About this time of year, the ants start to invade our home. They manage to show up from everywhere and are extremely difficult to get rid of. I've tried lots of commercial products and nothing seems to work.
I came across a simple recipe a few years ago on the Internet that is extremely effective and cheap.
- Sugar
- Borax
- Water
That's it! You want to mix 1/2 cup of sugar with 1.5 teaspoons of borax and then add 1.5 cups of boiling/hot water until a thin paste. I pour the mixture on very low covers like disposable Tupperware covers, low jar covers, or tin foil. You will likely see even more ants than ever for the first 24 hours and by about 48 hours you should be nearly ant free.
I typically use tin foil as it is very low and easy to just throw away. You can also use soaked cotton balls.
I recommend using the solution near your problem area but also at your high traffic areas that are low to the ground like the back door.
Bonus - Got Fruitflies?
Another problem that I have occasional is fruit flies. They are very difficult to get rid of when they do show up. The best solution I have found that works extremely well is to fill a cup with apple cider vinegar and put a drop of liquid dish soap on the surface. Just a tiny amount, a single drop is all you need to create a surface that will trap them.
You don't need much Apple Cider Vinegar as well, just a half inch high or so, it works best if you do a couple cups. You want to dump and replace the solution about twice a day until they are gone. They are usually gone within 1-2 days.
The best solution to avoid both is to keep food locked up and clean frequently but they still seem to get in during the summer season, especially when you have a lot of guests.
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thanks for the info :)
Great. I ll try the one for the fruit flies. Thanks for sharing.
I get very small ants inside the kitchen during summer.. and on warm days.. tried everything to get rid of them.. so will give this a go next time I see the little buggers.
;-)
Mark you should try diatomaceous earth.
I have found it is not too effective for ants, his solution is pretty much the best. How do you use the DE for ants?
mmm you can mix it with sugar.
I dusted the crap out of some with it one time and they didn't seem to mind.
You had some strong ants then! :)
Came here just to leave this:
The fruit fly solution doesnt even need apple cider vinegar, just a bit of dish soap in a cup, fill it to the top with water so theres a soapy bubbly dome and the flies will land in it and become stuck and die. I did this accidentally while letting a cup soak once and noticed a ton of flies were in it then did it on purpose from then on out. The more cups you use the higher chances youll catch more. If you have it, use a white cup, they seem attracted to that more for some reason.
Sounds so crazy that I just might work lol, summer time=bugs. You know anything good for roaches? Asking for a friend of course.
There's a product at the hardware store with a yellow label that is essentially borax with a sticking agent. Unfortunately, roaches are VERY smart and won't crawl over the powder. You will have to pour some on the roaches so that they will go back to their nest and the group will clean the roach (and they will DIE - yay!!).
I lived in an old army barracks for families converted into family housing for college students "apartment." Essentially cinderblock housing. That place had a HUGE roach problem. Good luck.
Never had roaches, I think you want to use a commercial product for that.
bug bomb is the way to go.
I think the bug bomb is the easiest method lol also the spray and pray lol thank you both @funnybonny51 @yoginiofoz
So what is the solution? You lure the ants and then you destroy them, or they are poisoned by the paste?
The borax messes with the digestive system in ants but is a slow process (24-48 hours) so they bring the mix back to the colony and share it with other ants. It is extremely effective and quick.
Thank you very much for that! I like ants a lot in nature, but when in the house they can be a real tough vermin!
wow this is a really informative and good article. the pictures are also very interesting.
Ant attack
We've got ants at my work. Every year the same problem. And we can't find out where they come from, but especially in the kitchen. With people with dementia you don't use chemical products, for they can pick it up and the worse case scenario is that they eat it. Borax isn't either a natural product ;-) but I will mention it tonight (when I go to work) to put in the kitchen cupboard. They don't reach that far.
So thank you for this, for suddenly I might have the solution...... (never thought of putting it in the cupboard .... silly me)
Cornmeal. It takes a little longer than this recipe. It operates the same way, its safe in cupboards and around pets. If you can find where the nest starts outside...Borax it the best way to go (as long is the animals don't get near it)
We can't find the nest (for years) but cornmeal is a give it a try too in this case. Thank you !
You're welcome. :)
Borax is a mined mineral. Boron is actually an essential micronutrient. If you call poison control they will tell you the number or traps you would have to eat to get sick or die. My dog ate an ant trap before and I called and they said he would have to eat a bunch of them to have a problem.
Oh really ! I didn't know. Thank you.....
careful though boron can raise testosterone so they might get a little randy
whahahahaha, I had to look up the word "randy"...... ;-)
I don't have dogs, so I'm safe 😜
not the dogs, the dementia patients!
Oh whahahahahaha well fortunately they can't reach so low in the kitchen cupboard.
Thank you for this I have a massive issue with ants and have gone insane trying lots of different things. I get worried about chemicals due to my young daughter so hopefully this is a great alternative.
This is important and useful information.
Thanks for sharing us.
Have a good day @themarkymark
Thanks for sharing!
My German ants here are just getting active.
Borax is probably available here as sodium tetraborate. I'd just be a little worried about my dog. But with other ant control methods, I have to take care of him too.
Sunny greetings from Germany!
This post came up in right time! Thank you for the information. am going to try this today. Yaaay, ant free :)
Insect killer!
Have you no humanity?
Submitting a report to...someone.
There must be someone who is appropriately offended out there.
If I find them, consider yourself reported!
😂
(p.s cheers, I'll give it a go. - living in Thailand, it's a constant war, and ant killer sprays cost a fortune! - and I think they are severely lethal to humans)
When I am wanting to kill fruit flies (which seem to ride home on store bought bananas) I make a small mixture of water, a few drops of lemon EO, and a few drops of dishwashing soap.
I put the small container or bowl of this mixture next to my kombucha, since that is where the little buggers like to hang out.
When I have noticed after a rain that some ants are making a trail into the house, I find a place where I can put a line of powdered cinnamon which they will not cross. I then take Citrisolve and water to remove the trail and kill the ants that are either in my house or on the outside. This removes the scent and of course, removes some of the problem ants.
I have also heard that pouring hot water down a hole and then using a stick to kill the ants in their nest works. I haven't tried it, though I did discover an ant hole in one of my gardens last night. Luckily, they weren't biters!
If the bugs are outside, I usually don't bother them if they don't bother me. My chickens do a pretty good job of keeping the critters under control. :-)
Yup, if you read the commercial products almost all of them are just borax. Borax is also good if your broccoli stems are hollow.
I've used the borax solution as my go to for quite a while now. Seems like no matter what we do, every year around mid May to early June we get these little buggers in the kitchen. As soon as we notice we mix up this amazing concoction and within a few days we're ant free. Extremely effective, thanks for sharing!
I would add to this, if you have pets and so don't want to use the borax, I was trying all the natural remedies for ants one year that didn't include that, and the only one that worked was grating Fels Naptha soap (it's a bar laundry soap) across where they are coming in (for me that was THE LAUNDRY PLUMBING, so I grated it in front of my washing machine). I left it in place for a while, but I'd say they were completely gone in a week or two, but it was only a stray one by that point.
Also re: fruit flies, water your houseplants with aqua globes: they breed in damp soil left behind after you water from the top, and don't use Miracle Gro soil: the internet isn't sure if they simply prefer it because of the water retention bits in it or if they come in the bag itself, but after reading that, I checked my half-used bag and it was CRAWLING with them, so I threw it all out.
I started getting ants a couple weeks ago. Started cleaning everything habitually and whenever I saw an ant I would trap it for removal.
Whenever I captured more than one ant I noticed they would fight to the death, so now there must be an army of battle tested gladiator ants somewhere in my back woods.
I will try this. I have ants that just started showing up in the bathroom. I bought spray and some of the bait devices. The bait devices have been working because I don't see them walking around anymore. I will try your solution if I see them walking around again.
I've been using this borax recipe for years. I usually just dip a cotton ball in the solution and place it on their trail. It is important to know that it usually takes at least a day to work. The ants need to take the borax back to their home.
very good information and I will try it at home because in our house also many ants