We just got a new playset which is mostly all wood except for the slide, which is yellow plastic. The insects, mainly ants, LOVE it. My daughter the drama queen requests that Mom or Dad sweep her slide before she goes down. Each time. Getting old! Any suggestions?
Home Defense. It keeps them from coming back for some time. After the rain you may need to reapply.
Hi C.,
mila response is right! The remedies she list does work.
C.,
How funny - we go through the same thing, my daughter also totally 'freaks' over bird poop - they must sit on the top of her swing set and some of the poop lands on the swings. yuck!
Anyway, I keep a container of wipes outside for her, she's not afraid to take a wipe and brush away the ants and (eww) wipe off bird poo too! she also 'wipes' off her sandbox cover which the bugs also like - if only she was that helpful inside the house!
PS, when it gets warmer out you can give your daughter a squirt gun and she'll have fun 'squirting' the ants off with water.
:-)
Wanted to add - read in 'parents' magazine - baking soda will keep ants away (not sure how you'd keep it on a slide though)
Maybe get her a little whisk broom so she can sweep them off herself? Either that or just shrug your shoulders and say "don't go down the slide then," if she won't sweep them. My daughter used to "sweep" them off with a towel. We have tons of ants on our slide too. Just wait until the wasps come around to eat the wood on the playset. Once that happened, my daughter decided to play elsewhere.
I just read somewhere that baking soda keeps ants away too.
Make a ditch (tiny)around the perimeter and get eycauliptus leaves the dried ones work the best crush them up, put around the perimeter and ants be gone.
Hi C.,
I'm not sure where they are getting up to the slide, but I've read that if you put corn meal down, the ants eat it but can't digest it. Some other suggestions; coffee grounds, cinnamon and cayenne pepper seem to stop them. Maybe you could put some around the legs of the set. It won't harm kids or animals. It could be worth a try. I personnally used the coffee grounds on my front porch to keep them from getting in the house. It worked.
Good Luck!
M.
Get her a little broom and show her how to do it herself....then refuse to do it for her anymore. If she wants to slide she will have to be a big girl and take care of it herself.
That's what I do with my girls. It annoys me for girls to be squealy about bugs so I have been teaching them that there are appropriate ways to deal with bugs without having to handle them if they don't want to...but there is no need to be afraid of a bug that is smaller than your foot. They are doing great and I just insist that they are not afraid and must take care of things if I show them how... It really works.
I have heard that if you soak some twine in lemon juice and lay it where you want, the ants are repelled by it. Good Luck
