How Do You Get Rid of Ants?

Have used both Bugs-R-Done and Orange Guard. They work well and are nontoxic to pets and humans. You can even use them directly on food prep surfaces. Smells good, too.

http://www.orangeguard.com/

http://www.safeinsecticide.com/

Works both indoors and outdoors.

Used Bugs-R-Done when we lived in southern California; found it at Whole Foods stores. Couldn't find it here in southeastern Iowa, but found Orange Guard (same thing, appears to me). I've seen OG at large Hy-Vee stores and in Coralville at New Pioneer Co-op.

I love my "Organic Housekeeping" book by Ellen Sandrick.

Someone scanned the pages on how to get rid of ants without poisons.
It's on
http://books.google.com/books?id=AfvBaQaFtrcC&pg=PA38...
If this super-long link doesn't work, google: "Organic Housekeeping" + ants and it should come up.

When we had ants we had to find the ant hill and destroy that before we didn't have anymore in our house. See if you can follow them back to the hill.

I haven't read any of the responses yet so you may have already heard this ... use cucumber peels. Line strips of cucumber peels along the wall/door/area where the ants are coming in. I guarantee that they will be gone in less then a day! Plus, it smells fresh and clean.
Good luck!

I have had good luck with cayenne pepper. It seems they take it back to the nest and it kills them all. Good luck.

I had a horrible ant problem at my last house. They would constantly get in through a window in my kitchen. During the months of dealing with the problem, I happened to cook 40-clove garlic chicken and never had another ant problem at that house (another 1 1/2 years). Granted, your house will smell like garlic for a while, but the chicken is great and it cured our problem.

I've heard that if you place cinnamon sticks where they're entering, they won't come in. I've never tried it though.

You have some great responses. We had this problem and couldn't seem to win. Finally after calling Terminix, it seemed the nest was around our basement window and we never knew it (Always thought they were in the walls). Good luck!

The only way to really get rid of the ants is to treat the grass on the outside of the house. You can fight them forever inside but once you treat the grass they disappear inside the house. There are many products out there for that it will depend on your situation what to use in case you have pets. I learned this back when I was renting an old house since I couldn't force my landlord to fix the small holes they were getting in from. Now even though I am out of that house I treat my lawn every spring. I get the one that attaches to my hose and spend a short time treating the area all around the house. Once in a while I need to retreat during the summer but not every year. They disappear almost immediately and I never have to use indoor poisons.

Here is a what I use... for ants: they hate the smell of citrus, so mix 1/4 cup citrus colvent (like Citra Solv) with 2 cups water; spray mixture in ant-traffic areas.

We had a horrible problem last spring/summer but with the above mixture it really helped. I also had to keep everything super clean so that they would have no food, they stop coming after a week of no food sorce. Everything was put in tightly closed containers or in the fridge.

EDITED: They also say to get rid of any ant holes/nests that are within 12ft (or something like that). So look around your house and see if there are any visible ant holes near your house. By putting various ant b gone type stuff on their holes which made them move helped keep them out of the house too.

Hope you can get rid of them, they are such a pain!

you should be able to get some helpful info just by searching for it online.

otherwise, the fake sugar, i think sweet and low? they will bring it right back to the nest and it kills them. im not positive that is the right form of the fake sugar, but i know one of them does it... sprinkle right around the outside of your house. otherwise, there are other things you can do like tht, but im not sure what they are, just google search 'ant repellant' or 'homemade ant repellant' or 'getting rid of ants in house' - or something like that...

Use Terro ant poison. It really works. We used other kinds and they didn't work - but TERRO did. Good luck.

Hi T.,
I have used Melaleuca's Pre-Spot. It does help and it's not toxic to children.
S.
tp://www.mamasource.com/biz/business-for-families-menominee-mi

If you are having problems with little ants, you can follow the trail of ants to find where they are getting in from. Then spray with Home Defense. Also, be sure to keep anything sweet of the counters, floors, etc. That's mainly what they are attracted to. (We were dealing with this issue last week.) Good luck!

Hi T.,
Have you had a professional come out yet?? You may need to have the entire exterior and interior sprayed. They are getting in somewhere and if possible a professional may be able to find the point of entry and seal it up for you. Otherwise, it could be an ongoing problem for you.
Good luck,
L.

We use cinnamon every year around our front door. If you can find the area they are coming from just sprinkle cinnamon around the area. It works great.

Feed them cucumbers. Peel the peeling in strips and slice a cucumber and put them on a baby food lids around the kitchen or bathroom. The ants eat it and can't burp so they explode. Change the cucumbers every couple days.

We just called a pest contral company. These days most of them have non-toxic sprays they can use. We were seeing most of them in our kitchen and we have a dog and 2 kids, I didn't want harsh chemicals sprayed in our house. They assured us that the spray they used was safe for kids and pets. The ants were gone the next day.

We use an outdoor ant sprinkle around the perimeter of the outside of our house. It is granular and really works. We purchase it at Menards. You (or your hubby) will need to re-sprinkle every month or so. But it helps! We also make sure that there are NO cups, bowls, etc on the counter and keep the counters spotless. We don't allow the boys to have food or drink (with the exception of water) anywhere except in the kitchen. Hope this helps!

Miracles on Mama Street
http://www.mamasmiracles.blogspot.com

pour ground cinnamon where the ants are....and it makes you hosue smell good!!!

Good question I am having the same with ants all in my kitchen.

I spray the ants directly with Fantastik and they die instantly. I leave the Fantastik & dead ants for about 5 minutes then wipe everything away. You get clean counters & dead ants - 2 birds with one stone. Every time after that when I saw a couple of ants I kept the bottle of Fantastik on the cupboard and sprayed them. It may take several times but is such an easy fix. They eentually quit coming in.

I've heard, (and read) that cinnimon is a natural remedy that gets rid of ants. Not sure of the theory behind that one, but if you've tried the ant baits already with no luck, it may be worth looking in to! Good luck!

i have used an ant poison called Taro. It's like this goo stuff that you put on a little piece of paper, and then you can stick it anywhere.. like the counter or under it or wherever. The ants take it back to their nest and when they all eat it they die. It has always worked 100% for us.

the best cure to rid yourself of ants is cinnamon....find their main hole an trail...sprinkle some on....they will vanish,been doing this for yrs.since my kids were babies,now i have a house full of pets...no chemicals allowed here...leave it there for a few days...its safe,smells good an most important its non-toxic....

I didn't read the other responses, so sorry if this is repetitive. I use cinnamon. It is non-toxic and the ants don't like it.

Hi T.

Maybe by now you have gotten rid of the ants, but I thought I'd give you another idea just in case.

Since the ants are in your home, the ant bombs may not be exactly "healthy" for your family. Especially with 3 year old boys, who may or may not love to get into things.

I recently found an awesome company, called Melaleuca that sells everyday eco friendly products that work on ant problems. And they are safe. If you would like more information, I'd love to share the company with you.

Good Luck!

S.

Mom of 5 year old daughter and 2 year old son.