Finally, rifling through your medicine cabinet for a container of Vicks that's been sitting in there for who knows how long will not generate impressive repellent results. The ointment is most effective as a DIY ant deterrent when it's fresh and the mentholated vapors are at their prime.
Last week, we shared a tip from an anonymous Cheapster who discovered Vicks VapoRub – that smelly ointment meant to relieve cough symptoms – is also pretty good at keeping ants out of her house. That tip prompted a call from Lucy Tucker in Sellersville, who discovered yet one more use for Vicks.
Household items like citrus fruits, black pepper, peppermint oil, cayenne, thyme, and lavender can create natural ant repellents. Great for avoiding pesticides or conventional ant traps! Mixing parts of these substances with water in a bottle and spraying the solution around the house can keep ants at bay.
Repel Ticks, Bugs and Mosquitos
Vicks VapoRub contains cedarleaf oil, a mild pesticide which may actually repel insects.
Ants don't like things like peppermint, vinegar, and citrus. Making a solution with a bit of peppermint oil in it to wipe down surfaces like counters will let the room smell fresh and invigorating while helping to keep ants out of the house. Citrus-based bathroom cleaners can be used as a deterrent as well.
There is evidence that the compounds menthol and thymol help repel ants such as carpenter ants, pharaohs ants, and Argentine ants (Ratsakong et al. 2009, Joshi et al., 2014). A study also found that peppermint oil can prevent fire ant infestations by breaking down their food source (Kumar et al., 2015).
Ants are instantly attracted to food sources, especially those high in sugar and grease. They are drawn to spills of sugary substances like juice, soda, and remnants of sweet foods, as well as greasy kitchen residues. Their keen sense of smell enables them to quickly locate these attractants even in small quantities.
Repel Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes don't like the scent of camphor oil and menthol, two of the key ingredients in the cough medicine. They're likely to try to stay away from you if you smear a small amount of Vicks on your wrists or ankles before heading outside.
When placed on the skin, camphor can be absorbed through mucous membranes or broken skin. This also can be toxic. That's why you should never put VapoRub in or around the nostrils — especially a small child's nostrils. And if VapoRub gets in the eyes, it can injure the clear outer layer, called the cornea.
A: Vicks VapoRub temporarily relieves cough due to minor throat and bronchial irritation associated with the common cold. It can also be used to temporarily relieve minor aches and pains of muscles and joints.
Salt, baby powder, lemon juice, chalk, vinegar, bay leaves, cinnamon, or peppermint oil are a few items that you have around your home that will stop ants from coming inside. Lay these out in areas where you see ants, and they'll stop using that area as an entrance into your house.
It's important to note that while ammonia-based products like Windex might deter ants or make them temporarily uncomfortable due to the odor, they are not specifically designed as ant killers.
You may love your morning coffee, but ants could do without it. Another natural way to deter ants, sprinkle coffee grounds outside and around your garden. The smell repels them and they'll be looking for a less caffeinated place to hang out.
The intense fragrance of lavender oil or dried lavender disrupts the ants' navigation, making it a super great natural deterrent. To make your home a no-go zone for ants, try placing dried lavender bunches in areas they like to hang out.
Key Takeaways. Scientific research has debunked the belief that Vicks Vaporub is an effective mosquito repellent. Vicks Vaporub contains camphor, menthol, and eucalyptus oil, but limited scientific evidence supports its efficacy as a mosquito repellent.
Vicks VapoRub works best when used on the chest. There's no evidence that it helps cold symptoms if you put it on your feet. But Vicks VapoRub on the bottom of your feet may help relieve mild muscle aches, neuropathic foot pain, and moisturize dry skin.
Vicks VapoRub® when applied before retiring to bed can reduce subjective sleep disturbances during a common cold. The results of this exploratory study support the belief among patients that the use of VapoRub improves subjective sleep quality during common cold which was associated with more refreshing sleep.
Vicks Vapor Rub.
This salve contains essential oils like camphor and eucalyptus that potentially may produce gastrointestinal upset and central nervous system depression. If enough of this is aspirated or inhaled, your pet could experience respiratory irritation or even pneumonia.
Some people insist that VapoRub repels insects like nothing else, whereas others say it just doesn't work. There's no evidence to suggest that this works at the moment, and we may have to wait until some magical person can speak to creepy crawlies and find out their feelings about Vicks before we'll know for sure.
Vicks VapoRub - The smell of menthol and camphor in this ointment can effectively repel ticks when applied to skin, clothing, shoes and outdoor gear.
Ants are attracted to any type of food source, so if your kitchen tops are dirty or there's ready available fruit, sweets or crumbs – they will find their way to it. Ant colonies can consist of thousands or millions of tiny ants, which is why they seem to be everywhere, once you've found your first ant.