Does Baking Soda kill Ants?

Does Baking Soda kill ants? The answer is yes, it will kill ants. 

This article will give you all the info you need to know about using Baking Soda to kill ants.

Baking Soda is a natural household item often found in the kitchen.

Simple and easy to use, we will show you how to use Baking Soda to kill the ants in the house and in your yard.

Using Baking Soda to kill ants is a very cost-effective pest control method for getting rid of an ant infestation.

Most species of ants will build a colony outside, though the Carpenter ant is different. This pest likes to build a colony indoors; not a nice thought. They like moist wood and so they like damp wooden buildings as their habitat. They do not eat the wood as termites do.

Some species of ants can bite, but apart from that most are harmless.

Want to find out how Baking Soda kills ants? Then please read on.

What is Baking Soda?

Baking Soda is sometimes called Bicarbonate of Soda. To us, it is a simple household item.

Baking Soda is a naturally occurring salt, made up of Sodium Cation and Bicarbonate Anion. It is a fine white powder with an alkaline taste to it. The chemical formula is NaHCO3.

The most common reason people have Baking Soda is for baking with it. It can also be used to take away the musty smell in old books. Baking Soda also appears in some tooth whitening kinds of toothpaste.

Baking Soda also happens to be a very effective natural method to use on an infestation of ants.

Is Baking Soda the same as Baking powder?

No, it is not the same as Baking powder, and is in fact very different. Baking Soda is four times stronger than Baking powder.

Both are white powders and are used to make batter rise when cooked. That is where the similarities end.

How does it work?

Baking Soda when mixed with vinegar ( an acid ) will cause a chemical reaction, and this reaction releases carbon dioxide.

When ants eat Baking Soda it reacts with the acid in the ant’s digestive system, which will kill the ants quickly. And that is how Baking Soda kill ants.

According to an urban myth, the reaction to the Baking Soda will cause the ants to explode, but this is untrue.

The ants will collect the Baking Soda mixture and take it back to their nest. Once there the ants regurgitate to form a liquid food that is fed mouth to mouth to the rest of the colony ants, including the queen.

When the queen is dead, no more eggs can be laid, and the nest and ants will come to an end.

How long will it take for the Baking Soda to get rid of the ants?

The mixture reacts quickly in the stomach of the ants, so unless they get back to the colony quickly the mixture will not be spread around to the other ants and you could find a trail of dead ants.

You want the whole colony to die, and if the ants died before getting back to base, the colony will still be alive and more will return.

Baking Soda and powdered sugar mixture to kill ants and how to use it

Mix equal parts of sugar and Baking Soda in a cup; one cup is usually enough for the usual size infestation. And it’s as easy as that to make the Soda and sugar mixture.

Find the ants’ nest by following the ants’ trails. Place the bait on and around the nest when you have found it for the Baking Soda and sugar to be most effective at killing the ants. If you find entry points to the nest, sprinkle them with Baking Soda and sugar also.

Find the entry points to the house, and place a line of the mixture along with it. You could also put the Baking Soda mix in jar lids or a similar container near the entry points.

If you notice that the ants have stopped coming into the house after a few hours, this could be good news. The Baking soda and powdered sugar are working.

At this point, block up entry points into the house to prevent scouts from a new colony getting in.

Make a paste

You could also add a little water to the two ingredients to form a paste, which can be put in shallow containers and used as bait. The paste can be left near the nest or in the kitchen on surfaces where you have seen an ant invasion.

If you have any Baking Soda and powdered sugar mix leftover place in an airtight container or jar, with a label on it so you know what it is if needed again for future pest control.

Boric acid

Boric acid (H3B03) is a white colorless crystalline powder. It is a weak acid, with mild antiseptic and antifungal properties.

It is fairly cheap and easy to buy.

Boric acid is toxic if consumed, so it must be used with care. It used to be used as a food additive, however, it is now banned for this purpose.

Boric acid can be added to the Baking Soda and sugar mix to make it an extra potent insecticide.

As it is toxic, care must be taken when using it for killing ants. We do not recommend its use around children and your pet dog or cat.

The advantages of Baking Soda to get rid of ants

Here are the reasons to use Baking Soda, and why we think you should give it a try.

Cheap to buy

Baking soda is so cheap compared to commercial pest control products to buy, costing no more than a dollar.

It is also easy to buy from stores and most people have some already in their cupboards.

Convenient

If you discover ants in the house, you can make up the Baking Soda bait quickly and easily to deal with the pest issue, without the need to rush out in the car to buy some bait, spray, or insecticide that is toxic in the home and environment.

Eco-friendly and safe to use

Baking Soda is natural and comes from salt beds and is non-toxic, which is great, as you don’t need to buy harmful chemicals for killing the pests.

Baking Soda is great for cleaning, deodorizing, brightening, whitening, and can be used for gentle scrubbing. This means you could use it to clean the bathroom, leaving it sparkling clean.

You could ditch many cleaning bottles that come in plastic, and try Baking Soda to clean with.

Baking Soda is safe for the environment, and Baking Soda is often used in eco-friendly cleaning products.

Chemicals must be kept out of harm’s way. Baking Soda, being non-toxic, can be kept on a shelf out of the reach of children.

Harsh chemicals used on the ground can be touched and consumed by children and pets, so you need to be wary of this.

The Bad news

It has to be mined and transported to stores around the country, which has a negative carbon footprint impact on the environment.

The Good news

In Wyoming, the salt bed there has tons of natural salt, so much in fact enough for 2,000 odd years.

We have plenty to keep us going for now.

Is Baking Soda child and pet friendly?

Baking Soda can kill ants, but for children and pets as long as the amounts used are small it is fine for them to be around it.

Do not leave it lying around, however, or pile it high on the ants’ nest. Baking Soda can upset the stomach if eaten.

Vinegar and Chalk to put the ant off the scent

When a scout ant discovers food, the ant will leave a pheromone trail so that other worker ants can find the food also.

Vinegar can be used in a spray bottle as a DIY repellant. It should be applied on the ant trail to destroy the pheromone trail. It also makes a great ant killer. It is very effective, cheap to buy, and usually found in the cupboard at home.

These insects do not like the smell and it will also work to repel an ant invasion if you spray some on the work surfaces.

Ants will not cross a chalk line. Like vinegar, the chalk will affect the pheromone trails. Draw a line between the ants’ entry point and the food source to discourage other ants from going to the food.

How to use soap and water to kill ants

Another cheap and easy way to kill ants.

Make up a spray bottle of soap and water and use it directly onto the ants.

How does it work to kill the ant? Ants will float on water alone. However, if you add soap to the water it sticks on and weighs down the ant, pulling them under the water, which causes suffocation and death.

The mixture will cause death to an ant very quickly, so it can be used if you want immediate results. It can be used outside in the yard without killing your plants.

And finally,

Does Baking Soda kill ants? Well now you know it does kill and you know how it works and how to use it.

Baking Soda is so cheap to buy, works quickly, and is easy to use. DIY is far better than buying expensive chemical products.

For any further information on any other insects and pest issues, take a look at our other posts.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to drop us an email. We do our best to respond as quickly as possible.

Good luck!