We are moving tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. I can’t quite believe it, and I can’t quite believe I will be ready on time! It is going to be a big push today and tomorrow, and then I hope we can settle into a routine again.
Meanwhile, I noticed that our new house already has an ant problem. I know it is that time of year again. I have just been thankful that we have not had any ant issues at our old house. For some reason, it seemed immune to ants. As I pack our pantry, I am making sure that all food is firmly sealed, and I also dug out this natural ant deterrent and killer (EcoSMART Ant and Roach Killer 
But I bet that you all have a lot of suggestions and ideas that are also natural and safe. Please share! You tell me what you use to fight the ants off!
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We just spray around the openings with pure lemon juice…and it always works for us…something about the acid messes up there sense of tracking…
Very best wishes with your move…
Have a lovely day!
We use ground cinnamon around where there are coming it. It works really well. Good luck!
I will be watching the comments on this post. I’m dealing with the same problem right now. I found a mixture of borax & sugar water works fairly well. I put it out for a couple days and suppressed the urge to kill every ant I saw. The mixture killed a bunch & they stopped coming in droves. But I still have a few in my pantry (aimlessly roaming as there is nothing in there for them….) and now I’ve got a new spot in my living room they are popping up. The borax/sugar water is supposed to kill the nest, as they take it back with them.
We just moved into this place last fall and have had problems since then. I think our house might just be on a gigantic ant nest. So frustrating! (And I can’t find any places where they are actually getting in the house ~ so I don’t know where to put up my first line of defense!)
Try using boric acid, water and sugar. That will kill the nest. Boric acid is stronger then borax and they are completely different. A lot of people use boric acid to kill roaches, fleas, ants, etc. Hope this helps.
We use borax, sugar, water and a touch of peanut butter. It takes a couple of weeks but really works. We used it last year in our old house and are implementing it again this spring in our new house. Pesky ants! Here is the site where I found the recipe: http://naturalantkiller.blogspot.com/
Good luck!
We make sure all of our food is sealed up. The honey jar is usually the biggest ant magnet, so it gets a thorough washing and then is placed on a small water-filled saucer in the cupboard.
We use a spray bottle filled with water and a squirt of liquid dish soap (I use Seventh Generation) to kill any visible ants. I also look around outside to try to find their hill; pouring a kettle of boiling water on it solves the problem.
I’ve heard that food grade diatomaceous earth works, though I have yet to try it. The ants haven’t attacked our house quite yet. You sprinkle it where you see the ants entering the house or on the trails that they make…You can also spread it around the foundation of the house.
Yes…diatomaceous earth (DE) works well…use food grade not swimming pool DE. It should be sprinkled around the perimeter of your new home and you can also safely sprinkle it inside where you see them. Do not wet the DE or it will not work. DE isn’t an instant kill but should resolve the problem within a week or so.
I have a pretty serious any invasion at my house too. When I moved in last April they had already made themselves at home. I did the cinnamon thing last year and worked ok, but they just kept finding new ways in. My ants were’t attracted to sugary things, but protein, especially the dog food. This year I made some borax cookies and put them in the old fireplace where I noticed the ants returning a week ago. I also sprinkled DE around the perimeter of my kitchen and that seems to have worked better than anything so far for immediate results.
I’ve heard hot chili powder works well. Maybe it’s because of the oils of the chili, and the ants don’t want to go through it because it would burn them??? I don’t know, but it seems like it would work. Good luck.
I second Diana’s comment about borax and sugar. I’ve made a thin paste before with water, sugar and borax, then spread it on little pieces of thin cardboard or stiff cardstock and placed them near where it seems they are coming into the house. They’ll eat it and take it back to their colony (just like the Terro liquid you can buy). The paste will dry up in a couple days, so you’ll have to make more. But I think I only had to do it twice before they were gone.
I’ve done what Jennie mentioned too–boiling water will destroy an ant colony, or weeds popping up between sidewalk cracks or in mulch. It’s an easy, purely natural way to kill things that we don’t often think about.
This worked great last year for the mini ant invasion, and this year again, within a day, they were gone when I put the cookies out. And it makes a ton of cookies that last indefinitely. Just make sure no little kids eat them!
http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/non-toxic-pest-control-ideas-that-work/
But we still have the really large ones, which I’m thinking are carpenter ants and won’t eat the sugar mixture. so I’m not sure what to do about them yet.
I make a spray out of equal parts of rubbing alcohol and water, add in 1/4 as much dishsoap. Be careful to not breath it in as you spray. The alcohol will evaporate and you just clean up soap and water (and dead ants). Takes care of most bugs, including black widows.
Prayer – it was my last resort and it worked. A friend of mine put up a sign “no ants allowed” and they stopped coming in. Worth a shot! 😉
Prayer totally worked for me once too! God knew I couldn’t take it anymore. I cast that burden on Him and He took care of them 🙂
I third the prayer thing. We struggled with carpenter ants, doing every idea we could get our hands on (short of chemicals). Had a nest we couldn’t get to properly. Lots of things worked, but only to a degree. I got my 4 year old to pray with me, so when it stopped abruptly I had the added bonus of him excited about God at work!
Oh! And they will not cross a line drawn in chalk. I drew a line around my window where they were coming in and it kept them at bay while I prayed.
I’ve seen chalk work too! I had a friend who did that and I always thought it was some special kind of chalk just for that but I guess not.
My grandparents has really good results with the line of chalk, they used powder that you can get at home improvement stores. It comes in a squeezey bottle so it’s easy to lay down a line with.
Ants carry an acidic substance with them always for protection. I do a mix of baking soda and powdered sugar in a plastic lid set in strategic places. I think a little volcanic science experiment happens inside their bodies. Over the course of several days it has made a huge difference.
Perfect! Our new house too has some ants.. great ideas!
I second the borax though. In our last house, my hubby found a recipe for borax and bacon grease and maybe a few other things and you roll balls of it and leave it out. He put it in baggies with a rock in it so it wouldn’t blow away and wouldn’t get too dry (we live in Arizona). It is good for ALL bugs and like they said above, they get it on them and carry it to their nest so it kills the rest too. We rarely had bugs and when we did it was because he hadn’t changed it in forever and it had dried out too much. Super cheap too! I’m sure you could do something besides bacon grease but that seemed to attract them. It is not toxic if pets or kids accidentally eat it.
Do you have the recipe he used or the link to find it? We have carpenter ants and I think they prefer the grease, not the sugar.
thanks
Could you send ingredients
We spray cinnamon essential oil all around the doors, windowsills, floors, etc. keeps them from coming in. I put the sugar water and borax OUTSIDE!
Another vote for ground cinnamon. Easy to clean up afterwards and worked great for us!!!
What worked for us was a mixture of borax and sugar in water.
Several years ago, we lived in a house where there was an ants nest in the walls. Removing it would have ment virtually demolishing the entire front wall of the house (not practical!), so instead, after a year or two of having flying ants swarm into our bedroom every year we decided to go on an ant killing spree.
Conventional ant killers didn’t work. Borax and powdered sugar didn’t work. But adding water to the borax and sugar mix to make a thick sugary boraxy syrup DID work…. the worker ants took it back into the nest and it positioned the queen – result = no more flying ants.
OK so borax does need to be kept away from pets and small children, but it is relatively safe beyond that as it is only toxic if you eat it. my solution was to put it somewhere where the kids and the cats would not reach it but the ants could.
I really like that idea of borax, sounds like it would work well. I have had success with used coffee grounds, I did know where their entry was, after putting it in the cracks they never returned. I also do know it doesn’t kill them, it just makes them move homes, (we have put them on beds outside and we just see them pop up a small distance away.
Dr. Bonner’s liquid soap in the mint aroma. Mix 1 to 1 with water in a spray bottle. Spray on the ant invasion and watch them suffer.
Cinnamon and cloves. Makes your house smell nice and the ants just hate it sprinkled right in their path.
Does anyone have a good idea to get rid of bumble bees?
If you’re talking about the ones that bore holes (we have in SC) you can deter them from drilling your desirables by giving them some wood to drill that you don’t care about…a couple of bucks on some pine lumber and they’re happy to stay away from painted or treated stuff. (My hubby does have to hit a few with a raquetball racket each year, though.) :0) Don’t know any natural killers/deterrants other than that.
My mother-in-law has success with peppermint essential oil around windows and doors (any entries). Plus her house then smells awesome.
One more thing to add to this. I saw somewhere to use corn meal. Well, it worked out since some moths got into my cornmeal, and I felt bad wasting it. That’s when I saw the idea and tried it. I sprinkled a little bit just off the back porch. Every day I would check and every day the same trail of ants was still there. Then I forgot about it. My daughter found another ant nest further out in the yard, and it made me remember to check the last trail. It was gone, completely gone. So, I sprinkled it on the new nest, and less than a week later, it is gone. If you google it there are a ton of places where it mentions it. Here’s just one link, and if you scroll to the Tip there is still another idea using molasses. Although if cornmeal will work I think it’s cheaper, and safer around kids and pets.
http://www.ehow.com/how_6395566_kill-ants-corn-meal.html
Cream of wheat! They eat it & it expands & they explode! Ha! I used it in my garden for ant problems. Kind of makes you wonder what it does to our insides when we eat it too…
I have purchased this for my mother in law who has ant issues every spring:
http://www.herbariasoap.com/other-products/ant-away.html
It is all natural and food safe – and she says that it works.
Good luck.
We also use cinnamon oil. We draw borders around everything with a q-tip dipped in it. They won’t cross it.
We get little tiny ants every year about this time. I put a straight line of very fine black pepper on all my outside door jams and any other place where they might be coming in. They will not cross this line! I also sprinkle peppermint essential oil in places and wipe down all my counter tops and kitchen floor with distilled vinegar. This seems to keep them at bay.
Cayenne pepper sprinkled where they come in works too.
How about natural remedies for keeping your dog flea-free? I know that’s slightly off topic, but what the heck?! 🙂
Hey Rebekah! I just happened to notice your question and since I have a dog and been using natural stuff to keep him flea and tick free I thought I’d respond. I have a friend who has three aussie shepherds and she only uses natural stuff on them, she uses garlic (puts a little bit in their food and they eat it–little goes a long way). For example with my dog he’s only 15 lbs so I cut a clove into pieces and I only give him a little of it not the whole clove. I also moisten a towel with half and half Apple Cider vinegar and water and I dampen him with it once/twice a week as well as put a little bit of apple cider vinegar in his water. Oh and I also put lavender and/or eucalyptus essential oil on his collar. I’m a bit extreme, you could probably only do one of those things as my friend only goes the garlic and she’s never had flea/ticks issues with her pets. I like to be on the safe side and besides the ACV gives them a nice coat and garlic in general helps with parasites and the lavender makes him smell good, teheh.
OH and I also try to feed him good stuff whenever I can -(raw liver, steak, heart, tongue, etc). Healthy dogs do not have parasites including fleas and ticks. They’re only attracted to sick pets. I know pets a lot of times don’t seem sick, but just like us humans have a stench when we’re on white flour and white sugar it is the same for pets and what they eat. That’s part of the reason the ACV works.
Does anyone know if this is safe for use on cats? I know that I’ve read before that one has to be much more cautious about using essential oils around cats, and a lot of experts claim that garlic is dangerous for cats, too. I’d sure love to find a natural way to keep the fleas and ticks off of my cat this summer!
Daisy, this site might have some helpful info for you! http://www.twobitdog.com/drfox/Preventing-Fleas-Ticks-Mosquitoes
Thanks Sandy! I really appreciate your help and I can’t wait to try your suggestions! We have been feeding Charlie garlic daily this week, so I will try to implement some ac vinegar, essential oils, and good ole organ meats too. Spring came early here this year, and I’m sure the fleas & ticks aren’t far behind 🙁
Diatomaceous earth (food grade, as mentioned above)… check out this website: http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/naturalfleacontrol/diatomaceous-earth-the-a-miracle-cure-for-flea-control/
The best remedy is orange furniture oil. Inexpensive and it lasts for weeks ! I’ve used it for years without a hitch. Once they were coming in a window frame and I sprayed it along the metal track. Gone from that moment on…Just wish I could find a way to keep them out of my compost !
I have used cayenne pepper and coffee grounds with good results. I keep it poured around the bottom of my pantry and they dont go there, it does not look pretty but it is hidden behind a door so whatever works right! I have also used just cayenne in the window seals. You might want to find out what kind of ants they are as there are so many dif types some just seek out water and some will get into all foods etc. We havent had a problem in a while but if they were to try creeping in agien I would use the DE earth it has so many uses and is completely non toxic we bought a 50 lb bag for like 25 bucks the shipping made it double that but realy you cant beat it. I put mine in a bunch of airtight containers and lable some for garden use , pets, pests, internal use just make sure you get the organic food grade. O and without a dout take all of your worries and cares to the lord.God gives us the knowledge and wisdom that we have and I believe he enjoys to see us use it for good to further his kingdom and bring him glory but while you might think it silly you would be amazed what God will do if you only ask and BELIEVE thats the important part believe God will!!
If you find they are coming through a door, put a line of baby powder and they will not cross it. Makes them disoriented. Tried it last summer and was amazed!
These comments are great! I struggled last summer with an ongoing invasion of ants that poured in from a little crack underneath my toilet! – of all places! — and then by the front door, and when I tried to deter them there, they just marched along under the baseboards… came in through the kitchen window… I tried various natural “deterrents”, with very temporary success. This year, I already noticed an ant in the house, and thought, “Here we go again!” But after reading all of these comments, I have hope that I won’t have to resort to nasty toxic sprays. The borax/sugar mixture sounds like it might be just the ticket. Anybody know of anything that deters/kills brown recluse spiders? We have a LOT of them.
ants all ways get me in the summer!And heather i feel your pain.Here my advice,take some bug spray,put it under your bait,AND POW,you`ve got it,NO MORE WORRIES YOUR BUDDY,BOB.
I buy Terro ant poison, but, as mentioned above, it’s just borax and sugar syrup. Even if the your little one manages to eat some, she’d have to eat a lot more than the amount in one ant bait to do herself harm. It would be a sticky mess, though–my eldest managed to get into one, when she was about 10 months old. (We were living in an elderly RV, so not too many out-of-the-way places to stash ant bait)
Da’ miserable little beasts don’t like fine powders, including talcum powder. Likely interferes with their breathing.
I’ve tried vinegar, bleach, cinnamon, pepper, soap, plugging holes… somehow they just get in. We finally went with Taro which isn’t natural, but worked. Next time we have problems, though, I’ll try some more of these ideas.
I pinned this page and I am FLOODED with emails of repins. Seriously, dozens and dozens of followers, likes and repins. That’s never happened to me before with any pin.
Vinegar! Since we switched to using a vinegar/water solution for mopping the floors and cleaning the counters, our ant problem has vanished.
Vinegar is the one sure solution, but you need to pour it where the ants have their nest, not just to where they walk around. If you find their nest just pour about 0.5-1 L of white (cheap) vinegar. I never had ant problems but my grandparents sometimes has as they has a big farm and there is always an ant problem is some corner of the farm 🙂
oh, one advise, pour the vinegar and step back. The vinegar acts as an acid and you wont like the smell it causes 😉
We killed our ants by mixing Equal packets with apple juice. It is a neurotoxin to the ants. Scary that people put these in their coffee.
In SC there are so many kinds of ants and they all like my home it seems. :o/ I’ve tried lots of stuff and the cinnamon and black pepper deter them. If I cannot find where they’re coming from, I’ll sprinkle a line of it on the counter and I at least have an ant-free counter while I search their entry…once it was inside the stove. How in the world can THAT happen? I’ve also used a mixture of honey, borax and corn meal –this takes a while but does kill them. Also you can blow borax under your stove and other places to keep them from coming back. We have dark wood baseboards in the bathroom, another area they come in (why??) and so I carefully put cinnamon in the crack of the baseboard between it and the wall. that works for a long time and smells good! Black pepper sprinkled heavily around your home helps deter them, too, but if it is finely ground, it doesn’t last long. I think my #1 choice for fail-safe deterring is cinnamon, though. #1 for killing is cornmeal/borax.
Black pepper sprinkled OUTSIDE your home, I mean!
Oh, the ones I have are persistent and go for the cat food. Cant tell whete yhey are coming in Every year they swsrm the cat food and when I use the borsx surag thing it stops them at one plsce but thry find another. The only yhing thatvkerps yhem.out of yhe csts dish is to place yhe dish in a psn of water for the summer. My whole kitchen by now had been caulked with borax sugar. They always seem to find another entry point
I had a major ant problem in my pantry & kitchen last year. I got rid of them completely using only peppermint essential oil. I just put drops randomly along the baseboards in my pantry & kitchen. And also a drop in the areas where I could tell they were coming in & out of. It took a couple of weeks, but they have not returned. If they do come back this spring, I will use pepperment again!!!
We used a mixture of vinegar, washing up liquid (ecover) and peppermint oil last year. Tracked them back to their nest and syringed it into the cracks. They never came back.
We live in China and had a HORRIBLE ant problem in our house. Tried cinnamon, black pepper, vinegar, etc. etc. We were concerned about the borax because we have guests in and out regularly and the little children are often, well, naughty and undisciplined. When someone suggested Terro liquid ant bait and we found it was just Borax and sugar, we asked someone to bring us some. We could pick the traps up and put them away when company came and put them back out after they left. They worked wonders!!
Used coffee grounds around the house. My mother-in-law just did that and it worked. Starbucks will give you 10lb bags of used coffee grounds for free if you ask them.
We used cinnamon not just where they were coming IN to the house (tiny crack at the floor in one of the bathrooms) but also around the perimeter of the house! I know I looked like a nutjob sprinkling cinnamon around the foundation of the house but I did it – and not just at that spot near the bathroom. I sprinkled the entire foundation! Bought cheap cinnamon at the dollar store (not the kind we would eat) and sprinkled away! It worked for the remaining 2 years we lived in that house.
Congrats on the new home and good luck!!
For almost instant kill, I dump white vinegar on them. I also will sprinkle DE all aroundthe outside of the house, even under the stove and dishwasher where they seem to come in.
We had the pest control people do a massive spray for ants and what it did was cause the ants to infest our roof plus our vegie patch is now toxic, so I definately would advise that everyone go to natural remedies.
Wow I tried Natalia’s, Theresa’s and Lynda’s remedy. Not an ant in sight now.
Thank you for that ladies.
Anyone have an effective spider/roach killer or something that prevents them from showing up? I might try creating a mopping and counter top spraying solution with some vinegar, cinnamon, and peppermint. And may keep boric acid distiller with water for spraying in cracks etc and for any spot treatments. Thoughts?? Anyone know anything that for sure works?
All these remedies sound good but my ant invasion is all on my walls near the ceilings. Does anyone know what would work in this area of the house? I can’t locate where they are coming in either, it is a mystery to me and a headache.