29 answers

Ants - Paris,TX

I love Spring, but the first sign of pretty weather I get small ants in my kitchen. I have tried sprays, clover, vinegar........any other suggestions.

4 moms found this helpful

What can I do next?

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I put about 1 oz. Dr.Bronner's Peppermint soap (32 oz. $14.99 at Wholefoods Target may have it) then fill 7 oz. water and when I see them I spray they die 2 min. max. most die in 2o sec.. Using soap helps keep the house very clean.

1 mom found this helpful

I was working in the kitchen a few weeks ago and pulled up the sink sprayer and had a column of ants come marching up the hose. I grabbed the windex which was handy and gave them a spray and they keeled over and died.

I reserve my DE and orange oil for fire ants. Both are non-toxic for pets and children.

My mother-in-law swore by Terro ant killer. It does work well, but it is poison. Look on the label. I think it's arsenic or cyanide. Definitely something you don't want to have around kids and pets.

One exterminator gave us ant traps to use which had a hormone attractant as the active ingredient. They worked well and were non-toxic as well.

It really depends on what kinds of ants you are attracting. The most annoying that I found were the little ones attracted to grease and sweets.

1 mom found this helpful

We keep a spray bottle of Orange Oil mixed up for quick treatments. You can also sprinkle Diatomacious Earth around the foundation of you house. This creates a barrier that the ants will not cross. It is like walking across cut glass to them (works for spiders too).

1 mom found this helpful

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Hello P.,

find the entry point and spray a few drops of peppermint oil (make sure that's not where you'll be walking..it will make it slippery). They don't like it. Good luck! ~C.~

2 moms found this helpful

Diatomacious Earth the kind you buy from a nursery not the kind you use for your pool, sprinkle it around the entire outside of your house. Those little buggers are sneaky and they literally come out of the walls. Also, I've heard Equal (aspartame) works, seems odd since you think of it as sweet and that it would just attract more but they take it back with them and it kills them (also kinda makes you never want to eat it again huh?).

2 moms found this helpful

Get a bag of Diatomaceous earth from Lowes or Home Depot and sprinkle the entire bag over your lawn. Lightly water in any areas where small children or pets have access. The ants will dehydrate. It isn't poison so you don't have to worry about that but don't breath it in and don't spread when your children are out with you because they might breath it in.

1 mom found this helpful

Boric acid (its a white powder) in all the corners where the ants can come from.

http://keepitcheap.blogspot.com/2008/06/boric-acid-ant-ki...

Works for me in the spring. Also, if you treat the outside of your house (spray the walls about 24" up), this helps too.

1 mom found this helpful

I was working in the kitchen a few weeks ago and pulled up the sink sprayer and had a column of ants come marching up the hose. I grabbed the windex which was handy and gave them a spray and they keeled over and died.

I reserve my DE and orange oil for fire ants. Both are non-toxic for pets and children.

My mother-in-law swore by Terro ant killer. It does work well, but it is poison. Look on the label. I think it's arsenic or cyanide. Definitely something you don't want to have around kids and pets.

One exterminator gave us ant traps to use which had a hormone attractant as the active ingredient. They worked well and were non-toxic as well.

It really depends on what kinds of ants you are attracting. The most annoying that I found were the little ones attracted to grease and sweets.

1 mom found this helpful

If they are those little black ants, I bet they are surgar ants. Sugar ants are attracted to sugar. Mix equal parts of powdered sugar and borox (the cleaning product). Leave it on the counter near the ants. They'll eat it and take it back to their colony. They are gone within a week. I do it every year! Cheap trick. Don't call the pest service for this one.

1 mom found this helpful

Talc! not cornstarch...works like a charm. I did not believe it until I tried it.

1 mom found this helpful

We keep a spray bottle of Orange Oil mixed up for quick treatments. You can also sprinkle Diatomacious Earth around the foundation of you house. This creates a barrier that the ants will not cross. It is like walking across cut glass to them (works for spiders too).

1 mom found this helpful

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