Anyone Have a Natural Remedy to Keep Ants Away?

Hi M.,

Last year we had a problem with ants, and looking for a natural remedy, I read somewhere that you could put down some cream of wheat, grits, or cornmeal. So that's what I did. I found out where the ants where entering the house and put cream of wheat along the baseboards. It was a little messy, but being light in color, no one could tell that it was there unless you really looked. And it worked! The ants ate the cream of wheat and died. From what I remember reading, they can't digest the cereal, and their bodies expand. So much so, that it causes them to die. But it takes a couple of days, which gives them time to go back to the colony to die. We did have a few that died in the cream of wheat, so a few little black spots here and there. But for the most part it was a painless soloution, and we haven't had the problem again.

Hope that helps!
L.

1 mom found this helpful

This time of year the ants are in your house because the ground is too wet and their home is flooded! Yours is nice and dry and they like it!

When I was a kid my parents always but green english walnuts in all of the window sills and near all doorways of the house. They also put them anywhere else they knew that ants were coming in. They hate the smell that the walnut releases as it ripens so they stay out.

You can also make a mixture of sugar and coke and set it out near where they are coming in. They will eat that until they swell up and die.

Good LUCK!

1 mom found this helpful

Funny...I woke up to ants on my floor this morning. So, the first thing I did was get online to find the same exact thing you are requesting. Here are a couple of sites that you could try. I haven't done any of the suggestions yet, just thought I would share what I found:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tips/msg05184943...

http://www.thefrugallife.com/ants.html

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf152220.tip.html

I hope this helps. I will be trying one of these today. Thinking about the baby powder option.

Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

Ants follow each other through a trail that the head one leaves. So, get rid of the trail. This is what we do. When we find an ant, we spray the immediate area with white vinegar. The vinegar smell leaves after about a minute. It doesn't stain. We also spray along the entryway closest to the ants, both inside and out. This seems to do the trick. When we knew they were coming from our patio, we sprayed an entire 3 french door area from the base of the patio to the bottom of the door. It seemed to help. I have also heard that borax sprinkled in a line around crevices seems to help.

1 mom found this helpful