Lavender Oil for Ants: Does Lavender Repel Ants and How to Use It Safely

TL;DR

• Only a little. Lavender may keep ants away from the spot you treat for a short time, but very little research backs it up.
• It is not known to kill the colony, so ants you push away from one doorway will often find another way in.
• If you try it, remove food and wipe trails with soapy water first. Then spray a few drops of lavender essential oil in water on entry points.
• Natural is not the same as pet-safe: lavender is toxic to dogs and cats (ASPCA). Keep sprays and cotton balls where children and pets cannot reach them.
• Baits are what end an infestation. Keep them out for at least two weeks and don't spray while you bait (Health Canada), lavender included.
• Need help? Get a quote from a recommended local exterminator through Pest Agent's referral form.

Lavender oil for ants gets recommended as the gentle, natural option, and at most it keeps ants off a treated windowsill for a short while without touching the nest they come from. The surprise is on the safety side: the ASPCA lists lavender as toxic to dogs and cats, so a natural remedy is not automatically a pet-safe one.

Its reputation as a repellent rests on less than most home remedy posts suggest. Whether ants actually steer around the smell is a question very few researchers have put to the test.

Does Lavender Repel Ants?

Lavender may keep ants away from the spot you treat for a short time, but very little research backs it up. No university extension service we found lists ants among the pests lavender repels, and the few lab tests that exist are small. If you like the smell, lavender oil can be one small part of your ant plan, never the whole plan.

What Is Lavender Oil?

Lavender oil is the essential oil distilled from lavender flowers, a fragrant evergreen plant native to the Mediterranean region. Pure lavender essential oil is usually made by steam distillation. Its two main compounds are usually linalool and linalyl acetate, which give lavender its scent. These same compounds are what make the plant toxic to pets.

How Do Ants Find Food?

Ants find food by following scent. According to Health Canada, ant colonies send out scouts, and a scout that finds food leaves a scented trail for other workers to follow back to it. Ants are drawn to sugary and greasy foods, which is why they show up in kitchens and pantries first.

How Could Lavender Affect Ants?

Lavender could affect ants through its strong smell, which may make a treated surface less attractive so ants walk around it. That is the theory behind every essential oil ant spray. Lavender does not erase an existing trail on its own, though: University of California IPM (UC IPM) says it is soapy water that removes the scent trail ants leave behind. UC IPM also notes that plant oil products give good contact activity on ants but have limited residual activity, which means the effect fades quickly.

What Does the Research Say About Lavender and Ants?

Research on lavender and ants is very limited. Here is what exists:

• A 2021 Texas A&M student study tested lemongrass, lavender and tea tree oils on red imported fire ants. Tea tree oil was reportedly the best repellent, stopping ants from reaching a bait in every trial. Lavender did best of the three at killing ants that were placed directly in drops of oil, but the author called those results inconclusive.
• A 2001 lab paper in the Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry found that linalool, the main compound in lavender, showed higher ant repellent activity than DEET in a lab method. The abstract does not say which ant species was tested.
• No extension source names ants. The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension describes lavender's fragrance as unpleasant to mosquitoes, flies, fleas and moths, and ants are not among them.

Be careful with web pages that quote precise lavender repellency percentages for ants: the studies they cite could not be traced.

Is Lavender Better Than Peppermint Oil for Ants?

Peppermint oil has more evidence against ants than lavender. A 2024 University of Georgia lab study found that a 1% peppermint oil solution was the most deterrent treatment tested on Argentine ants, although the tests lasted only 2 and 4 hours. A 2012 study reports that peppermint, spearmint, wintergreen, cinnamon and clove oils all repelled Argentine ants when fresh. Lavender was not part of either study. Neither oil kills the colony, so the choice matters less than what you do next. Read our full guide to peppermint oil for ants.

How Do You Use Lavender Oil for Ants?

Lavender oil for ants works best as a short-term deterrent at entry points, after you remove food and wipe away trails. Follow these steps in order, because a lavender spray next to a crumb-covered counter will not keep ants away for long.

Remove Food Sources First

Removing food sources is the step that makes every other method work. Health Canada says removing access to food and water is the easiest way to avoid pest problems. Store food in clean, sealed containers rather than plastic bags or open packaging (UC IPM), wipe up crumbs and spills, rinse recyclables and empty the kitchen garbage often.

Wipe the Ant Trails

Wiping the ant trails with soapy water removes the scent other ants follow. Clean the whole visible trail and pay extra attention to the spot where ants enter the room, as UC IPM recommends.

Find the Entry Points

Finding the entry points tells you where to put the lavender. Follow a trail back to where it starts: a gap under a door, a cracked windowsill, a hole around a pipe or a crack along a baseboard. Note these spots so you can treat them now and seal them later.

Lavender Oil Spray

A lavender oil spray is the most common way to use lavender for ants. Add a few drops of lavender essential oil to a spray bottle of water, shake well before each use (oil and water separate), and spray entry points, windowsills and door thresholds. No study seems to give a tested ratio for ants, so start with a light mix and test it on a hidden spot first, because oils can mark some surfaces. Do not spray food, dishes, pet bowls or places pets lie down. Essential oils fade quickly, so refresh the spray every few days while you watch for ants.

Lavender Oil Cotton Balls

Lavender oil cotton balls are a simple option for small, enclosed spots such as the back of a cupboard or a window track. Put a few drops on a cotton ball and replace it when the smell fades. Keep cotton balls where children and pets cannot reach them, since a soaked cotton ball is easy to chew or swallow.

Homemade Lavender Oil

Homemade lavender oil, made by steeping dried flowers in olive or sweet almond oil, is an infused oil, not an essential oil. True lavender essential oil is usually made by steam distillation, which is hard to do at home. An infused oil is usually much weaker, so it is even less likely to deter ants than a store-bought essential oil. If you want to try lavender, buy pure lavender essential oil instead.

Store-Bought Lavender Ant Sprays

Store-bought lavender ant sprays often get their power from something other than lavender. For example, Raid sells a lavender-scented ant and roach spray in the US whose active ingredients are synthetic insecticides (imiprothrin and cypermethrin): the lavender is only the fragrance. Before you buy any ant product in Canada, read the active ingredient and look for a PCP (Pest Control Products) registration number, which shows Health Canada has registered it. For tested picks, see our roundup of the best ant killers.

Do Lavender Plants Keep Ants Away?

Lavender plants are not proven to keep ants away. They smell lovely and look great in a sunny bed, but no extension source we found shows that a lavender border stops ants from nesting or coming inside.

Lavender in the Garden

Lavender in the garden is more likely to bother mosquitoes, flies, fleas and moths than ants, according to the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. Even for those insects, the extension notes that repellent plants are probably not enough to make a garden insect-free, and it is unclear how many plants you would need.

Plant lavender because you love it, not as ant control. If ants are building mounds in your beds or lawn, see our guide to plant-safe ant killers for the garden.

Dried Lavender Sachets

Dried lavender sachets are sold mainly against clothes moths, and even for moths they generally only prevent, and do not kill eggs or larvae. There is no evidence that a sachet in a pantry or drawer keeps ants out. Sealed containers do that job far better.

Is Lavender Oil Safe Around Pets and Children?

Lavender oil is not automatically safe just because it is natural. The old idea that lavender is "toxic-free" is wrong: it can harm pets and irritate skin, so use it with the same care as any household chemical.

Cats

Cats are the pets most at risk from lavender oil. The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine lists lavender among the essential oils that are toxic to pets. Cats inhale oil spread by diffusers and swallow droplets that settle on their fur while grooming. Signs include a watery nose and eyes, drooling, vomiting and difficulty breathing. If your cat seems distressed, move it to fresh air right away and call your veterinarian, and get emergency veterinary care if it does not recover quickly.

Dogs

Dogs can also be poisoned by lavender. The ASPCA lists lavender as toxic to dogs, cats and horses because of linalool and linalyl acetate, with signs such as nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite. Keep sprays and cotton balls away from where your dog sniffs and sleeps, and ask your veterinarian before using any new product around pets. For safer options, read our guide to pet-safe ant killers.

Children

Children should not handle lavender oil or treated cotton balls. Lavender oil can be poisonous if swallowed, so store the bottle out of reach. The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) also notes a few reported cases of breast swelling in children who used topical lavender products, although it is unclear whether lavender caused it.

Skin Irritation

Skin irritation is possible with lavender. According to NCCIH, topical products containing lavender may cause allergic skin reactions in some people. Never apply undiluted lavender oil along ant trails where hands, paws or bare feet will touch it, and wear gloves when you handle it.

Homemade Mixtures in Canada

Homemade mixtures in Canada are not tested or approved. Health Canada warns that preparing, storing and using homemade pesticides may pose health and environmental safety risks, and they come without label directions or precautions. Health Canada's advice is to use a registered pesticide with a PCP number and check that your pest is listed on the label.

When Is Lavender Oil Not Enough for Ants?

Lavender oil is not enough when ants keep coming back, because it never reaches the nest. A repellent usually only moves ants away from one spot; the colony, with its queens, stays intact and can send workers through another gap.

Lavender Does Not Kill the Colony

Lavender does not kill the colony, so the ants you push away from one doorway will find another way in. UC IPM says sprays provide only temporary control, and that baits are more effective and safer than sprays when properly used.

Ant Baits

Ant baits are what actually end an infestation. Worker ants carry slow-acting bait back to the nest and share it with the queens and larvae. Health Canada advises keeping baits available for at least two weeks, with repeated applications if needed, and you should not spray while you bait. That includes lavender: a strong smell near the bait can keep ants from finding it. The City of Calgary notes that slow-acting baits, such as boric acid baits, eliminate the colony, and that bait stations belong on ant paths, out of reach of children and pets. UC IPM says it can take 5 to 10 days to see fewer ants. Our guide to homemade ant killers explains why Health Canada advises against homemade borax bait.

Pharaoh Ants

Pharaoh ants are the one case where lavender can make things worse. These tiny yellowish ants often live in colonies with many queens, and UF/IFAS warns that repellent products can make the colony split into new nests. If you see tiny pale ants indoors in winter, skip lavender and read our guide to pharaoh ants.

Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ants need more than a scent. Health Canada notes that they can damage wood structures, so a lavender spray at the door does nothing for a nest in your walls. Learn how to get rid of carpenter ants.

Other Natural Ant Repellents

Other natural ant repellents work the same way as lavender, by smell or contact, and none of them kills the colony. Peppermint oil has the most research behind it. Cinnamon and vinegar are popular kitchen options, and our guide to cinnamon for ants explains what it can and cannot do. Health Canada lists diatomaceous earth as a non-chemical option that dehydrates ants as long as it stays dry. Tea tree oil is also used, but Texas A&M lists it as toxic to pets too.

When to Call a Pest Control Professional

Calling a pest control professional makes sense when ants keep coming back after a few weeks of cleaning and baiting, when you find signs of carpenter ants, or when you live in an apartment where ants travel between units. A licensed professional can identify the species and treat the nest directly. You can get a quote from a recommended local exterminator through Pest Agent's referral form or browse all our ant guides.