When trying to get rid of ants, it’s helpful to first have a basic understanding how they live and thrive: They live in colonies and one class within the colony is the worker/gatherer/forager.
Workers make up approximately 10% of the settlement and it’s their job to go out, find and collect food then bring it back to feed the rest of the group. They are mainly looking for two things: food and water. If it’s getting cold outside, they also like to settle in to find shelter.
Below I’ve listed various home remedies and solutions for control (along with some tidbits of information on their behavior and habits).
Here’s a list of spray cleaner recipes you can try…
Clean countertops and surfaces well with one of the cleaners below, these can also be used to spray them directly.
- Vinegar
- Vinegar & Water (50/50 mix)
- Cider Vinegar & Water (50/50 mix)
- One of these essential oils: Peppermint, Lavender, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree Oil, Witch Hazel Extract (1 tablespoon) plus water–per spray bottle
- Liquid Dish Detergent (about 1 tablespoon detergent, fill spray bottle with water).
Did You Know: Ants leave a scented trail for each other so they can easily find their way back to the jackpot (the food source in your house). Trails can be both visible and invisible to human eyes, but they can follow the trails with ease. Washing away these trails will confuse them and make it more difficult to find their favorite places. Making your own cleaners with the above ingredients also adds a repellent that they will avoid.
Baiting
When you provide a tempting treat that is actually poison (known as bait), you want to make sure it’s not too strong that it will kill the forager before it gets back to the settlement (sometimes they are gone for days), and that it’s not too weak that it’s ineffective. You want poisoned bits brought back to the nest for the rest of the colony to ingest.
The type of nutrition they look for is either sugar or protein, it depends on what the needs of the colony are at the time. This is why a “tried and true” recipe that came highly recommended doesn’t work for you, the treat holds no interest for the particular critters in your home.
Tip: First determine if the ones in your house are after sugar or protein. Leave a sample of each bait out and see which ones they go for. Once you’ve determined what they’re hungry for, set out a few of their choice.
Here are a few homemade bait recipes you can try…
Sweet
2 TBS Boric Acid (Borax)
Jam (or Jelly, Honey, Maple Syrup)
- Mix the boric acid with the jam or jelly to make a paste. Slather it on a piece of paper, a plate or in a covered container with holes.
- You may have to adjust amount of Boric Acid if they seem to eat up the bait like crazy, but are getting fatter from it instead of dying.
Sweet #2
2 cups Sugar
1 cup Water
2 TBS Boric Acid (Borax)
- Mix and place in small saucers around the house.
Protein
2 TBS Boric Acid (Borax)
Peanut Butter or Bacon Grease
- Mix and set out in mounds on pieces of paper or plates.
Sugar
1 cup Confectioners Sugar
2 TBS Boric Acid (Borax)
- Leave this in little mounds or in covered containers with holes.
Sweet Sugar Treat
2 TBS Molasses
1 TBS Yeast
1 TBS Sugar
- Mix and place mounds on paper, plates or in covered containers with holes.
Important: When baiting so they’ll bring poison back, resist the temptation to kill the critters when you see them. You want them to live and take big juicy pieces of poisoned bits back to the rest of the group to feast on.
A few tips:
- Boric Acid can be harmful if swallowed. If you have children or pets in the home, set the bait in covered plastic containers with a few holes poked in the sides. You could also use glass jars sealed with lids–just poke holes in the top lid. For strong attraction, smear a bit of non-poisoned treat on top of the lid so they’ll find it easily.
- For best results lay out a fresh batch daily.
- Spread around in areas where you observe regular activity and near their points of entry.
- Don’t be diligent washing away their trails, you want the food spots found easily again and again. All the workers in the colony can follow each others trails, so even if you killed off the first foragers, their partners will follow the trail they left.
- You may find that a sugar bait will be popular for a few days, then a protein one is needed as they switch to protein. Change your method as needed.
- If you’ve set out both types (sugar and protein) yet they are attracted to neither, reduce the amount of boric acid used until they starting feasting on the bait.
Did You Know: If a colony senses something is up when its members start dying and begins to feel stressed, the Queen will likely give orders for the colony to split up into a few smaller colonies, trying to preserve as many members as she can. This is why it may take several days of laying out fresh bait regularly–you’re trying to get enough poison into all the groups to wipe out the whole lot.
Destroying Their Nests
Find the nest and pour one of the following solutions into it. Cover your legs and wear rubber boots if possible, they will be streaming out of the mound while you’re doing this.
Methods:
1/4 cup liquid dish detergent per gallon of boiling water (add soap after pot has been removed from heat). This will likely kill surrounding grass and plants. (Good remedy for fire ants).- Pour large amounts of cider vinegar down inside the ant hill. Do this around the surrounding area as well, for at least three days. Will likely kill plants and grass too.
- Bring water to a boil, mix in salt to make a strong salt solution and pour down nest. Repeat over three days (and pour over surrounding area as well to prevent them from rebuilding in the area).
- Disturb their dwelling regularly: Flood with lots of water (just use the garden hose and let it run for awhile). Do this daily for at least a week or two. They will eventually get fed up and move.
A few tips:
- Ants can live submerged in water for several days so you need to using boiling temperature to kill them. Pouring boiling liquid into the nest is effective on its own but you could also try adding an ingredient (as shown above) to make the remedy more powerful.
- Pour slowly into nest so the liquid has time to get into all the tunnels and surrounding soil. Do three times the first day, then at least once a day for the next three days.
- The best time to do this is when the ants are moving up closer to the earth’s surface (when it’s not too hot or cool). Typically between 10 a.m. and noon on a sunny day is the best time.
- You could also try liberally covering the mound with one of the repellents listed below (cinnamon, salt, etc.).
Not Advised:
- Pouring kerosene or gasoline on the nest used to be a common method for killing a colony, but it’s not only dangerous it’s also harmful for the surrounding soil.
Did You Know: They not only build their colonies outside, they can also setup house inside. If you notice small hills inside your home, vacuum them up (and dispose vacuum contents in sealed plastic bags immediately). If a large nest has been built, this is a good time to bring in an exterminator.
- If it’s winter (below freezing) and your home has ants, you likely have a nest inside the dwelling.
Controlling Them Inside The House
The first line of defense is making your place unattractive to them. Make sure to wipe up spills immediately and wipe off counters, tables and stovetops regularly leaving no crumbs behind. Sweep and wash floors regularly. Don’t leave dirty dishes around or in the sink. Keep dry foods (like flour, cereal, sugar, oats, etc.) in air tight containers. Take out garbage regularly and wash out all packaging and pop bottles before putting in the recycle bin.
Although a sloppy environment is an attraction, having them in your home doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a poor housekeeper–they could be after water. If it’s dry outside and there’s not a nearby drinking source, they will be inside on the hunt for fluids. They’ll find it in houseplants, sinks and drains, pet dishes and cups left out containing liquids.
List Of Natural Repellents
Look for cracks or holes in the structure where they are coming from, spread any of these repellents around the holes (or combination of items on the list). Also spread around window sills, along baseboards, in corners and outside doors. The theory is that since they are repelled by these items, they’ll turn back. Success of the repellents can depend on the species of ants in your home.
- Cinnamon
- Ground Black Pepper
- Bay Leaves
- Whole Cloves
- Red Chili Powder (sprinkle liberally or make a paste with water and apply at entrance)
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Salt
- Used Coffee Grounds
- Sage
- Cucumber Peels
- Essential Oils: Peppermint, Lavender, Eucalyptus. Swab these around entrance points.
Tip: Plugging holes and cracks with caulking or filling with vaseline will physically block their entrance.
Food Barriers
The ants could be attracted to your pet’s supper dish, a potted plant or dish of candies. Either keep food sealed until needed or surround it with a liquid barrier so they can’t get to the food. Fill a baking pan with water and set the pet dish (or potted plant, etc.), in the middle. Mixing in a little liquid dish detergent will be a strong repellent as well as prevent this from becoming a hydration source.
If it’s a potted plant that’s infested, repot the plant in a fresh pot of soil, washing roots clean of previous soil. You can try submerging the pot in a bucket of water for about 15 minutes so they flee, but this won’t remove larvae that may be present.
Natural Outdoor Deterrents
Look for entry ways into the dwelling via tree branches touching the house (including the roof), drain pipes, outdoor plants, shrubs, etc., trim these back if possible. Otherwise, wrap branches and pipes with a sticky substance that will trap them before they can find their way in (duct tape facing sticky side out should do it).
If your dwelling exterior will tolerate it without staining (test a small area first), spray a mixture of liquid dish detergent and water around the foundation.
There will be a soap residue left on the surface as the solution evaporates, hopefully enough to deter them from crossing it. Straight vinegar sprayed on the ground around the dwelling can help too (both methods may harm grass and plants).
- Mint: Plant fresh mint around the foundation of the house (can also have potted inside), or sprinkle crushed mint around entrances.
- Tansy, Lavender & Sage: Plant as mint above.
- Mix cloves and ground pepper with flour (3 TBS spice to 1 cup flour) and spread around areas that have heavy activity, this will help scatter them. Do this when there’s no sign of rain.
- Diatomaceous Earth: (can also use inside) Nice, non-toxic pesticide that is pet & child friendly. Probably the most effective naturally occurring protective powder, this is a great option if their nest is underneath a deck or patio and sidewalk blocks. Sprinkle this in the cracks that they will have to crawl up through. Diatomaceous Earth is easily picked up by the hairy bodies of most insects, whereupon it scratches through their protective wax layers and they also absorb some of this material. The result being that the insects lose water rapidly, dry up and die. Further protection is provided by the powder’s property of repelling many insects. In houses it can be used effectively to prevent the entry of certain insects such as earwigs and cockroaches, and to control these and others that are present in cupboards containing food, carpets, basements, attics, window ledges, pet areas (for fleas), etc. In all of these examples it is important to place a small amount of the powder in corners, cracks, crevices and other areas where insects might hide. Source: Ecological Agriculture Projects, McGill University.
Old Wives Tale: Make a 1″ line of chalk or baby powder (talcum) around the home, ants won’t cross it. Does it work? Many swear that it does.
False Methods
- Aspartame: Touted frequently online as originally being developed as an ant poison and an effective way to control carpenter ants. Snopes found this to be false, see: this page for details.
- Instant Grits: One popular online remedy recommended is to feed them instant grits, instant oatmeal, cornmeal, cream of wheat or couscous. It’s suggested that they will “explode” when the food would expands inside as it comes in contact with stomach fluids. A study on the instant grits method and fire ants was done and found to be ineffective, (the report from Texas A&M University is no longer online). Also read the info below, it’s highly unlikely that the adults would even be able to eat the grits as they’re too large.
Did you know: Foragers carry solid food particles back to the nest to feed the larvae, the larvae then processes it and turns it into a liquid to feed the adults. Adults can ingest only very tiny, minuscule particles (larger pieces are filtered out), but their diet is from the liquid that the larvae provides.
Keep In Mind They Have A Lot To Offer
Think ants are pests? They may be if they’re taking over your home, but outside they’re very much needed. They aerate the soil, clean up scraps and seeds, control termite populations and they’re a food source for birds and other insects. As with all creatures, they play an important part in a healthy planet.
If you prefer encouraging them to move elsewhere instead of killing them, make your home their last choice for foraging by using the above control methods and tips.
I just read that grits isn’t suppose to work…….Well, I had those red/black ants. They are pretty big, make huge anthills and bite!! I have rid my yard of three ant hills by using grits. I was told that they took it back to the colony and after they ate it and drank some water it would kill them. All I know is that they are gone and so are the ant hills. I have tried it on the little ants and it seems to have worked on them too. I’m just glad the “biters” are gone. Now my pets can lay in the grass and not have to worry about ant bites.
All you can do it try it and grits are fairly cheap.
Good Luck!
I agree. I’ve had problems with the large and smaller ants and I used oatmeal. I ground it up in a clean coffee grinder, then simply sprinkled the powder over the ant hills. Within a few days, the ants were gone and the hills soon disappeared!
I’ve heard about the grits, but have never tried it. I do know that powdered yeast and sugar, mixed together does cause the ants to explode when the drink water. The ants love it too. Also, borax soap (which is cheap….look for the 20 mule train box, and it really whitens your whites in the laundry) mixed as it says above with jam, honey, sugar, or peanut butter works well too.
If all I had to eat was grits, I’d move too!
Gary has the best comment. Everyone else can go home. xD
Bahahahaha!!
Gary,
I have ants infesting my kitchen in the gazillions and I’ve been seriously reading all the post for solutions, but I have to say I needed to wipe the frown off my face…Thanks for lightening my mood. Hillarious.
Gary nothing better than lots of cinnamon sprinkled heavily for kitchen works great and no harm to humans the ants just vanish.
I live in an apartment so I had to figure out what to do ants were in all the window sills, coming out of the outlets on 1 wall in kitchen area, they were just everywhere. After doing a deep cleaning especially kitchen in every cabinet, stove, baseboards, under fridge vacuuming all the time it was time to start with the home safe remedies. I sprinkled baking soda under stove & fridge, all window sills, and made a spray for cleaning. Spray was water, 91% rubbing alcohol, peppermint oil, dawn dish liquid & started by spraying & cleaning every day several times a day to deter the ants & made kitchen smell good. It took weeks because of the infestation but finally got rid of them in kitchen. I see some dead in window sills remember to clean & put fresh baking soda maybe every 2 or 3 weeks. Outside I’m still fighting them. Boiling water is good pouring all over or if I can find the nest holes directly down in. It is a lot of work but it puts a smile when the kitchen area has no ants.
Hahahaha
Gary… love it!
I’ve used mint tea bags… they work and they are clean. Right now I’m trying a tea tree oil and lavender oil which seems to be working very well.
Ants in microwave?
That is a useful tip, I’m excited to use it to get rid of the “biters”. I shall implement this imediately, do they eat it without it being wet? Maybe this could save Woodbury.
brains + borax = safe picnic’ing.
I agree, the grits have worked for me too.
I agree! I had a huge ant hill, probably 3ft by 3ft. i knocked the top off and poured a whole bag of grits on it. waited a few days and they had rebuilt it, so i knocked it down, poured in the grits again and they left! i don’t know if they died or just got sick of grits, but either way, my grandma was right. No poison and it cost about $2.
I to agree about useing grits to kill red/black fire aunts. I live in Fl.,country part and we get big aunt hills,I would pour the grits on top and all around the mounds(heavy),it would take a day or so ,but it worked.Im 45 and have used this method for years.
I have used the chili powder with great results, both inside the home and outside.
Hey—could we get a similar article on spider control?? We seem to get a fair number of them inside our house and my three daughters scream when they see them. I’d love to find ways to solve the problem.
In the fall scatter horse chestnuts about.
For spider control encourage centipedes, they eat spiders.
I think I would rather have spiders over centipedes. Yuck
Centipedes sting…..I have had my grandchildren and animals stung
Horse chesnuts or horse appples dont work. they just rot.
chili powder didnot work for me also i tried the sugar bait and honey bait didnot work
pepermint oil mixed with water and spray
The peppermint oil mixed with water spray in areas where the spiders have been seen and where the would typically try to make their web. They do not like the peppermint.
I read about the ants exploding from grits on another blogger and tried surrounding the ant hill with it. NOW I’M A WRECK!! The ants went for the grits all right, but now we’ve spotted mice in the yard. We still have ants and the mice are sticking around. This has been a nightmare :sob:.
Have you tried spraying the grits with borax? Put the grits on parchment paper, spray it with borax/water mix…this way it kills the ants and poisons the mice.
If you poison the mice and a Owl or an Hawk eats it, it will kill the bird. It is a bad way for the bird to go too because it’s slow. Please do not poison the mice…
Mice hate peppermint oil but a few drops on cotton ball. I went and got the smallest tinfoil pans at the dollar store I could get wrapped them with plastic and then put 4 cotton balls on it and sprinkled pepermint oil 4 each on the cotton ball and they left and have been gone
Excellent article and perfect timing! We have literally thousands of red ants hanging around our pond so I will now try some of these methods and see what works 🙂 Thanks Tipnut!
Every winter I get ants in my kitchen – Minnesota winter brings a lot of bugs indoors. I have a dog, live in a condo, and I don’t necessarily want to kill them, I just don’t want them in my home, so a lot of the suggestions I found were impractical. However, I tried lavender-scented baby powder last year and it worked well. I sprinkled the powder along the perimeter of the kitchen and in a boot tray, which I placed the dog’s food and water bowls in. The ants were gone within a week.
i tried just regular baby powder its working
It’s the talc in the baby powder that repels them. There are also a number of spices and strong smelling things they avoid, such as dish soap and vinegar. Last year I filled a bottle with vinegar and a few drops of dish soap and poured it all around their entry points, and they were gone for awhile (obviously not still, seeing as I’m on this site.. lol)
most baby powders no longer contain talc, so what is it then that repels them?
there is still a lot of talc based powders on the market and they are usually cheap:)
Babies. OK, Seriously…the fine particles of dust in the powder 1) Stick to them 2) Make it difficult for them to travel and adhere to surfaces and 3) Interferes with there pheromone communication. Worked well in repelling at our apartment, but at our new house, I would heed Samantha’s story and avoid attracting other pests. Sorry to say, but it’s time to KILL off the colony. They are generously allowed ALL of the outdoor dirt (I don’t own the earth, I just live in it), but my house is not a ANT-HUD home and I have biblical dominion. See they don’t set up house, IN your house but INSIDE your walls. The interior space of your dwelling place becomes part of their colony. Didn’t know you were living in an ant colony huh? Well mostly they don’t like the areas with insulation, but the little crawlers can slip into any corner or crack. I will be doing the Boric Acid/Sugar Water paste for a colony kill and I advise using pure silicon in a DAP gun tube to plug up all the little holes, seams, and cracks they use as entry/exit ports. Does it sound personal? Well, there’s not one room of my house they have not tried to invade and I have my wife’s blessing, so just like Starship Troopers (the Series, NOT the movie) “It’s a bug hunt!” – tell you how it ends later.
I think it sufficates them.
Go ahead and try the powder, maybe the ants don’t know that they’ve taken the talc out!!
We used to have them so bad I would put a baby powder on a paper plate and put whatever I was drinking in the middle so they would suffocate. It’s not necessarily the talc it’s the powder that gets in their lungs. It’s a great way to keep roommates from eating your strawberries. Mine found some strawberries and was sitting where I had the plate and saw what she thought was powdered sugar…needless to say, she didn’t like strawberries very much for awhile! LOL TRUE STORY
Well ants don’t have lungs, but they do breathe…so close enough.
Ants don’t have lungs.
worked for me too!!
I read all of these ideas and they sound great but i can not find the nest and thay are eating or i am finding them in or dogs dishes (food) now what do i do i have no idea where to even start looking????
Anyone have any ideas
try surrounding the dishes with baby powder
Mix borax with honey and spread thin lines of mixture along the ants normal routes (where you usually see them). It takes a couple days and you may have to reapply daily. For larger colonies switch the honey bait with a similar peanut butter mixture as bait. Ants can alternate between protein food sources and sugar sources. Too much borax will kill the ants before they can bring it back to nest but too little will just feed them. Try equal portions of borax to honey/pb.
Borax will kill your pets..
I too would like find that out. How do you find the nest?
No it won’t. Not in this amount:
Try putting boric acid 99% pure( real economical and indefinate shelf life) anong the trail they are traveling in such a way they walk through it for 4 or 5 inches. Give it 2 or 3 days and VIOLA ! This can be difficult to find. Usually in dollar stores and such. Keep away from food toxic to people and animals too.
Walmart sells Enoz Roach Away boric acid which is 99% pure. It’s a 1lb 2oz plastic bottle and cost between $2-$3.
How I got rid of ants in our North Carolina house and garage.
Mixed boric acid with both powdered sugar(dissolved in water for paste) and peanut butter. Put mixture on a cotton ball and placed on a small metal lid (top of any small bottle works fine) any way at first the ants appeared to get drunk on the mixture. After a week of cotton ball treatments the ants have disappeared. (There were a few that died inside the cotton ball – greedy little biters)
I was wondering what the best way to control/kill/dispose of ants that are attracted to and/or are around honey bee hives??? Thank you!
the bees will kill any ants that enter the hive but i have the same problem with them sitting on the inner cover lid.
Actualy, too many ants can cause a real problem in beehives. I have resorted to putting my hives on 4 legged stands with the legs in coffee cans of used motor oil. Of course, now I have to shelter the coffee cans to prevent rain from causing the motor oil to overflow onto the ground. My hives look like little spaceships with their tinfoil pie plate umbrellas at each corner but I have no ants in my hives. We live in a sandy area and are overrun with ants. In the house I let the spiders stay and they keep the ant population down. I know where the spiders live but keep it a secret to stop the kids from freaking out.
You could use the diatomaceous earth around the legs or chalk. Just reapply after a rain.
Use some sticky 2 sided tape around the legs. I put a wide strip going up a pole to my flowers and was amazed at how many ants and ear wigs I stopped from wreaking havoc on my hanging flowers.
I had ants on the kitchen counters. I killed the ones I saw and the trail of them. I cut about 8 jalapeno peppers in half and put one at the beginning of the trail and in every corner of the counters. I didn’t see ants for the rest of the summer and so far not this year either! A friend of mine told me to try this and it seems to work! I waited until the peppers were all dried up before I replaced them. I don’t know if placing some peppers around the beehives would work or if it would hurt the bees.
what perfect timing! I remember reading this article last year and being so impressed with all of the information you had here but glad I didn’t need to worry about it! But this year is a whole different story because ants have appeared out of nowhere this week! Gonna try some of your tips now so Thank you tipnut!!
Vinegar is good to get rid of ants, it will kill your lawn however it will grow back and fill in.
When you say boric acid (borax) do you mean in place of the boric acid as they are not the same thing?
Boric acid is dangerous to animals but will kill cockroaches if used in the home , it should be behind stoves etc. where a child or pet can not touch it.
The vinegar will kill the ants without making a recipe. Hope that helps.
Seems to me that I once looked at the ingredients on a box of “BORAX” and it just listed “BORIC ACID”- Don’t remember if that was the “active ingredient” OR the ONLY ingredient lol…
After reading these tips I now know HOW we are getting ants! I put “ant killer”, (powdered Boric Acid) All along the base of the house we were building before they put up the sheetrock. I had not even finished patting myself on the back when I was suprised to see some “scout ants” and couldn’t figure out where I missed with the Boric Acid powder inside the walls! Then I read (here!) that any tree branch touching the house is like I-85 for them! Thanks for all the hunting tips! I am happily testing Peanut Butter vs Maple Syrup… In the words of Elmer Fudd, ” Be VEWWY VEWWY QUIET….” ! Thanks to you ALL!
Borax is a brand name for boric acid.
I have used the instant grits for several years to get rid of ant hills along the common area where I walk my dog. I throw a handful on top of the mound and it works! Just be sure to do this before a rain is coming. I read about using grits in a Master Gardeners column in the local newspaper.
I’ve been told by a friend from Florida that his exterminator said to spread hominy around your foundation to get rid of ants and termites. Our home own-ers assoc. lays down mulch every year and I can’t see where that can be helpful in keeping away ants and termites. Spread the grits from your foundation to 4″ away. What happens is they take samples back to their colony and they explode. I know that sounds crass but it works.
So planting Mint, Tansy, Lavender and Sage around my house is supposed to keep the ants away from the foundation and coming inside?
Sorry, that’s not working for me. In fact, I seem to have MORE ants this year than previous years and I definately have MORE Mint, MORE Lavender, MORE Tansy and even got a Sage this year.
So either I have super resistant ants or those plants just aren’t working.
i have ants IN my mint. They are after the flower nectar. Mint is NOT a repellent. I would think all sugar ants would be to any nectar-producing flower.
I too am having an ant problem this year. The red and black ants have made a home in my brick wall surrounding my garden. I have tried grits and it did not work. I have been watching the ants and they seem to be carnivoreous. I only see different types of bugs going in between the rocks back to their nest. They also have 6 different ways to get into the nest through the where the bricks are butted to gether. Can anyone help in on what will work to get rid of these ants?
If they are carnivorous they are protein eaters. So try the protein based baits
I was told that ants WILL NOT cross over a line of salt. I have actually made circles of salt around ants, poured salt on top of them. And they have all not only walked on or through it they continue to WALK ON TWO BY TWO!
Help! The recipe for borax and peanut butter doesn’t tell how much
peanut butter to include with the two tablespoons of borax.
Protein Bait
2 TBS Boric Acid (Borax)
Peanut Butter or Bacon Grease
Can you give me the amount of peanut butter or bacon grease to mix
with the 2 TBS of Borax?
Thanks!
I would imagine 2tbs of each. That’s what I’m going to try today.
I made up a similar recipe that made quite a bit. Unfortunately the ants are avoiding it like the plague. I tried adding more peanut butter and that did not help. Also I found that the ingredients settled out into layers and needed stirring. Not effective for me.
I just read other articles, and one written by a scientist that states, boric acid and Borax or not the same thing and are not made of the same chemical compound. While Borax is good to mix with things to kill ants, it is supposedly not effective on roaches and to kill roaches you definitely need the product labeled “boric acid.” I mixed some peanut butter and Borax to kill some ants that are coming in my house. I set the bait out on the porch and it has been covered in ants all day and night. I hope to goodness it’s going to kill them and not help them multiply. LOL
I sprinkled baby powder around my porch door and the ants are gone. Not sure if it will kill them, but it’s a good deterrent for the time being.
thank you so much for the baby powder idea
If memory serves, borax is sodium borate, and boric acid is effectively hydrogen borate. There is a difference. But in reference to their toxicological effects, they could probably be used interchangeably for ant poison. A 25/75 yeast sugar mix seems to be very effective. Try to grind it up in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle to a very fine powder. When/if they eat it, the water in their stomachs will activate the yeast. It will then ferment the sugar into ethanol (booze) and carbon dioxide. Then they bloat and die.
Sorry if I sound like a nerd, I can’t help it.
T yeast sugar mix seems to work best, but my daughter has many cats and kittens that roam freely in her home and we are trying find something she can use for tiny grease ants. She has used bleach clean all around her counter and floor and mop boards, but still has the ants. I am going to have her try the baby powder. Any other suggestions are appreciated.
I’m also going to try that. I hope it works because if it doesn’t I’m gonna have a new problem. Drunk ants. It would be hard to convince them to go to AA.
Thanks Dan,
Without guys like you I couldn’t have fun hunting and exterminating as apposed to hunting and killing. Now I have fewer holes to patch. LOL!!!! Thanks for the info.
Thank you TipNut for your article on ants. I have 3 rental homes and all get invaded with ants, we have used an exterminator however even they say they can’t keep the ants away forever. I will be printing this article to hand to the renters, using some of the recipes should keep them at bay. thanks again
couple questions and comments
After sprinkling lots of sea salt and Morton Kosher salt in cracks we had inside near lots of ant my husband asked, ” won’t that mess up our new maple and older saltillo floors like salt in the winter does in snowy climates. ( we live in Scottsdale AZ so no problem with salt in the winter).
I immediately started brushing it away from the maple:)
In times past I have used inside the house d: boric acid without traps (but afraid for our little curious dog) , chili powder, and chili peppers ( again concerned for our dog and staining , and diatomaceous earth( but label says it too is poisonous)
diatomaceous earth is safe for pets to ingest AS LONG AS it is food grade DE. The kind you get at pool equipment stores is unsafe. Make sure it says food grade and you can use that anywhere around kids and pets – totally harmless, but does help deter bugs.
I was able to find the Boric Acid (Borax) at Home Depot. The way to keep your grass from dying is to Water real good everyday! Using Boric Acid helps control the weeds and makes a nicer, greener lawn, but you will have to water. I found this out from a friend.
Borax can be found at the supermarket in the laundry or cleaning isles. I can always find three horses brand, I’ve been using it for years on my organic garden bed for slugs I sprinkle it on the wood surrounding the garden. It’s also a great laundry booster! It’s all natural and forgive me but I can’t remember the desert that this natural mineral is harvested from. Remember just because it’s natural doesn’t mean its not toxic to LO!
Sarah…borax is mined in Boron CA.in the Mojave Desert. It can be seen from the road there is so much of it. Its very strange.
Sorry, my Bad! I just got back from Lowe’s, and the info I previously gave you was wrong. Ammonium Sulfate is what they use to make you lawn green and removes the weeds. I bought something called, MaxAttrax Roach Killing Powder with Boric Acid. It’s for roaches and ANTS as well. I know this stuff is good cause the home we moved into, found out had roaches. I got aggressive with those little buggers and this stuff WORKS… Hot Shot makes this product, so I plan to try it with the ingredients above. Sorry for the wrong info ladies!
Another quick and safe way I’ve found to kill ants is the cleaner 409. Whatever is in it kills the ants on contact. I discovered this one day when I found a herd of ants having a party around a glob of jam left out on the counter. Just spray on them and wipe off, they will be dead and their trails are erased in one fell swoop! I used to use this trick when I worked at the Boys and Girls Club. We had ants but weren’t allowed to spray pesticides while children were in the building, but 409 was okay.
I bought some glass cleaner at dollar store. Mean green or something like that. Doesn’t clean glass but does a number on the ants.
I have found that Windex stops the little buggers cold. We’ve had sugar ants off and on all winter and whenever we spot them out comes the Windex. Its a quick fix for the ones on the counter tops but probably doesn’t do much good in controlling the population. I’m fixing to try the Borax and jam recepie right now. Thanks for the tip.
To get rid of the mice, leave jar lids with soda in them (this was in Mother Earth mag many years ago). The poor things can’t burp! unfortunately you’ll need to bury them! I had some little ants and lived in an old home. I noticed they were coming in where the molding met the floor, so I sealed the gap with clear acrylic calk, like you use in bathrooms or kitchens. Problem solved! If you have household pets be careful that they don’t get into remedies made for the pests.
Years ago we rented from someone who stopped the exterminator at the building. about that time Black Flag came out with a product (don’t know what it’s called) that was fairly safe for humans but damaged the reproductive organs of the pests. I really do not care for chemicals but the neighbor had the nest and the exterminator said both properties needed spraying monthly. I ended up using the bf product myself and within 2 months I stopped seeing the cockroaches! The ones that I found were malformed.
I got all my surfaces cleared off and went to the drug store for the borax and they told me they don’t make it anymore because kids were getting sick when ” blind” mothers grabbed it instead of whatever they really wanted.
Is there any replacement that will work in the same way?
Carole, a drug store is only going to carry limited products. Go to a grocery store, or home supply store. Borax is found in the laundry aisle in grocery stores. It’s been on the market for over 100 yrs – they haven’t stopped selling this naturally occurring mineral. Borax, brand name 20 Mule Team, is safe for many uses. Helping to deal with pests is just one.
Boric Acid is usually in the area of a store that carries insect killing products. They are 2 very different products.
Try again. Good luck!
You can find Boric Acid at your local Pharmacy. You might have to even ask the Pharmacist. It is used to make an eye wash for pink eye…and I guess killing ants. 😉
You can also buy it at the dollar store.
Thank you for the info about Boric Acid and Pink Eye. I have laughed, tounge-in-cheek, every time I see Boric Acid in a Pharmacy. I used to be an exterminator and was unaware of any other use than killing insects.
I AM HAVING A ANT PROBLEM IN MY LAWN.DON’T KNOW WHAT KIND OF ANTS THEY ARE BUT THEY ARE EATING THE GRASS ROOTS… MY LAWN IS COMPLETELY GONE IN SOME AREAS.I SEE THE ANT MOUNDS AND IT LOOKS LIKE A GRAY COLOR AND IS SANDY IN TEXTURE.ANYONE KNOW WHAT KIND OF ANTS THESE ARE AND HOW CAN I GET RID OF THEM? WILL BAIT TRAPS WORK ON THE GRASS? NEED ANSWER ASAP. THANKS….
Diatomaceous earth is very effective on all types of insects. It is only effective until it gets wet, so it’s probably better if sprinkle it when you’re sure you’ll get a few days in a row without rain. Hope this helps!
Tobasco Sauce
My oh my the things people can come up with……why not just keep getting rid of ants simple????
Just use CINNAMON………yep, cinnamon…..sprinkle it where you’ve seen them, and they will soon be gone…..and no harm to kids or pets!!
So please, let’s keep things simple…life’s complicated enough!!!!!!
Cinnamon never worked for me. They didn’t like it, so they avoided it and came in someplace else.
this is a deterant, not a killer! the same with some things U buy to get rid of fire ants. it does not kill then it makes them move to the house and yard next door! I bet UR neigbors love it! LMAO
I’ve used two methods: When I see ants outside, I put up a barrier of mint leaves where I don’t want them to go. This works on Japanese Beetles, too. It doesn’t kill them, but it sends them to your neighbors or someplace else!
If your basement is draintiled, you’re in luck. I had a horrible, embarrassing infestation of ants throughout my main floor, but especially in the kitchen. I went downstairs, mixed a quarter cup of 20 Mule Team Borax with a quart of water, and poured it in several places between the basement wall and the lip of the plastic draintile liner. This borax/water spread throughout the draintile system. Apparently, the ants had to cross this to get into the house, and it became their watering hole, then quickly killed them. I did it again a few days later, and within hours there was not an ant to be found. They haven’t come back in months.
Cinnamon is a repellent, so yes, they will go elsewhere. I have the same problem as Donna and am going to just get pesticide – nothing natural is working.
I just moved into an apartment that has a lot of sugar ants in the kitchen. All I had on hand was some ground pepper so I sprinkled a pile in corners and pushed it between the linoleum and molding with my fingers. I killed all the ants that were out on the floor but I haven’t seen anymore come out since then. I’ll probably wash the floor with vinegar tomorrow to get rid of any trails left behind too. I wish I could easily move the fridge and stove but they’re pretty stuck from not being moved regularly.
I had to re-read this post as the sugar ants are a real nuisance this year. Am I ever glad I did! I had forgotten about the diatomaceous earth remedy. I’ve got cats and a dog and small children about and always worry about toxic pesticides. I also have allergies to petroleum based products and can’t even try exterminator services. Diatomaceous earth has worked great for me for pest/insect control. It has been effective for fleas, earwigs, house spiders, roaches; you name it! I like it because it kills pests inside the house but doesn’t harm us. Thanks again for the great advice!
Where do I buy food grade Diatomaceous earth? I just can’t get rid of the ants tried cornmeal, boiling water, soapy dish soap and water this got rid of the nest but they just moved somewhere else.
We searched and finally found 5, 10, and 25 lb. bags of it at our local Farmer’s Co-op. They are used for helping get rid of bugs in certain feeds for livestock.
Food grade Diatomaceous earth can be ordered online relativly inexpensive for 10 lbs. lasts forever. Just type in Diatomaceous earth intersting info on it also. Also our local feed store carries it. you might try one of these sources.
Another recipe for protein: The ants didn’t go for the peanut butter (may have been too much borax, not sure), so I scrambled an egg with about half teaspoon of borax mixed in. They are all over it.
Ditto on the Windex for a quick kill. Came home to ants all over the counter and the first thing I could get my hands on was Windex. Sprayed them down and it killed them immediately. Couldn’t believe it.
what is Diatomaceous earth and where can I find this.would like to have some liquid remendies for spray bottles.
You can buy Diatomaceous Earth where they sell pool supplies. It’s used in pool filters. Most hardware stores carry it.
Use only food grade Diatomaceous earth from a feed store. The DE for pools will not be safe for pets or children!
These are great recommendations but unfortunately, most of them will not work with ghost ants, especially boric acid mixtures. Ghost ants are so small that they don’t seem to be attracted to anything with boric acid in it.
Ever since I was a child I have had a problem with random ant infestations where they seem uninterested in any food or bait but seem to love biting me. They once made a nest in my matres as a child and one even recently burrowed in under my toenail. I have no doubt in my mind that certain sub-breeds of ants are carnivorous and hard to find good bait for.
I have noticed that the most recent batch of these seem attracted to fake vanilla extract. I hope to mix some of this with borax in a sealed container (with small holes, to make it pet safe) soon to see if it is effective in killing them.
I mention this because I hope that the fake vanilla extract as a strong attractant, to resistant ants, can help some people.
Sarah…that sounds like a living nightmare! I have an anxiety d/o and for some reason, recently became extremely fearful of bugs – weird, I know. So an ant burrowing under my toenail would really freak me tf out. I don’t think I’d fare to well with a nest in my mattress either! Yuck!
I would like to know wher to buy TBS Boric Acid (Borax). Thanks.
PLEASE, buy only FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous Earth, all non-food grade types (like the kind you get at a pool store) are toxic to pets and humans.
I had tiny ants on my bathroom counter and in the sink (I think they wanted water). I rubbed a bar of soap (I use Caress) along the edge of the counter and on the counter around the sink. I did that last night and by this morning, the ants were completely gone!
So many people seem to think that just because they don’t see ants after they have done something simple like “rub a bar of soap along the edge of the counter…” that the ants are gone. I have news for you. The ants are simply avoiding that particular area. Ants will infest the inside of your walls or under your house or in your roof where you can’t see them. The ones you do see are only looking for food or water and although you may temporarily deter them, don’t be fooled into thinking you have gotten rid of them. I totally believe in trying home remedies to get these pests out of my home, but they can do considerable damage where you don’t see it. You need to take the time to find out exactly what type of ants you have first and then find out their nesting habits. You will also need to determine where they are getting in and take steps to stop it. If all these efforts don’t work, you should call a professional. Ants can and will be incredibly destructive if not stopped. Good luck to everyone!
This is an excellent thread. My wife and kids have been telling me for the past few weeks about isolated ants in the kitchen and family room — probably were the explorers. I was kind of just ignoring them and hate having the exterminator around. Why can’t we all just get along?! lol. Now we have 20 or so moving around. They are big black ants that I believe are carpenter ants. I’d prefer using a natural remedy over calling the exterminator. I’m going to clean with vinegar and then sprinkle cinnamon by the door where I think they are coming from. Not sure if I have to bait to get them to return to the colony. Will let you know.
Quick question though: How long should it take to get rid of them if I try this method with the vinegar and the cinnamon?
Carpenter ants are wood destroying pests. If any part of your house is made of wood, you better call a real exterminator.
An important thing to remember is that carpenter ants, as gross as they are, are telling you that you have rotting wood somewhere and it would be advantageous to find out where so you can replace the wood.
I didn’t have any vinegar, so I used cinnamon instead. It seemed the ants were entering the house through the sliding glass door in the kitchen. So, this is what I did:
1. First tested spraying Windex directly on ants. “What’s an ant eater’s favorite song? Dead ant, dead ant, dead ant dead ant dead ant dead ant deat aaaaaannnnt.” Yes, Windex kills the ants within about 15 seconds. Amazing. Also tested sprinkling cinnamon on the ants. It didn’t kill them, but they seem to run away like mad. So, the tips on this website work!
2. Cleaned kitchen thoroughly with diluted hand dishwashing soap and water. I scrubbed all countertops, the table, and the floor (tile).
3. Sprinkled cinnamon by the sliding glass door.
4. Killed all the ants (there were about 15 of them at this time all around the kitchen).
I did this two nights ago. Yesterday morning, there were about 3 ants roaming around the kitchen — the seemed kind of lost. Out came the Windex. Killed ’em! Throughout the whole day, there were about 4 more ants, isolated, and I killed them with the Windex also. I just woke up (5am this morning) and killed two more ants. So, overall, I am quite happy.
I have not baited yet. I want to see what happens with this methodology first.
Do I really have to bait? Won’t the ants find somewhere else to go?
shhesssh I have tiny black ants that cover counters and get in cabinets, but dont get in the food, wierd, huh? so how do I bait them or get rid of them, tried insectide and vinegar, they are all over the house. in bathroom, kitchen , on couch…….sometimes just 2 or 3 at a time, sometimes trails help
What about cinnamon oil? Is it too harsh for rubbing on wood? I’ve got a teak wood bed frame, and have had problems with ants off and on for years. I have a water bed (no leaks), but I imagine they can still detect that there’s a water source there, but I DO NOT like sharing my bed with these biting critters (guess they like protein, too ;~). It’s close to a bedroom window, and I know how to deal with that area, but they’re already “in”, so I have to deal with the bed problem. I’d rather not have cinnamon powder where it will easily blow off onto the carpet and sheets (ceiling fans in the deep South), but the idea of cinnamon really appeals to me…anyone out there ever try the oil? If not, I’ll let you know how it works out. This is the best site! Thanks for all of these great ideas!
o my gracious… wish i had sugar ants or carpenter ants as opposed to the evil fireants of the Southeast alabama region. we have several huge mounds this year in our yard and have tried all these things to kill them and they are just immune to it. seems like the harder i try the bigger their mounds become. the bites are very painful then itch terribly for days after forming a pimple like bite on my body. i know we have a aweful issue when my 3 and 5 year old dont even acknowledge when they have been bitten and have several bites on their feet and legs that i discover at bath time. fire ants are from hell and they have adapted and overcame many forms of termination…. HELP!!!!
The best thing I have found for fire ants is to pour a pot of boiling water on top of the mound. It will kill the queen and the ants will leave. I hate those buggers!
Fire ants make tunnels about 75 feet long. Killing the mound does not eradicate the colony if they have built a number of tunnels. Our city (Buena Park, CA) sprays all the yards every year or so to kill fire ants. They may use Vector to do the work.
Have reduced most of the sugar ant colonies in house by finding their nests and caulking shut. Some cases have had to build and culk boards like back in corners of kitchen cabinets where an “L” is formed. Another place was between the granit counter top and cabinets. A case of caulking every visible and invisible crack… if you see an ant disappear,, caulk. So far I have used 3 tubes of white caulk and one tube of clear silicon. The liquid bait traps seem to work very well. They contain many dead ants. Since the colony may contain 3 queens they seem to divide when sensing something is wrong. Somedays it seems like they have been vanquished, but they pop up again…yes have sealed off out side cracks, holes and dug below earth level makine sure concrete has no holes well as the stuco. The volume is definnitly reduced. I say we have and keep a clean house,,but they do like this old place.
Making some borax peanut well as jelly to place aronund out side of house to catch them or draw them out side.
V.
Pour boiling water on them. It won’t eliminate the problem, but it will take out a significant number.
ants have invaded car,especially around wiring near door. have washed area with vinegar, however they keep reappearing. Any suggestions?
We built a playground for our grandkids. The base is sand and recently fire ants have appeared. I don’t see a mound. Since one of the boys is autistic, I need to use something organic and safe so the area is not contaminated. Any suggestions? I was thinking about dusting the entire area with cinnamon…but haven’t seen any entries that say it will work on fire ants.
Cinnamon worked beautifully! They were coming out of a little hole, and after spreading cinnamon around the hole, I haven’t seen one since!
Thank goodness!
I have also tiny black ants that cover counters and get in cabinets, these ones eat food, During the day I see few but they come mostly during the night when we switch our lights off and when we wake up we find them on top of curboards/ stoves, I tried to check if theres a hole where they coming from but i can t find it. PLEASE I NEED HELP!
Find their trail and outline the area w/ pure peppermint oil. Make several “baits” inside the area.Got to find what they are looking for. They do not like peppermint oil and 99% will not cross, it kills them. It confines them to the area but stay alive to take the bait back to the nest. I just soaked a cotton ball and made a circle so they weren’t ALL over my kitchen. Worked pretty good and smells good…mmmmm minty! Also, it works for mice..they are allergic to peppermint oil and run. So in our motor home I put cotton balls w/ a few drops of oil in little cups and placed them in drawers and under counters so far works well and smells good too! Hope this is helpful!
I have ants on my counter, and around my kitchen. I’m not sure which of these formulas to use(because I read all your comments)
So which one is best to use?
Try rubbing surfaces with an original scent bounce dryer sheet. I’ve been using this for years. They also repel flies and mosquitos, just hang one from your pocket or rub it on clothing.
This article was great. It gave me a lot of ideas. What worked for me was using a a small spray bottle with a fine mist and filled it 3/4 with water and added about 30 drops of each of these essential oils: cinnamon, clove, and orange. Shake well before each use! Everywhere I saw the ants I sprayed with this mixture. I have not had a problem with the ants at all. The extra bonus of this mixture is that it is pet safe and non toxic and it smells great!
I just tried this and it worked wonderfully and my apartment smells great! It was a little pricey for the oils, but they will last a long time and I can double it as an air freshener 🙂 Thank you!
My house is infested by ants of the small Argentinian type ants. To get rid of them I have been putting out since about three weeks a mixture of sugar, yeast and syrup as above advised. However it is my feeling that these ants are even getting more!
Could it be that I am just feeding these ants?
Wow, what a great article. The feedback is wonderful too.
I had a bunch of small ants in my room. And i didn’t want to use toxic chemicals anywhere near my bed and belongings. So, i actually spent a few days procrastinating. I wasn’t sure how to proceed. So, anyway, while waiting, i observed their path. I saw that their trail led out at the corners of the windowsill. First I used toothpaste. This worked at first. But the smart buggers quickly learned to circle it. After reading this article and comments, i sprinkled baby powder everywhere — all over the wall surrounding that window, on the windowsill… I probably went overboard — but it’s baby powder. Anyway, this so far has worked very well. I watched how confused they got. They couldn’t find their way out. And now the wall is empty of ants. Yupee!
Boric Acid and (Borax) are not the same thing and do not work the same.these formulas are not going 2 work if u use Borax
I was going to say the same thing. For years people have confused the 2 as being the same thing but they are NOT…Boric Acid IS NOT Borax and vice versa
HEY LOOK HERE ABOUT BORAX VS BORIC ACID.
No borax and boric acid are not the same, borax is a salt of boric acid, yet both do kill ants.
the top three boron containing ant baits:
Drax (5% boric acid in a sugar solution)
Enforcer (5% borax, 4% boric acid in a sugar solution)
Terro-Ant Killer (5.4% borax in a sugar solution)
THE SUGAR SOLUTION IS CORN SYRUP.