PLEASE help me. I have sugar ants everywhere. And worst of all, they are in my purses. How to I eliminate the ants? Not ruin the suede and leather in my purses? And keep my family and beloved feline safe? I'm FED up. Also where are sugar ant colonies usually located?
diatomaceous earth. I just learned about this stuff - it's safe around kids - just ground up beetles, etc. A friend swears by the stuff for killing off ants. They even sell it food grade! I'm planning to get some on my next trip to the hardware store (major hardware store - the little place around the corner didn't have it - argh). If you try it, let me know how it goes! We are not at infestation level yet, but it's getting started.
Terro ant bait - it works!
Oh no, that's crazy!
Well, I spray a mixture of Dawn and water on insects (including ants) and it kills them. For the ants IN the purses, I guess you wouldn't want to do that. Eventually they should come OUT of the purses, though, I should think! You could put them on the counter and when the ants come out, THEN spray them. My mom puts peanut butter mixed with borax into drinking straws (then cuts them into smaller segments) and then puts them in places where the cat won't likely get to them.
Terro ant bait. You need to kil the colony or they will just keep coming back! Ants are a nightmare in my opinion : - ) And when you just "clean them up" everyday, you will never get ahead of them.
The Key to terro is DONT clean up the ants....put the Terro right in the line of thier trail. They eat it, take it to the queen and in about 2 days the ants are gone. And if/when they come back, repeat! Don't bother sanitizing until after the terro process cuzz u you will just have to do it again.
Also, the Terro gets hard after a couple days, so make sure its always fresh and gooy for them or they can't eat it. They will empty the card in a matter of hours as well, so just keep refiling it until you don't see any more ants...good luck!
For your purses, you could put them in the freezer for 12 hours. It worked for me in college when they invaded my can of chocolate chip cookies made by mom. You need to take care of them in other areas of the house first or they will just reinfest.
Try cornstarch! I used it when I had an ant problem in my townhouse and didn't know what to do because of my cats. The ants eat the cornstarch, dehydrate and go outside for water (and to die). I sprinkled the cornstarch outside where they were coming in, by the door and on my carpet and it worked really well. They were GONE in a few days. It's safe for kids and pets and it's CHEAP! Good luck!
I would use the Taro (looks like corn syrup you put on a little card) and place them where you see the ants entering your home and along the walls of your home in the rooms where you have ants.
I would vacuum the ants out of your purses as well as shake/dump them out outside. I would wash the floors with vinegar and hot water after the ants are gone to make sure there is nothing sticky or sweet on them that the ants like.
Terro sweet ant bait is the best. I found some at Walmart last time.
I have also had great success with the Terro baits. I use the liquid ant baits that are contained in plastic. They worked wonders for our huge ant problem that we seemed to have year after year. Now we don't have a problem. Just know that when you first put the bait out you will probably get more ants before it gets better. But after 3-5 days, the trail dwindles to nothing and the colony is killed. I found them at my local Ace Hardware store. You will be surprised how well they work.
