How to Get Rid of Ants!

[tina.tina]

Hey! I live on an ant hill, too. If we got rid of all the ants, I swear our house would be street level. An exterminator I used to work with recommended Terro to me. It has always worked great inside but we've got mutant resistant ants outside, too. I'm planning to Sevin Dust the outside ants, spiders, etc (despite my dad's environmental warnings) the week we're gone on vacation.


How do you get rid of frogs? Start kissing & hope you don't turn into one, too!

 

[wendow]

We used baby powder to cover their scent trails after we found out where they were coming in. Only took one time and we've not had a problem since and that was years ago.

 

[peytonfinnmom]

Okay so does any one else have what I call as GIant ants! Ants don't really bother me but we just moved to a new house 2 months ago and we immediately got what I can only describe as giant ants right after the first time it rained. I tried a bunch of "nice" ways to get rid of them but it just or worst. My last straw was when my son freaked out when they were in his room so we had to try the liquid spray all around the house inside and out. It's been a good month and I have seen one or two randomly so hung it holds out as I even had nightmares about giant ants

 

[2disneyboys]

Okay so does any one else have what I call as GIant ants! Ants don't really bother me but we just moved to a new house 2 months ago and we immediately got what I can only describe as giant ants right after the first time it rained. I tried a bunch of "nice" ways to get rid of them but it just or worst. My last straw was when my son freaked out when they were in his room so we had to try the liquid spray all around the house inside and out. It's been a good month and I have seen one or two randomly so hung it holds out as I even had nightmares about giant ants

They might be a version known as carpenter ants. They are huge compared to your normal ants. With these, we tried everything but eventually had to resort to an exterminator.

 

[kathie859]

I had ants last year and my friends on the DIS recommended Terro....OMG!!!! BEST. STUFF.EVER. It's easy to use, not messy at all. I've been lucky this year (knock on wood) but if they show up it's off to Home Depot.....

 

[KY*Figment]

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.

 

[canopynut66]

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?

My daughter had to have exterminator come (twice) as they had nests of them inside and out.They sprayed in every cabinet and closet and all around the outside of house as well then she started using Ortho self defense for ants and has not seen them since. there was no smell to either treatment.

 

[delmar411]

we just use a giant spray bottle of ant killer at the first sign of them. Normally takes 2 applications inside if they've gotten that far. DH sprays the yard every week as well. We've definitely gotten them to mostly move on to other yards/houses from the constant summertime treatments but there are always new ant residents.

 

[nilseks]

I second the Raid ant baits. The little buggers invade my first floor every year--they go for the water sources in the kitchen, bathroom and laundry room, which are all in one area. I bought both kinds of baits--one is white and one is black. I have dogs so I put them in areas where the dogs cannot get to them--behind the heavy garbage can in the bathroom, behind the washer, in the coat closet, etc. My first floor is 1,600 square feet and we had a lot of ants so I used 8 baits--cost was about $10. I had ants EVERYWHERE and in 2 days they were gone, and have been gone for over a month. This is the first year they have not come back...knock on wood!

 

[Debbie]

For decades, I have put peeled cucumber skin at the doors, outside, under the sill so it is not toooooo noticeable. The ants don't come over it.

Recently I learned that if you put out a lid (eg. margarine type) with a mix of baking soda and icing sugar, that that will get rid of the ants. The icing sugar entices them, the baking soda mixes with the acids in their little ant tummies and KABOOM....usually AFTER they have taken the sweet treat back to the Queen of the hill.

With kids (and a cat) around, I have used both of these with success.

 

[ceecee]

We had them bad last year because of the rain and tried everything!!! We had 12 Raid Ants baits and tried suger, borax, cinnamon, everything! Finally, we had it professionally sprayed (he had to come back twice he didn't charge us the second time. This year they weren't quite as bad 1000s instead of millions!!! IWe had the tiny little ones so I sprayed Lysol disinfect and left all the counters wet everynight and that seemed to deter them. I read in the paper they hate soap so we washed everything down...cabinets, floor, drawers and make sure you keep all food in the refridgerater or somewhere they can't find it. I forgot about a jar of honey in the cabinet (it got pushed behind things) they sure found that! I did spray outside in the yard where he showed me the nest, that's where they all come from.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Crushed bay leaves. I sprinkle them outside around the entry doors

 

[MrsPete]

Terro (or is it Tero?). It's a small bottle of clear liquid and only costs about $2. You can buy it at the grocery store or at a place like Home Depot or Lowe's.

Put a couple drops of the liquid on tiny bits of aluminum foil in the places you've seen the ants (usually the windowsil for me). The first day you'll see a few ants meandering around the liquid.

The second day you'll see a purposeful trail of ants coming to eat your Terro. Give them all they'll eat; it's poison. They'll tote it right back to the ant hill.

The third day you'll see NOTHING.

Disclaimers:
It's only good for small, black sweet-eating ants.
This is a poor method if you have cats or children who might get ahold of your foil bits.

 

[DVC'96]

I got the Terro ant baits last week. As the pp said, when you first set them out you will see a lot of ants. The next day I saw a couple then I haven't seen any since. The active ingredient is actually Borax. I haven't seen it in the bottle but I think I prefer the baits. I would be more concerned if I had young children crawling around but I just have the dog and she won't bother with it. Good luck! I've been told that with certain ants you shouldn't just kill them or disrupt their paths because they will break off and create new colonies and that means more ants!

 

[slickback]

ants are so gross!

they come back if u don't seal them outta the house. had the problem in my house up north.

 

[stargazer2892]

Terro liquid ant baits

It was super disgusting not being able to touch the swarm of ants but a month and a half later I have not seen a single ant. The leaving them alone thing went against every bone in my body but it worked. It seemed like every other day there were new ants coming from places I wouldn't have expected going towards foods I never would have expected (raw chicken on a cutting board. I left it for 10 min to feed my 2 week old and came back and my counter-top was black. That sucked.) I highly recommend the Terro Liquid Ant Baits.

 

[mrspaha]

I had the most disgusting ants a few months ago -- actually crawling on top of my kitchen counters and center island. Had no idea where they came from.

I got those ant baits and set them toward the back of the counters (because I have a dog and didn't want her eating any kind of ant poison off the floor). At first I didn't think they were working -- oh btw, I had gotten a cheap brand Hot Shot I think at Ace Hardware, where it was almost free after a rebate). I had just about decided to go buy the Terro brand, which I had heard so much about and I realized that the ants had disappeared. So, I guess you have to give it time to work.

 

[Gina]

I just had to find this thread again and come back to virtually hug all of you for suggesting the Terro stuff!! I had been dealing with hoards of those teensy sugar ants for months... Nothing would get rid of them. All over the kitchen counters, trailing up the side of the fridge, getting into anything that wasn't sealed up in plastic containers. I tried the Combat bait traps, some other useless bait traps, and finally found the Terro pre-filled traps at Walmart.

By day 3, there were NONE. Not a single ant anywhere. That was 2 weeks ago, still not an ant in sight. You guys ROCK. Thanks so much for suggesting Terro!!

 

[Amii]

Cornmeal gets rid of ants in no time. When ants drink after eating corn meal it expands in their stomachs and kills them. They also bring cornmeal back to the queen. Once the queen gets killed no more eggs will be laid.

Works like a charm for us every time.

 

[quentina]

My mother sprinkles cinnamon at what she believes is the entry point. Seems to work.