Natural Ways to Kill Ants and Pests

Here are two natural ways to kill ants and fleas that are also ecofriendly and safe for children and pets. Today we're talking about how to use club soda and diatomaceous earth to kill ants and fleas. And while they kill the pests, they don't harm other wildlife, the environment or your garden plants.

Two Natural Ways to Kill Ants and Fleas

When we first moved into our new house this spring, my kids were out playing in the driveway and they started to scream. I went running over to see my son's legs covered in little black ants and then saw a huge ant pile next to him. Thankfully, some apple cider vinegar anti-itch rub helped the swelling and itching, but I knew I had to take care of the ants. Of course, it had to be a natural solution because I don't want to spray poisonous chemicals on the ground, which only contributes to harming the environment, animals, and us humans.

Natural Ways to Kill Ants – Club Soda!

I discovered that club soda works because the carbon dioxide from the carbonation displaces the oxygen in the colony, suffocating the queen, which eventually kills the whole colony.

Natural Ways to Kill Ants and Fleas - Club Soda and Diatomaceous Earth

Using Club Soda on Ants is Really Easy

  • For one medium mound, you need about 1/2 liter of club soda (carbonated water). For a large one, I'd use a whole liter.
  • Pour directly onto the mound – I poured all over the entire mound and not just in the center as it was suggested to me. I generously poured it on, since it's cheap and non-toxic.
  • It takes about 2 full days for it to all die. One very large pile I had needed an extra dose of soda, and that did the trick. Once it dies, it will just be a mound of dirt, then grass or weeds will start to grow on top of it. I can't even tell where the mounds were a month later!

I read on several sites that it doesn't work to kill fire ants. I'd like to disagree – at the very least it displaces them. I found that their colonies are harder to kill than black ants BUT I did finish them off with my magic powers club soda. It took two rounds and a liter and a half, but they did go away.

Now my kids can play without getting bitten by nasty little ants and no eco-systems, other insects, animals or humans were poisoned to accomplish that. Plus, for about $1 a liter, it's also cheap!

Diatomaceous Earth as Pest Control to Kill Fleas

Many readers have reported to me that Diatomaceous Earth works to kill ants as well! I have not used them on ants, but I have used them to kill fleas.

What Is Diatomaceous Earth?

Diatomaceous earth is made up of tiny fossilized diatoms (plankton) that have accumulated over millennia in fresh water lakes. These pure deposits are mined and ground into a fine powder that is naturally high in silica and other minerals. It is this chalky white powder that we call diatomaceous earth.

Diatomaceous Earth Kills Fleas

We had fleas in our house from our cat that were living in the carpets. We have four kids and the the fleas were in three of their rooms! Thankfully, this was in the summertime so I had them all bunk in one room while I treated the other rooms.

I sprinkled the DE all over the carpets and let it sit for a day, then vacuumed it up. I repeated the process a week later to make sure I killed the eggs that had just hatched and got through the whole flea life cycle. Two weeks later, the fleas were finally gone. Then, I had to move the kids back into the other two rooms and treat that last room.

I did find that the powder was quite irritating on my skin (baking soda also does that to me) so I used rubber gloves. I also put the DE in an old spice container like I do for my baking soda scouring scrub.

See more of my non-toxic gardening solutions, like my all-natural weed killer, here!

27 Comments

  1. Thank you so much, my ants this year are out of control. I PRAY that this works. I will let you know. Keep up with your suggestions they are very much needed and appreciated.

          1. No, it did NOT work for you. All you did was make the fire ants your neighbors’ problems by moving them out of your yard. To actually make your neighborhood safe from them, the neighbors should all agree to poison the fire ant mounds on their property during the same period so any that survive and try to move will be poisoned very soon and not really have a chance to get settled before being killed.

    1. I put either grits or cornmeal in or on top of the best and then cover it with bleach. They come up for the grits and or the cornmeal and the bleach smother them.

  2. We thought this had worked. But a few days later they had built another pile about 2 feet from the first one. Did club soda again…. same result… they relocated about 2 feet away. Any other suggestions?

    1. Hi Rachel! I’ve heard this from a few other people as well. So, the good news is that it’s making the pile move further away from where you don’t want it. Bad news is that it’s not killing them. Another thing to dry that kills pests inside is Diotomaecous Earth. And it’s totally non-toxic and safe, so I would try that on the ant piles as I’ve had it kill fleas in our carpets before.

      1. You should use DE sparingly because it will kill the beneficial insects in your yard/garden too…..

        1. Okay, good to know. I found that even having them move to another location was helpful if it meant they were out of where we walk or my kids play. A kind solution for the ants, too!

  3. If it’s just depriving them of oxygen that destroys ant hills, they’d all perish in the rain.

    1. Yes! Get a glass spray bottle (like this one) and put about 10 drops of peppermint essential oil in it and fill the rest with water. Spray the area where they are entering thoroughly and continue doing so until they are gone. This has worked for me so well! It sometimes takes 2-3 times of spraying before they are all gone.

  4. I used boiling water to kill a giant anthill that was taking over my lawn near the sidewalk. It took several potfuls.

    1. Oooo boiling water! That makes sense. Good to know, thanks for leaving that tip for other readers.

  5. We had ants in our bathroom and I mixed a little powdered sugar with 20 mule team borax (it was only thjng I could find with borax). If you have some 2 liter lids out mixture in them and set them where the ants are. It did get rid of the ants. Also wipe the walls or area where they are traveling in the house because other ants follow the previous trail. The cornmeal works because it swells after they ingest it thereby killing them that eat it.

  6. We have problems with those little sugar ants in the kitchen and bathroom. I’ve tried baking soda, baby powder, borax and powdered sugar mixture, borax and syrup mixture. I’ve used the liquid ant traps which have trapped a lot of them. I’ve put Dawn dish soap across the threshold where we’ve seen some coming in. Nothing stops them. It’s like an army that creates more warriors every time I manage to kill a few of them. We can’t find their home, we suspect it maybe under the house, but not sure.

    1. Have you tried cornmeal? We use it in our yard and when we occasionally have the ants show up in the house. I put a small amount on the counter or on a thin container lid ( like the ones used on sour cream), place it near or in the path of their trail, and let it sit for a few days. Ants will eat it and carry back to the nest. They cannot digest it and die. In the yard we just sprinkle it around the mound. Non toxic. This has worked well for us.

  7. I know one way to get rid of them and make beautiful art is melt aluminum and pour into the ant hill. Haven’t tried yet the YouTube pics and videos are great

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