Ants are known for being hard working insects. But infestation of ants can become a serious problem in a household. Homeowners often face this problem and feel helpless when it comes to finding solutions about repelling ants.
Today, we are going to discuss and find out whether lemon repels ants or not.
Does lemon repel ants?
Lemon possesses the ability to repel ants. One can use lemon juice, lemon balm and lemon essential oil to keep away ants. The ants can be kept away by spraying lemon mixture on the most ant affected areas and the entry points of the ants. One can also wipe those areas with lemon soaked clothes.
Table of Contents
Let’s look at different states of lemon and find out if these states can successfully repel ants.
Lemon essential oil:
Lemon essential oil is popular for being a successful ant repellent. The method ants use for traveling through any area is known as the pheromone trails. The smell of lemon essential oil is capable of creating problems for ants when it comes to following the pheromone trails.
You can simply wipe the most ant affected areas of your house with lemon essential oil soaked cotton or cloth. This will keep the ants away from infesting your house.
Lemon balm:
Ants do not like the smell emitted by lemon balm. That is why lemon balm is considered as a successful ant repellent herb. You can simply place lemon balm at different parts of your home or rub the leaves of lemon balm on the most ant affected areas of your home.
Ants will do anything to keep themselves away from the smell of lemon balm.
Lemon water:
Lemon water can also repel ants. But it is not as effective as other states of lemon. You can soak lemon in fresh water for some time and use that water to repel ants.
You can additionally squeeze drops of lemon into a water and use that lemon water mixture as an ant repellent.
Lemon juice:
Lemon juice is a successful ant repellent. You can apply lemon juice using cotton balls or cloth in different parts of your home. The smell of lemon juice will keep the ants from coming into your home.
You can squeeze juice out of a fresh lemon or you can buy a readymade lemon juice from the store. Both will work just fine as an ant repellent.
What does lemon juice do to ants?
It is believed by experts that lemon juice is a successful ant repellent. Lemon juice does not cause the demise of ants. But the scent emitted by lemon juice is enough to put off ants. Ants are known for being industrious insects and they follow the trail of each other to find food.
This trail gets broken by the scent of lemon juice.
You can use lemon juice in several ways as an ant repellent. First of all, you can use lemon juice as a spray in ant affected areas. You can further use lemon juice with the help of cotton balls and clothes.
Another important thing to remember here is that you can make the lemon juice from fresh lemons or you can buy it from a store if you do not want to go through the hassle of making it yourself.
So lemon juice is a safe ant repellent if your intention is to cause the ants no harm and only repel them away.
How to be ant-proof with lemons?
Ant-proofing your house with lemons might seem like a daunting task if you do not have any prior experience. However, there are some steps and methods you can follow to accomplish this task. Let’s discuss them in detail.
Find the entry points:
First of all, you will need to find out the locations which the ants use to come into your house. Finding the entry points of the ants will make the task easier by cutting down areas to cover.
Before you take any steps, you will have to follow the trails of ants to target the entry points.
Find the source of food:
You will need to find out the ants’ source of food. Usually, ants target the area where you store your food like the kitchen and the refrigerator. You will need to take these locations into account along with the entry points.
Make a mixture:
You will have to decide how much spray you need to cover all the selected areas. According to the estimation, you will have to cut the lemons into pieces to make a mixture.
You will need to squeeze the lemon juice out of those lemon pieces into a jar or bowl with water in it. You can use a spoon to smooth out the mixture.
Use a spray bottle:
You will have to use a spray bottle to apply the mixture. You will have to spray the mixture to all the targeted areas. The scent of lemon mixture will repel the ants from entering your home and break the trail.
Alternative approach:
Instead of spraying the mixture, you can soak cotton balls or cloth in the mixture and wipe the targeted areas with the lemon soaked cotton balls or cloth. Other alternative approaches include using lemon essential oil and lemon balm.
How long does lemon keep ants away?
Lemon is not a long term solution for repelling ants. It is true that ants do not like the smell of lemon at all. But it does not necessarily mean that lemon will keep ants away for good. The smell of lemon is responsible for driving ants away.
That is why the ants will come back as soon as the smell of lemon goes away.
You will need to keep spraying a mixture of lemon after every few days to keep the ants away.
It is better to focus on finding a long term solution for ants rather than relying only on lemon as an ant repellent. Lemon juice, lemon essential oil, and lemon balm are all short term solutions for infestation of ants.
How to make citrus spray for ants?
Making citrus spray for ants is not difficult to do if you manage to follow the correct steps and methods. Let’s discuss them in detail.
Peel off the rinds:
First of all, you will need to peel off the citrus rinds from your lemon. You can simply use a knife to peel off the rinds from your lemon. You will have to be careful while peeling the citrus rinds.
Add vinegar:
After you have peeled off the citrus rinds, you will need to place them in a bowl. You will have to cover the citrus rinds in white vinegar.
Warm the mixture:
You will need to put the vinegar soaked citrus rinds on the stove. The purpose of this step is to warm the mixture. You should not keep the mixture on the stove for too long.
Cool off the mixture:
You will be required to keep the mixture at a cool place after warming it up. You will need to give it at least twelve hours to properly cool off.
Put it in a bottle:
In the final step, you will need to put the mixture into a spray bottle for further uses. You can even store the citrus spray in a fridge.
Other options:
You can use citrus oil instead of citrus rinds to make a citrus spray if you do not want to go through the trouble of peeling off citrus rinds. The effectiveness of the citrus spray will be the same for both citrus rinds and citrus oil.
The selection of ingredients will depend upon personal choice in this case.
Does lemon eucalyptus repel ants?
There is an essential oil available by the name of lemon eucalyptus essential oil. The source of this essential oil is lemon eucalyptus tree. It is suggested by experts that this essential oil can be used as an ant repellent.
Ants do not enjoy the smell of lemon eucalyptus essential oil and will do anything to keep away from it. You can soak cotton balls with lemon eucalyptus essential oil and place them at the most visited areas of ants.
This will effectively break the trails of ants and keep them away from your home.
Another way you can use lemon eucalyptus essential oil is by wiping the most ant affected areas of the home with a cloth soaked in lemon eucalyptus essential oil. This process will have to be repeated every few weeks to keep the ants away for good.
Final Thoughts
Lemon can repel ants for a short amount of time. The scent of lemon juice, lemon balm and lemon essential oil are not enjoyed by ants at all. The trails of ants get broken down due to the scent of lemon. Lemon soaked cotton balls & clothes and lemon spray can do the job of keeping ants away.