Ants tend to be driven by a desire to find food, so this should alert you to carefully store your food. Besides, if you're not into chemical sprays which seem to last only for a few hours, or are allergic to them in any way it might be time to try a homemade approach.
Dish liquid and water mix - The most effective way to get rid of ants. Use about two tablespoon diluted in a pint of water and transfer the solution into a spray bottle. Spray near windows, doors and cracks, but don't wipe it away. This apparently destroys the scent trail that alerts more ants to come down. Spraying the solution on roaming ants will also kill them.
Cornmeal- This can be used as a weapon against ants and it is not poisonous to people or animals. Ants eat it and after consuming water, the cornmeal swells inside their digestive organs, killing the ants.
Powder - Chalk or baby powder are two old home remedies for ant protection. Both contain talc powder, which is a natural ant deterrent. The cornstarch in baby powder is another irritant to ants. You can sprinkle either substances on areas in which your ants are invading.
Vinegar - Vinegar is great for cooking, but did you know that vinegar is a useful cleaning agent and ant repellent, too? Due to its level of acidity, vinegar solutions can kill most bacteria, mold, and germs. Due to its scent, ants avoid vinegar. Thus, cleaning your counter tops, floors, and any other at-risk surfaces can keep your house clean and ant free.
Mint Leaves - Did you know that an ant can carry up to 50 times its own weight? Oh yes, they can totally carry crushed mint leaves too. So when they do and eat it, they easily die out of it.
Vodka - A 3-to-1 ratio of vodka to water, poured into a spray bottle is highly recommended by some. But while you spray this all over your kitchen, the ants will most probably die, the kitchen will smell of vodka, and give your guests quite a wrong impression about you and your habits.
Containers and bowls - Put your food in airtight containers. This also has the added bonus of keeping your food fresh. Also, should bugs that come in egg form in the foodstuffs hatch, they're caught inside the container, making their disposal easy and preventing their spread through the entire kitchen. Add some water to the larger bowl, creating a moat around the pet food that the ants can't easily cross.
Remove the food source - You may find yourself searching for a single piece of fruit under your refrigerator that may have attracted a swarm of ants. Though it may seem tedious, eliminating the food source is a sure-fire way to eliminate the ants. However you decide to handle your ant attacks, do not be discouraged if no remedy works 100% of the time. Ant infestations have less to do with the cleanliness of your home and more to do with the weather. Ants are more prone to invade during rain and drought - it is simply their biology. Thus, whether you use home remedies or heavy duty anti-ant chemicals, sometimes you will just have to wait it out.
Photo by wikiHow