It is just a small, inconspicuous line. Nevertheless, it can protect your home from intruders. Find out the background here.
Spring and summer are especially lovely, but it’s also a great time to make sure your home is protected from intruders, especially ants! These little guys mainly come inside during the sunny, warm months in search of food.
But with a simple coat of chalk on your front door, patio door, balcony door and windows, you can prevent the pests from entering your four walls.
Why this household remedy works
Chalk consists of around 98 percent calcium carbonate. It has a pH value of 8.5 and is therefore alkaline. This destroys the ants’ acid-base balance or neutralizes their formic acid, which is why they avoid the substance. Alternatively, you can also use calcite or calcium carbonate for the trick.
The small insects also find the dryness of the material unpleasant. The chalk coating also serves as a mini-barrier that destroys the ants’ pheromone trail. The small insects can lose their orientation.
So if you now draw a thick (five to ten millimetres), unbroken chalk line in front of the entrances – doors and windows – of your house, you will prevent ants from finding their way into your four walls. It is important that you draw the chalk line thick enough, that it goes around the entire door frame or window frame and that it is renewed regularly.
Professional travel tip
Take a piece of chalk with you on your next trip to southern Europe and protect your vacation accommodation from ants.
