ever coming back.

The uses just two ingredients you probably have in your kitchen already, and it's effective on both ants and cockroaches.

In a video shared on TikTok, a man said all you need to kill infestations of ants and cockroaches are two common household items - baking soda and sugar.

He said: "You're going to need some baking soda and some sugar. It doesn't really matter what kind of sugar you use, the sugar is just to attract the ants and the cockroaches."

The man explained that you simply need to mix one cup of baking soda with one cup of sugar. You can even do this in bigger or smaller quantities to match the scale of the infestation you have, but you'll want to make sure it's always a 1:1 ratio.

If you can see where the ants are coming from, then you can directly sprinkle this mixture on that area. But if you're not sure where they're entering from, it's best to sprinkle a layer of the powdery mixture along your skirting boards.

The man said: "What's going to happen is the cockroaches and the ants are both going to eat this mixture because they're going to be attracted to the sugar. But it's going to have baking soda mixed in with it.

"They're going to be completely fine for now, but when they go back to their nest and they drink water, a chemical reaction will happen inside their stomach and it's going to kill them."

The ants will also pick up the mixture and take it home with them, where they will share it with the ants in the nest that didn't enter your home - meaning it will eventually wipe out the entire nest.

How to get rid of ants in your home

To tackle an ant problem, you first need to make sure there's no reason for the insects to find your home attractive. This means you need to remove food sources by cleaning up any crumbs, spills, or leftover food in your home. Empty your rubbish bins and wipe down countertops with a mixture of vinegar and water to destroy scent trails.

There are a range of home remedies you can use to try and get rid of ants:

Vinegar and water: Mix equal parts vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Spray this solution directly on ant trails, entry points, and even their nest if it is visible. Repeat daily and ants will lose interest in the area.

Lemon juice: Squeezing fresh lemon juice along ant entry points and windowsills can disrupt their scent trails and repel them, as they dislike the smell of citrus.

Baking soda and sugar: Mix equal parts baking soda and sugar together and place in shallow dishes near ant trails. The sugar attracts the ants, and the baking soda disrupts their digestive systems, killing them.

Ant bait: If these methods have not worked, you can buy commercial ant baits that the insects will carry back to their nest, killing the colony. This may take a few days to get results.