Many people are looking for ways to keep ants away from sweet food items or even salty snacks because these annoying insects can reach almost everywhere.
The best containers to keep ants out include mason jars, hard plastic, ceramic, and stainless steel containers that need to be airtight to avoid undesired entries. You have to check the fitting of lids, the presence of holes, and the material of the container, in addition to their placements, which also matters for ants’ infestation.
It is essential to get ant-proof containers because these insects can create trouble for you later by getting inside your pantry and ruining the food items.
In addition, you have to look for a suitable place to keep these storage boxes because warmth and moisture create an ideal environment for these insects to live in.
What types of containers are good for keeping ants out?
Ants have strong mandibles allowing them to chew through materials like silicone, thin plastic, rubber wires, and even hard material like drywalls and concrete on the pavements.
Keeping these nuisance insects away from the food is challenging because they can make their way through thin plastic bags by chewing the material.
However, there are a few material types that can keep ants away from food for a long and avoid the risk of contamination if you take care of the holes and air spaces in the lid.
Hard plastic container
Plastic material can become a barrier for ants when they try to reach the stored food, but only hard plastic can meet your requirements. It is among the best containers to stop insects’ entry.
They can easily chew acrylic sheets and composites, but polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic can prevent these tiny insects due to its rigid structure.
Moreover, some species do not like the smell of plastic and usually stay away from containers, particularly when the tight lid prevents food aroma from spreading around.
Mason jars
Mason or glass jars are good to keep ants away from stored food because insects cannot chew through a thick glass material even if the food is attracting them.
Most commonly, these insects try to chew the material when the food odor is escaping from the container and is detected by their smell receptors.
These mason jars are airtight, allowing no escape from the smell of food and restricting these contaminating pests from chewing the thick material.
The only way to get inside these glass jars is through a loose lid providing a space for these tiny creatures to sneak through it and get food.
Accordingly, you can store sugar, cookies, sweets, crackers, and other sweet food items because these tiny creatures cannot reach inside them.
Ceramic containers
Ceramic jars are considered safe to use because they can keep insects away from stored food for years due to the non-porous nature of the material.
Moreover, this hard material cannot absorb food odor due to the absence of pores. However, it is essential to cover these ceramic jars with a tight lid because they can get inside from the top.
An uncovered mouth allows them to reach inside the container because they can climb over rough surfaces using sticky feet.
So, you can keep your favorite snacks inside a ceramic jar without worrying about the attack of these nuisance ants.
I got rid of these insects by keeping cookies or candies in a ceramic jar.
Stainless steel containers
It is not challenging for ants to walk on stainless steel surfaces because they have adhesive feet, providing support for climbing on smooth surfaces.
However, these insects cannot chew through stainless steel containers, so many people choose stainless steel bowls to feed their pets.
You can restrict their climbing behavior by applying petroleum jelly to add an extra layer of safety to the food storage boxes.
So, this type of material can help keep ants out of the stored food and even restrict them inside a formicarium made of stainless steel.
What things make containers best to keep ants out?
A few things are essential to consider while choosing a container to store food because these nuisance pests can get inside the food through tiny spaces and cause contamination.
It is better to look for the presence of holes within the jar when you want to keep sweet food that can draw ants toward the storage cabinet.
Moreover, these insects can pass through tiny spaces or holes, so getting a box with no holes is better. Check the fitting of the lid properly because a loose lid can provide them space.
It is essential to keep it airtight because these insects are only a few millimeters long, so a slightly open jar can become their entry route.
In addition, their placement also matters in keeping them out because containers on the countertop are more prone to attacks by these insects than the ones in a locked cabinet.
You have to keep the food jars away from moist surfaces because moisture attracts ants and makes them come inside these jars.
Furthermore, its material plays a crucial role if you want to keep insects out for a long time because these chewing pests can create holes in the packaging material.
A thin plastic bag cannot secure the stored food even if it is adequately sealed because its mandibles are sharp enough to make their way through it.
Accordingly, you have to look for a thick material that can resist damage against chewing insects, making it difficult for their mandibles to break the material.
How do you keep ants out of food containers?
You can reduce the risk of ants attack by putting some repelling substances with strong odors around the food containers.
Moreover, these insects are not attracted to dominating odors and prefer to avoid unpleasant smells. Therefore, putting a few cinnamon sticks to repel insects can be a temporary solution.
Use coffee powder and make a boundary around the jar to restrict these insects from getting closer to it because these insects do not like the strong odor of coffee.
In addition, put a few fresh basil leaves close to the container, which can repel them away until the leaves remain fresh and give off a particular repelling odor.
You can also use tape to seal the holes if any openings in it can protect stored food until the stickiness of the tape remains there.
However, it is considered suitable to use only airtight containers because these ants cannot survive inside them even if they make their way into food before storage.
These insects can die due to suffocation because they cannot hold their breath after 24 hours. So, you can also use natural repellents like lemon or orange peels and apply sticky material to them.
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