Cinnamon. Does cinnamon counteract ants and spiders? Why do ants not like cinnamon oil? What are the natural ways to combat ants? Is there an environmentally friendly method for repelling ants? How can you stop ants and spiders from entering your home? How do you get rid of ants and spiders in your house? What is the best spray against spiders and ants? How can you stop ants from coming in the house naturally? What is the fastest way to get rid of ants and spiders?

There is no doubt that the presence of ants and spiders in homes is a big point of concern. They can be seen in homes almost throughout the year. Like me, have you also heard from people that cinnamon is useful in repelling ants & spiders? Does it really work? 

If you don’t know the solution or if you are worried about the presence of ants or spiders on your property, this article is especially for you. Keep reading till the end to take a deep dive into the topic.

To start out with there are some points that you need to consider no matter what kind of insect problem you have in your hose. Professional pest control recommends action on these points:

• Keep your food in sealed containers or closed cabins like a refrigerator

• Seal gaps and cracks in your house

• Clean surfaces to remove ant trails

Does cinnamon really work?

Concerning ants

When it comes to ants, you cannot only repel but also kill them with cinnamon. There are mainly three ways of using cinnamon for getting rid of ants. You can either use it in powder form or in an oil form or use a stick. You will need to make use of the oil form of cinnamon if you intend to kill the ants. On the other hand, a powder form or stick of cinnamon will only be able to repel them.

 There is even real scientific evidence that cinnamon works as a repellant as you can see in this study from Malaysia. However, the concentrations were much higher in this study compared to the cinnamon powder you buy in the grocery store. But by adding additional scents like citrus and tea tree oil you can get a symbiotic effect that is strong enough to have a significant effect. My own experiments where I just put a string of cinnamon powder in the corners of windows completely stopped the ants running around there. And they didn’t enter through a new location either. I was surprised that this simple and very affordable method worked. Not to mention how environmentally friendly it is!

But there is more evidence that a substance in cinnamon actually triggers a chemical reaction inside ants and other insects:

“These compounds, including one found in cinnamon, work by activating a type of ion channel highly expressed in the antennae and leg of one of the world’s most invasive insect species.”

If your intention is to kill the ants, not just keep them away, you should consider chili pepper (Capsicum annuum) as this was demonstrated in this scientific study to have a higher kill rate against ants compared to cinnamon.

The answer to the question is, without a doubt, yes. Cinnamon does work for getting rid of ants.

Early in the spring, ants have trouble finding food in nature, and this is when it is most likely they will venture into your house. They often enter at specific locations. If you manage to put a line of cinnamon at the right places, this will create a barrier for ants, but also spiders will be very reluctant to cross the cinnamon-red line.

Still don’t believe me?

Check out this video. The ants will not step on cinnamon and they will not cross a cinnamon line!

Concerning spiders

In the case of spiders, you will have to make use of Cinnamon oil. The oil is able to kill the spiders if you make use of 100% Cinnamon. But there is no need to kill them. Instead, you can simply make them get out of your home. For this, you will have to dilute the Cinnamon oil to 1%. The spray of this solution will surely repel the spider out of your property. Thus, by using a fraction of Cinnamon oil rather than 100% of it, you will save a lot of the oil.

Why does cinnamon stop ants and spiders?

The main reason behind the capability of cinnamon for repelling ants & spiders is that these insects actually don’t like the aroma of cinnamon, that’s why they ramble away from the areas or spots where the cinnamon exists. Furthermore, it will disrupt their scent trails. Especially if you manage to spray some on the actual ants as they move back to where they came from.

Do you have ant-problem during spring?

Even though ants are seen in your house throughout the year, spring is the season in which they flourish. It’s at the beginning of spring when they are most likely to enter your house. This is because ants usually have a hard time finding enough food early in the spring. They need to wander inside your home to find more. Ants are often found at very specific locations. They follow a trail through a crack or hole in the wall, on the floor, or even the ceiling. But you don’t have to worry about it. All you need to do is just create a line of cinnamon at the places where you have spotted ants. It will not only resist the ants but repel the spiders as well.

How to use cinnamon for repelling or killing ants and spiders?

When it comes to the steps that you will need to follow to repel ants with the use of cinnamon, you should first sprinkle the cinnamon at the entry spots of your house from where the ants enter. Cinnamon is fully capable of stopping ants from coming in. Apart from this, you can also use a swab of cotton and create a line with cinnamon. The method of creating a line with a cotton swab is quite simple and easy. All you need to do is rub the cotton swab over cinnamon and then create a single line by spreading it. Ants will not be able to cross or pass that line. Thus they will keep away.

If you want to use Cinnamon sticks to get rid of ants, you should simply place rods in the targeted area or put them down at the entry spots of the house.

On the other hand, in case you are willing to kill ants, you should use cinnamon oil. You should dip a swab of cotton into the oil and then use that cotton to rub the oil over the area where you are facing ants’ presence. You can also mix the oil with water and then spray the solution onto the areas where ants are present in your home. It will be a more efficient way to use cinnamon oil to get rid of ants.

Making Cinnamon Solution

For making the best solution of cinnamon with water, you should first take and mix ¼ cup of water, ¼ cup of vodka, and then shake it well. Add 20-25 drops of cinnamon oil, 15 drops of peppermint oil, 15 drops of tea tree oil, and seven drops of citrus oil. Once it is ready, shake it well, and the solution is ready.

Note: If you are going to use the solution in the food-related area, avoid using tea tree oil. In such cases, you can replace the tea tree oil by adding more peppermint oil. Or as scientific research results proved that chili pepper was even more efficient than cinnamon when it comes down to killing the little bugs, add chili to the mix as well.

What is Cinnamon?

Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum and Cinnamon cassia) belongs to the Lauraceae family. Cinnamon is commonly used daily by people all over the world. Cinnamon contains vital oils and other derivatives like cinnamaldehyde, cinnamic acid, and cinnamate. It has been found to have numerous health and medical properties including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, anticancer, lipid-lowering and positive effects on the cardiovascular system. Cinnamon has even been reported to have an effect against neurological disorders, like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

Natural ways to resist Ants

Below you can find some of the most common ways to combat Ants naturally:

• You should keep your recycling bins and garbage pails in the outdoor area.
• It should be noted that ants are attracted to food sources. So you should adequately clean the areas like the sink, sink trap, and other food-related regions of the kitchen or outside the kitchen.
• You should wash your recycle bins and garbage pails with soapy water. And the water should be warm.
• If you have pets in your home, their food bowls should be kept clean, and it is recommended to remove them as soon as the eating is finished. Moreover, if your pets eat very little at a time, their bowl should be placed in a pie pan. Additionally, the pie pan in which you have to put the bowl should be filled with water.
• It is worth noting that some ants like houseplants, and they are attracted to them. So it is recommended to remove them.
• The floor of the house should be cleaned with a good floor cleaner, possessing a strong scent. That’s because ants do not like some scents, and they are repelled by them. For this, you can make use of a citrus-scented cleaner. It will not only resist the ants but also eliminate the food particles. So there are double advantages of using it.

From the points mentioned above, it’s quite clear that you mainly need to focus on 5-6 areas for naturally keeping ants away from your property. These areas are recycling bins, garbage pails, bowls for pet foods, houseplants, etc.

Prevent spiders from entering your home

You will need to follow the steps given below for repelling the spiders with the use of Cinnamon oil:

1. The very first step in the process will be to clean the outside area properly.
2. Next, you should pressure wash all the entrances of your house or property, including windows, doors, etc. 
3. You should continue with the cleaning of compost heaps, sheds, storage boxes, wood-piles, etc. Moreover, the branches that are in touch with the house should also get trimmed.
4. Once the cleaning tasks mentioned above are completed successfully, the next step will be to mix the Ceylon Cinnamon leaf oil. Once mixed well, you are good to go and start spraying it around your windows, doorways, and other spots related to your property’s entry points. The task of mixing and spraying can be accomplished with the use of a pump spray. Apart from the above-mentioned spots, you should also spray on the planter boxes, fences, sheds, storage boxes, or any other places where you think spiders may exist.
5. The final step is to start sweeping and vacuuming the entire house. Some drops of cinnamon oil should be added to the mopping liquid as well. The solution of cinnamon oil and water should be diluted to 1%, just as you did before. You should spray the solution inside your cupboards. The spots under the refrigerator, basement, air vent, and other suspected hideaways should be cleaned as well, preferably with the solution you now have at hand. And finally, you shouldn’t forget to clean & spray on the kitchen cabinets and closets. Done!

Natural ways to resist spiders

Below I have mentioned some of the most common natural ways to combat spiders:

• The holes must be blocked so that spiders may not find their way to enter if you have gaps between pipework, walls, windows, etc.
• As soon as the summer ends, you should vacuum your house from the ceiling to the bottom. Apart from this, sofas, closets, and even other places where spiders can hide should be vacuumed very well.
• You should also remove sheltering sites like garden bags and firewood piles.
• The storage sheds should also be cleaned very well.
• Another essential thing to do for resisting the spiders is not to keep foods out in the open. That’s because food attracts other insects, and insects are food for spiders! Thus spiders are attracted when there are other insects in the house.
• It’s also recommended to remove the webs of spiders regularly, whether they are found in picture frames, ceilings, or any other place.

Final Words

A house with ants & spiders will often be considered a “dirty house”. This does, of course, depend on the culture and location, but what do you think of a hotel room full of ants? Hence, you should take the situation seriously and use cinnamon to get rid of them by following the steps mentioned above.

Ants can also destroy the wooden structure of the house and if the ant problem is not limited to a short period of the spring, then you should investigate which type of ant is present. If it is termites or black ants which build nests in rotten wood you may have a serious problem and need to react quickly.

Further reading:

Deterring Ants with Cinnamon

Extraction and Potential of Cinnamon Essential Oil towards Repellency and Insecticidal Activity

The repellent and lethal effects of black pepper (Piper nigrum), chili pepper (Capsicum annuum), and cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) extracts towards the odorous house ant (Tapinoma sessile)