How to Get Rid of Ants!

[Aurora D]

In the past week or so my kitchen has been overrun by ants! Ewwww! I don't want to use an expensive or toxic spray in the kitchen. Does anyone have a budget or environmentally friendly way to get rid of the unwanted pests?

 

[beansmom]

http://www.ehow.com/how_5438807_make-homemade-ant-repellent.html

http://gomestic.com/gardening/six-natural-ant-repellents/

http://ezinearticles.com/?Natural-Ant-Repellent&id=1315225

hope that helps! We have an awful problem with them, too.

 

[dyna]

I've had good luck with the chalk line once I found where the ants was coming in at.

In the 1 article it says cream of wheat is good they eat it carry it back to nest after eating the grain swells an they blow up GRITS works for this too tho I got faster results with the chalkline.

 

[LJSquishy]

I don't have a "friendly" way to get rid of them, but Terro brand liquid ant bait works AMAZING. I swear if you get some, it will work. The downside is that you have to leave the ants alone and let them drink the bait and bring it back to the nest...they feed the queen. I have used both the indoor and outdoor ones and they work amazing. Last year we had a huge ant infestation in our bathroom.

 

[ORDisneyfans]

I don't have a "friendly" way to get rid of them, but Terro brand liquid ant bait works AMAZING. I swear if you get some, it will work. The downside is that you have to leave the ants alone and let them drink the bait and bring it back to the nest...they feed the queen. I have used both the indoor and outdoor ones and they work amazing. Last year we had a huge ant infestation in our bathroom.

This ^^^^is exactly what I reccomend! It is about $3 in an orange box. You place the liquid on small squares of cardboard and ants eat it and are gone after a day or two!!

 

[Pembo]

Not a permanent solution, but when I had ants at work I sprayed Lysol on them and it killed them all. Then maintentance put out little houses and sprayed the building

 

[Swimalie]

I had sugar ants invade my pantry last year. After I vacuumed up all I could, I doused paper towels in white vinegar and then pressed it in to the spots where I thought they were coming in. It ook about 4 applications over an hour and they were all gone.

 

[Zim]

I don't have a "friendly" way to get rid of them, but Terro brand liquid ant bait works AMAZING. I swear if you get some, it will work. The downside is that you have to leave the ants alone and let them drink the bait and bring it back to the nest...they feed the queen. I have used both the indoor and outdoor ones and they work amazing. Last year we had a huge ant infestation in our bathroom.

I've had the best success with this as well. Ants often come inside when it's hot and dry outside, they're looking for water.

 

[zoemurr]

I had sugar ants invade my pantry last year. After I vacuumed up all I could, I doused paper towels in white vinegar and then pressed it in to the spots where I thought they were coming in. It ook about 4 applications over an hour and they were all gone.

and they were gone quicklly. It kills their trail (they travel by scent) and they can't find their way back in.

 

[Green Tea]

Terro

Don't waste your time or money with any other stuff.

 

[packofjedis]

Terro doesn't work for me. My ants are too smart - they pile dirt or whatever all over the traps everytime I put them down. (We've only put them outside) New trap next day, within hours is covered in little piles of dirt.

Inside I've used cinnamon very successfully. Find out where they're coming in and run a cinnamon line completely along that wall, cabinet, whatever. Just beware - it's not good for pets to ingest too much cinnamon, so I keep my pets away.

Also, when seriously desperate and we know exactly the one pinpoint area they're coming in, I put a piece of masking tape along it. Then they can't come in!

 

[girli565]

I had black ants infest my car from parking in a grassy area in front of my aunts house. The car was there for a few days without moving. When I got back they were everywhere!! I tried natural ways because I hated the idea of using something full of chemicals in such a small confined place but ultimately had to bite the bullet and buy the Raid ant baits. I put two in the backseat, two in the front and one in the trunk. In 2 days they were gone!

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I had great results with the Terra ant baits. I got them from Home Depot. It was not something I put on cardboard, though. They were little plastic traps with the goo inside. You open one and leave it in the path of where you're seeing the ants and just leave it there. If you go back in an hour, you'll freak out at the number of ants streaming in and out of there, but in another few hours, there will be almost none. Leave it for another day or so and there won't be any. I used to have a problem with the sugar ants at our old house and I would put them in the kitchen or bathroom or playroom when I saw them and they took care of the problem. All the other tricks - vinegar, etc, never worked for me, just the Terra baits.

 

[TrueLove's1stKiss]

Terro liquid ant baits were the only thing that worked for me. I tried all the natural remedies first & nothing worked!

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Borax works great too.

 

[DJT]

I had great luck with Borax last year but this year it didn't work.

 

[Lizzybean]

We had the WORST ants in our kitchen this year! I tried everything: vinegar, cinnamon, bleach (I was getting desperate), ant bait houses ... Nothing worked. My DH finally bought Raid in a plastic blue spray bottle and by morning the ants were gone and I haven't seen one since. Raid bug buster I think it's called. What a lifesaver! I was about to go nuts!

 

[starbound25]

I didnt read all the responses but I had really good luck with white vinegar

I put it in a little spray bottle and sprayed where I was pretty sure they were coming from. Next day, no ants!!!

After a week or two I saw more and resprayed, and they were gone again

Never would have thought it worked but it totally does! Cheap and safe and effective!!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Get some frogs. Let them loose in the house. Be sure to have some shallow pans with water in them so the frogs can stay moist and relax.

However, you may then have to worry about a frog infestation.

 

[ajh88]

Get some frogs. Let them loose in the house. Be sure to have some shallow pans with water in them so the frogs can stay moist and relax.

However, you may then have to worry about a frog infestation.

I feel your pain OP - I swear we live on an ant hill. We have kids in our house and pets too, so I hated the idea of spraying poison all around...I think others have given you great suggestions, but for us, we ultimately had to enlist the help of an exterminator. He told us the first time he sprayed (outside) that if he got paid by the ant, we would have owed him a million dollars! I think we have mutant, poison-proof ants.

Good luck - they gross me out so much!