We recently had an ant invasion problem because I forgot to start feeding my indoor dog outside. Once the ants discovered the dog food, I had ants in my cabinets as well. It is a frustrating experience to get rid of ants when they discover a gourmet treat in your kitchen. This instructable will show you how I got rid of the little troopers!

Step 1: Supplies

White vinegar
Baking soda
Sponge with texture
Cleaning rags
Elbow grease (Manual labor)
Bleach may be used instead of vinegar.

Step 2: Tools

Broom or vacuum
Dust pan optional

Mop and bucket optional

Step 3: Remove Sources

Eliminate the food attraction.
First I took the dog food outside and placed the dog food centered in a shallow dish filled with water.
The ants drown when trying to reach the food.
Do you see the Agave Nectar? Well it had to go into the refrigerator.

Step 4: Clean Counters and Sink

Then I cleaned the counter tops, sink, splash board, windowsill, and inside the cabinet.
I cleaned all areas where the scent trail was and basically my whole kitchen to be safe.
I first scrubbed with a damp textured sponge and baking soda.
I rinsed with a clean damp cloth to remove the chalky residue.
I poured vinegar onto a damp cleaning cloth and cleaned the surfaces again.
I poured vinegar and baking soda down the sink to remove any food odors there.

It is important to keep food and crumbs off the table, counters, and floors after an invasion.
Keep dishes washed and rinsed.
Don't leave any water in the sink because they look for water also, especially when it is hot.

Step 5: Floors

I thoroughly swept the floor removing every possible crumb.

Using an old damp textured sponge, I added baking soda and cleaned the floor.
My thoughts were that the texture in the sponge would act as a sand paper and remove the scent trail.
I rinsed the baking soda off the floor the best I could, doing this a couple of times using hot water.
I Mopped the floor several times using the vinegar solution to remove any chalky residue left behind from the baking soda.

Step 6: Finding the Nest

Pouring boiling water over an ants nest several times over a period of a week will kill the ants naturally.
There are other ways to kill ants naturally but I just use this system.
I have not done it yet as we have been busy.

Step 7: Sunshiine"s Final Thoughts

My little secret!

I have always bought white vinegar and recently bought some Apple Cider vinegar. When the ants invaded my kitchen I was out of the white vinegar because I use it all the time for cleaning things around the house. So I poured a shallow dish full of the Apple Cider vinegar and placed it on the counter. I figured ants don't like vinegar so maybe they don't like the smell of it either. Now, understand I had already cleaned with the Apple cider vinegar. The next day I had ants again! It took me a while to figure out why I had ants, when I have always got rid of them using vinegar. Then it dawned on me. I used apple cider vinegar.

The second cleaning did not take as long because I caught it early enough. I did use bleach that time even though I don't like to, only because I used Apple Cider vinegar before. I have always used white vinegar and it works!

In closing I would like to thank our instructables company, sponsors, authors, readers, and members; for making this community a great success! Many hours and hard work has been put into making this place the best DIY on the Internet. Have fun and thanks for stopping by!
Sunshiine