Ants are one of the most common backyard pests. The best tactic of getting rid of the ants is getting rid of their homes. Finding the home of ants is pretty easy, and you should not take long before you spot that ant hill or nest. Once the queen is mated, an ant hill will start sprouting. The “expectant” queen needs to find a new home, settle down as fast as possible and concentrate on raising her “kids.” The queen ends up digging and digging and digging until she creates a safe and subterranean chamber safe for laying eggs and living out her life. Check out our best ways of destroying that ant hill that interferes with the beauty of your backyard.
Why do I have ants in my house?
One of the reasons why you have ants in your house may be the existence of the queen ant in your house. Every chamber of ants has one queen whose job is to eat and reproduce.
The rest of the ant population is composed of few male ants to facilitate the reproduction process, and the majorities are female ant workers. The queen ant attracts the male ants and the female workers.
- Dirty Kitchen
How clean is your kitchen? Do you clean it regularly? Remember that it does not take too much for the ants to notice the scent of food coming from your kitchen. Clean the table tops and counters thoroughly to get rid of the food scent. This should be done on a daily basis. Do not pile up dirty dishes in your sink because it may also attract ants to your kitchen. In the sections below, we shall be looking at [link_webnavoz]how to get rid of ants in the kitchen[/link_webnavoz]. - Plants are growing too close to your house
Ants depend on plants for shelter and food. If plants are growing closer to your house, they provide the perfect bridge of the ants to the inside of your house. Clear any bushes around the exterior of your house. Ensure that there is a clean space between your exterior walls and any nearby plants. - Your house has not been completely sealed
Ants are very tiny; they do not need a lot of space to sneak into your house. Check whether the doors and windows are properly sealed when they are closed. In case some gaps exist, make the point of sealing the cracks or gaps using caulking. The only way you can prevent the ants from entering your home is through sealing any possible entry point.
The top 2 reasons why you have ants manifestation
There are several reasons why your house is experiencing a surge of an ant infestation:
-
Food Supply
Some of the foods that entice ants to your home include the different types of sweet food, pet food and crumbs. When you leave these foods lying around your house they become great targets for ants. Some of the ants are extremely effective when it comes to detecting sweet foods. Always keep your food in tightly closed containers. You can keep the foods in refrigerators with high cabinets and good seal. Make a point of sealing all the cracks and openings on your wall.Ants pose a health risk. - The Existence of an Ant Nest
Another reason why your house is infested by ants is the presence of ant nests in your house or the immediate surroundings of your home. The existences of wooden fixtures that are saturated by water from different leaking points in the home are targets for ants.
Where do ants come from?
The most common type of ants that dwell in your home includes carpenter ants, pavement ants, thief ants and odorous house ants.
Let us have a look at the point of origin of each of the ants:
- Pavements ants tend to come in from under concrete slabs or your porches. If they invade your house, they will most likely end up in your pantry. The pavement ants take residence in wall cracks and under floor boards.
- Odorous house ants invade most homes during the rainy season. They travel in trails looking for grease, sweets, and meat. They tend to release a rotten odor whenever they are smashed.
- The thief ants are commonly referred to as grease ants. They raid your house in search of high-protein foods such as meat.
Why do I have ants in my bathroom?
Your bathroom is a common habitat for ants. They are usually attracted to the chemical odors and different scents coming from your drains. If you have not used your drain for quite some time, it will contain stagnant water and traces of fermented human hair.
Moist areas attract ants and the freestanding water in your bathroom provides the moist environment. The ants may be attracted to your bathroom on their way to finding food.
Whenever the ants find food they ferry it back to their colony in a line comprising of thousands of ants. If you follow the line of the ants keenly, you will discover the indoor nest or the pathway they are using to gain access to your house.
If the ants are migrating from the outside, caulk up the cracks that they are using to gain access to your house. Then wash the ants away with soap and water. By washing them away, you disrupt the chemical trail that the ants follow to food and water sources. Alternatively, you may purchase the best ant killer and spray the ants.
How to get rid of ants from your bathroom
So what measure should you take to eliminate the ants from your bathroom?
- Fix all your plumbing issues
Stagnating water mostly occur as a result of dripping pipes and faucet. Keep in mind that ants also have the ability to drink directly from a leaking water pipe. - Dehumidify Your Bathroom
You can choose to install an exhaust in your bathroom or be sure to open the bathroom window when you take a shower. By doing so, you release all the steam as you shower hence keeping the bathroom dryer. Do this often. - Get rid of stagnant water
Freestanding water moistures your bathroom further. Secondly, you sink, and tub and sink can accumulate water. You should make a point of draining the sink after use. Check the drains frequently make an effort of keeping the bathroom floor dry either using a washable rag or through any other means. - Replace all loose or cracked tiles
When tiles become loose or crack, they end up creating a space between the concrete and the porcelain. This is a good place where ants can linger.
If your bathroom has already been infested by ants, you can use TERRO T300 ant killer to get rid of them.
The top 9 tips for preventing/removing ants from your house
The ants you notice trailing your kitchen or bathroom are worker ants looking for food to take back to the ant queen sitting somewhere in a nest. Once they find the food, they carry it back to the nest, and they make sure that they have left behind a trail for other worker ants to follow to the food source.
The queen never leaves the nest, and it produces baby ants continuously. It is the responsibility of the worker bees to feed the queen ant. Killing the worker ants will not help in solving the problem.
The most efficient way of getting rid of the ants is by locating their nest and destroying the queen. You may use a homemade ant killer to get rid of the ant queen.
Below are some great tips that you can follow to get rid of ants from your home:
- Begin by watching the trailing ants
Although it may sound ridiculous, the first step towards controlling ants is through watching them to discover their point of origin and where they are headed to. An ant will look for food, and once it finds it, it returns to the nest with the crumb leaving behind a trail for fellow worker ants to help in gathering the food for the queen. - Make sure that you comprehend everything about the ant colony and its queen
As noted above, destroying the worker ants will not help you anything. To get rid of the problem, you need to start by eliminating the ones you can’t see before destroying the ants that you see. The queen never leaves the ant nest. Her work is to lay eggs and look after the young ants. Spraying the ants that you see is not a solution to your problem. - Do not spray the ants that you see
As discussed above, whatever you are seeing are worker ants. The queen is sitting somewhere with young ants waiting for the worker ants to bring in food. The worker ants should serve as guidance to the ant colony. If you spray and kill the worker ants, the queen shall simply send out others making it a game. If you spray the worker ants, you will never reach the queen. - Set out an ant bait
Instead of killing the worker ants, use them find the queen. Following all the directions you identified from tip one, place ant bait along the trail you identified.
- Avoid cleaning the kitchen for sometime
Although cleanliness is a great way of preventing ants, once they invade your kitchen, you can use the food sources to destroy them. Do not mop the ant’s odor trail away. The trail should lead the ants to your bait. This way you will effectively eliminate these ants. - Remain calm and be patient
Once the worker ants have carried the insecticide to the nest, it may take several days before the whole colony is destroyed. In some cases, it may take several weeks if the colony had several queens. Additionally, you should consider replacing the bait station if the ants empty the food or liquid bait. - Cleanliness is fundamental
Keeping your house clean is critical for the prevention and control of ants. The ants need water, food, and shelter for survival. The worker ants will always leave the colony to seek for food. Keep the food sealed and the floor well swept. All the surfaces in your kitchen should remain clean all the time. - Seal the gaps around your windows and doors
Ants are minute creatures. They can find their way into your house through unexpected points. Ants can enter your house through minute cracks and crevices. Seal around doors and windows to deny them entry. - Know when to spray
You should only spray if the ant trailing has led you to an outdoor below-the-ground nest. You should drench the nest with an appropriate insecticide spray following all the label instructions effectively. Performing an ant spray is a great way of destroying the ant colony.
The Best Products to Eliminate Ants Quickly
Ants are resilient in nature. Finding an efficient and less costly solution to the problem of ants in your homestead may be difficult.
Below is an interesting list of the best ant killers in 2017 that you can use to eliminate the ants from your house:
- TERRO T300 ant killer
T300 is a product manufactured by Terro Company. The product has been overwhelmingly rated as the best ant killer on Amazon. Terro T300 kills all types of common household ants. The ant killer comes when ready for use and protects you for up to 3 weeks. The ant killer can be bought from Amazon at the cost of $6.99.
- Amdro Ant Killer
This is a granular ant bait that has been designed to brutally kill the queen plus her entire colony within few minutes. The ant killer is in the form of food which gives the ants time to retake their supplies to the colony making it easier to kill both the queen and all of her subjects. Amdro ant killer is capable of killing 15 different ant species. You can purchase the ant killer at Amazon at a price of $11.97.
- Ortho Fire Ant Killer
Ortho ant killer guarantees maximum action on almost every ant species that finds its way to your house. The ant killer does not require watering and has a reduced odor. The Ortho fire ant killer is available on Amazon from $0.46.
Now that you know what attracts ants to your house and how you can get rid of them, take suitable measures to prevent your house from ant-infestation and enjoy staying in a house which is ant-free.
So, this house we live in has occasional ants. Just plain, black ants. The problem isn’t just this, but I found some in a bathroom, in ny house. Me and my sisters killed a bunch, the whole smashing way, but I noticed now they have slowly moved to my room. I have so far seen 2 on my bed, both got close to my face. I just want to know how to control this issue. I barely eat in my bedroom, and my family is quite clean people, so I don’t have any traces of food on my bed.
They still come back so u r wrong :@:@
we have ants in our hall way but cant put ant power down as we have a cat any suggestions
I noticed that I have the same problem…I noticed my cat have been watching the back door lately and me not paying attention to the floor@ nite did not notice ants in the hallway by the back door till 3:00 one mornings…looked out on my porch and it looked like a colony out on the back porch!! I put some boric acid around the wood and inside and outside by the door. it didn’t seem to work maybe cause it was old. I then went and put some bleach and water in a small spray bottle and started spraying my back porch,the hall by the door and the door inside and out.. I also put some bleach straight from the bottle outside where I saw them.I didn’t wet the boric acid and so far I have not seen them coming back in my hallway… Good luck
Peppermint is a natural repellent 🙂
I had a peppermint In my room and that is the whole reason they came in there because the next morning there were like 20 ants eating the peppermint
Not like peppermint candy but peppermint oils and mix it with water then put it in a spray bottle it’s really strong
Will peppermint extract work?
Peppermint OIL
Not candy. Anything with sugar in it will draw bugs. That’s just a given.
You use candy to attract the ants then you watch the ants go back to their nest. This takes time and patience. Once you find the nest you treat the nest with something to kill the
list.
Thank you!!!!
Peppermint sure didn’t work for me at all and if they don’t like peppermint you’d think that they really wouldn’t like eucalyptus oil sprayed where they have been. Then the dirty garments keep coming back no matter what
I have 3 very obnoxious cats so I know what you mean. We are getting the small red fireants and the big ones to. They are drawn to the cat food. We have been using window cleaner to spray them because it kills them and doesn’t harm the cats. I put chilli powder down where the cracks in the floor are and outside where the concrete is cracked I put a bottle of hot sauce in the cracks and sprinkled crushed dried red pepper on top and they died instantly without harming the pets or plants. I hope I helped you out.
I have the same problem, in a way. I have 2 cats, one semi-obnoxious and one relatively passive but too curious for her own good. I’m a mother of 3 as well, and my son seems to leave his plates and wrappers everywhere, and that’s what drew both black ants and a few fire ants into my house. It’s really stressful. I’ll try what you’ve suggested and see if it works!
ya. I suggest you read the article above which gave several natural remedies
Food grade diatomaceous earth
DOES DIOTABACIOUS EARTH REALLY WORK ON ANTS IN SIDE????
Didn’t work for me.
Put your cat out for the day. Also use a comb and make sure the cat isn’t the one bringing them in.
Have found ants in kitchen cupboard and have also noticed some beside front door. Can you suggest a safe way to get rid of them without it affecting my cat
Baby powder put down white vinegar helps bleach spray with water look up tablet different none chemical ways good luck i have problems too
Caulking is a great way of prevention, and it’s safe for pets. Also I found that vinegar and water in a spray bottle was probably the most effective way, but only if you can tolerate the smell of vinegar in your house
A few years ago I had an ant problem and was told by an exterminator that ants run in a straight line when entering your house. I looked outside my kitchen area of the house and did find the line of ants. I then located the entry way inside of my house and caulked the small entry hold. This did take care of the ants.
Ants run in a straight line when entering houses? Sounds like a stupid exterminator to make such a general assumption
It’s true. And it’s a great way to find where they are coming from. They leave pheromone trails
Yes, David, ants follow a set path once the worker ants have established a trail to the food source. It’s not the exterminator who’s stupid….
Actually, not all ant species follow a direct path.
Case in point:
Crazy ants.
This is what I have and they are driving me nuts.
No, ants don’t always run in a strait line. What they do however is follow an oder trail left by the ants in front. Proof, rub a finger thru thier trail an you will see momentary confusion. I don’t agree with the writer of this site. Who am I? Just a guy, killing ants in Florida for 30 yrs. Ok, with that being said, go to home depot. Buy Terro in the ready made ant bait stations. You can make your own bait with boric acid and Karo syrup the Tarro is already made and pretty cheep. If it’s winter outside you could place the bait inside out of the way of pets it’s only 5% boric acid so its toxicity is very low but enough to kill a little ant. You will not receive instant gratification as it takes time for the boric acid to get through the colony. If the weather is warmer I would buy enough Tarot the place one bait station every 20 to 50 feet around the perimeter of your home. If you have to buy the special painters tape at Home Depot and you could tape them right to the side of your home. This product kills about 80% of the ants in Florida for the rest I would use amdro perimeter ant bait. Also found at home depot.
David, you’re so right! Native Floridian here and have used Taro for years now and it’s our greatest help! Cheap and easy-to-use and not a hassle.
I bought my house almost 3 years ago it’s a old house no basement has crawl space anyways every summer starts before spring dealing with lots of ants I’ve seen them in a line in my bathroom but there more in my kitchen they crawl around like if there a roach it’s disgusting there in places where there ain’t no food or water I spray them when I see them I have cleaning spray with bleach that kills them but how to get rid of them completely I have 2 kids 3 dogs and 1 cat trying to figure out were there nest is at we don’t see hills outside at all thinking it’s under my house
HI I have been having a big problem the past few weeks, I see them –they are what I was told are Ghost ants, and they are on my pantry doors and above, but don’t seem to be interested in the inside, I’m grateful for that, but seeing them is very upsetting. It’s not like I can put down any bait since they never seem to be crawling on anything that is flate enough for me to set anything down.
what can I do??? I have the product Torro but putting that on little tabs of paper that come with the tiny bottle, doesn’t seem to help since they seem to just want to crawl the walls. Thank you listening
I live in Oregon in a forested area very damp carpenter ants keep coming into my house. don’t know from where. not a lot but have seen 2 or 3 at a time. Killed 3 today the bathroom seems to be a good place to start placing borax or grits
I have a solution…. Its very simple … Instead of going war with them just scatter some powder arround their nest…. It could be a talc powder… Chalk powder … Just sprinkle arround their nest…. They will leave immediately…. I am sure of it
WOW that really worked. I used gold bond medicated foot powder. It has peppermint oil and eucalyptol in it along with the talc. Sprinkled it all over the nest and no more ants. Thank you!
I tried this a bunch of times and it didn’t phase the ants.
I have been getting bother with ants in my bathroom some of them have wings i got the pest control out he sprayed the bathroom with stuff that was last wk i thought that was the last of them till tonight i was filling a hot bath for myself when i went back into the bathroom there was about 20 ants floating in the water and some on the walls and floor i could’nt beleive my eyes it is disgusting anybody help .
Did you ever get rid all of the ants? I got invaded by sugar ants in my camper. Took care of point of entering. But so many got in . Do I ever get rid of all or will I always be killing ants? I think its the scouts I’m killing because they don’t run in a line … help I want them all gone.. but in walls they are…
Have you tried, mixing ( in a spray bottle) baking soda, vineger and with water? It worked for me.
I just read your post….i am having the exact same issue. Did you find a way to resolve the problem??
Use dish soap and water in a spray bottle or a squirt gun. The more the better , worked on red ant infestation I had just yesterday, don’t use chalk they just run along the line and around it. And vinegar just makes them run away but they come back when its dry.
We are having the same issues! Did you find anything that works? I can’t stand finding an ant on my bed!!
Sadly, it’s near impossible with the rains to get rid of them, and chemicals only poison our groundwater it seems. Cloves, cinnamon or comet cleanser will deter them. In desperation you could pill the bed away from the wall and create a barrier around the room. Maybe you could sleep at least. Soapy water in a spray bottle is a safe way to kill them. I wish I had more…. My house has been invaded too!
I’m so tired of these dang ants. Ugh!! Store bought baits aren’t working!
use salt it really helps they run away
Ants and salt. Saw a swarm of ants in my house. The were eating potato chips, salt and all.
I agree. With all the rain our area has seen it is impossible to get rid of them. Thanks for the ideas, I like the clove idea.
I live in a 50s starters home in NY and, ants crawl out from my wall and I’ve killed alot
WD 40 Spray. Great!!!
How does dw40 work
Pull bed away from wall and put legs of the frame on sticky traps
Bicarb and sugar
I wish I could find the original “recipe” I used. I’m pretty sure this is it, and, if not, it’s close and would most likely work. Boil one cup of water with 1 T borax and 4 T table sugar until dry ingredients dissolve. Fill jars with meal lids with cotton balls or gauze – I’m sure other things as well; it just has to be possible for ants to navigate a bit. Poor cooled solution over the cotton, and screw on a metal lid in which you have poked several holes. It was also recommended to put a little solution on the outside of the jar to get things going, so to speak. I put four around the house where we were seeing a lot of ants. It worked for 3 – 4 months. Ants have returned and I am mixing up another batch today.
Why do that when a package of 6 Terro bait stations costs $7.
I haven’t had much luck with the ant bait. A long time ago I had some that was liquid in little plastic dishes and it worked great. Can’t find this type any more
That’s called Antbuffet.
Terro not working for me
Cayenne pepper sprinkle where they are coming in works well. You can also make a spray with dish soap cayenne pepper and spray the area..
Try WD 40 spray. It was Invented as a Bug spray Great for Hornets also.
Dude, WD-40 was invented by scientists trying to find something to prevent rust and corrosion for the United States Navy. Water Displacement, solution #40 was how they got the name. Took 40 tries to get it right. If they had gotten it earlier, would have been WD-39. Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
Lol, as a bug spray. Thanks Pony boy I looked and was like what? And I’m a woman.
wd 40 no prevention from rust. Test it for yourself spray it on unpainted steel and see the result
WD 40 REMOVES RUST, IT DOESNT PREVENT IT
Wow! Your history is totally wrong. WD-40 was invented to keep moisture from forming on wings of aircraft. “Pony boy” is right about the name.
I am very surprised that you did not mention using food grade diatomaceous earth. I just got black and red ants. You can buy it almost any were but you have to make sure you buy the food grade. You can also buy a puffer that is great to use. It will kill the ants and not harm your pets. (often referred to as “DE”) is an off white talc-like powder that is the fossilized remains of marine phytoplankton.
When sprinkled on a bug that has an exoskeleton (such as bed bugs, ants or fleas) it compromises their waxy coating so that their innards turn into teeny tiny bug jerky. But it doesn’t hurt mammals. We can eat it. We do eat it! It’s in lots of grain based foods because lots of grains are stored with diatomaceous earth to keep the bugs from eating the grain!
Hi Mariah, you can try good old fashioned table salt to get rid of ants. What you do is start with the ant trail inside your house. Start sprinkling salt on location where the ants are seen, follow the trail to outdoors where the colony is, sprinkling salt all the way, you will actually see the ants dispersing back to the colony, pour a large amount on colony and there will be no more ants. Sweep up salt and no harm to anything but the ants, slugs and snails in the way of the salt trail
im going to give ago as i got loads and there coming in every wgere dtiving me mad
I have the same problem in my sons room. His are coming from air holes houses have so the house can breath. I only see them during the summer months. So if you can give me a solution also please share. Thanks
We live in Oakland, CA and had an infestation of tiny black ants for about 2 months. Based on something I read on the internet, I started using a syringe to squirt clove oil (buy it on amazon) into the holes where they came into the house. This caused them to simply find new holes to come in through. But it was clear they didn’t like the clove oil. I kept this up, mostly out of curiosity, for maybe 2 weeks. It didn’t seem to be a real solution. And then one day all the ants were gone. I haven’t seen a single ant in about 2 weeks. Not a single one. It’s very strange, and I suspect they are gone for some other reason, although I don’t know what it could possibly be. But if nothing else has worked for you, give clove oil a try.
Borax cocaroach white glue with jelly make bait but make more grape or strawberry jelly cover bait so other animals cant reach or eat it small holes so only bugs can get it and watch them die ….ants are addicted to sugar and water…and food contain and seal all items and keep house contained nothing in boxes. and keep food away from rooms ortho outdoor spray works inside as well kills for six months… the multi bug kill to keep them out ..outside use the borax and keep away from children and it kills any bug really even mosquitos and flies even hornets
thy also make eggs in places thy think I don’t know where they put them!
like in old cabins.i usually clan them every week!
Petrol them
You mean gas? Not sure what you mean my petrol.
Petrol! Short for petroleum… Americans call it Gas.. short for gasoline. Petroleum is a crude liquid usually black, yellow or anything in between that gasoline can be made from. Like most things Americans find a different word to use from the rest of the English speaking wold.
Awesome reply
May not be able to kill ants with petro but brick top should check are stats on winning the revolutionary war!!
If “petrol” is short for petroleum, using the word to refer to a single petroleum byproduct doesn’t make much sense.
Of course, “gasoline” under various spellings has been used since the 16th century to refer to raw petroleum and later its byproducts. “Petrol” came into common use in the 19th century, possibly a loanword from French. There was also an English product, originally marketed as a solvent, called Petrol. But the company was unable to trademark it because the name was already in common use.
So if we are going to have a word war between England and America over the name of automobile fuel, it would seem America wins this one, as gasoline has a much longer lineage, and doesn’t seem to be borrowed from French. Americans simply stuck with a more traditional word while the English apparently adopted the word petrol just to be different.
So nyah!
How much research was required for that comeback? I have no idea why my answer seems to have caused so much upset. There are comments being deleted where I seem to have upset Americans (Just to be clear I am referring to residents of the USA not Americans on the rest of the subcontinent) I take back what ever part of my comment is causing offence. Sincerely Adam
This also isn’t about sense… this is about language and dialects.. Remember who’s language you are speaking *Sonshine!
(*Regional)
xxx
I am an atypical American. I spell the following words thus: colour, flavour, neighbour, etcetera. I call it Petrol, and generally speak the Queen’ English. Although I was born in the U.S., I attended a school run by Scottish nuns. I hold a Doctorate in Archaeology, specializing in British history. I probably know more about your history than you do, ta very much indeed. Please consider this when next you start to generalize.
Do you mean Generalise?
You really need to stay off of this site.No one wants to hear you bull crap. You are ate up with stupid.
theseremediesdo work, thankyou!
Wd have them all over. Think they are comung from empty house next door. They crawl all over and in all rooms of our house.
Every day is a swatting game.
when I moved into senior housing the person that lived here before quitting here ancouldn’t see very well and was taken out and put in a nursing home eventually died but the whole apartment was gutted and whatever but the answer still I had an infestation in the bathroom the whole bathroom was black one night and whatever so what I use is maximum strength ortho and when I need to get more until then I use vinegar and water and put it on your tables put it around with the ortho will work let me knowdo you have a department store a Walmart a walk whatever suits you need to get to a store that sells pesticide do not use sprays with the ortho spread it all around the bottoms of the kitchen in the windowsills all around the house and leave the house for 20 minutes if you have pets move into another room than what you’re working on and you will see no more ants so let me know how it goes good luck
I think it is good
omg last year the ants came in my ROOM!!!!!!!!!! I am serified of ants these days I tryied flour vinegar water and powdered sugar in a bowl a put it on the counter but it didn’t work please help!!!!!!!!!
OMG-ness! don’t use powdered sugar…. Use one cup “borax” and one cup regular sugar. mix very well! Some people wet it with water, but not too wet. You want the sugar to attract them and the borax is a poison to them that they bring back to kill the queen, (a laundry soap to us). You MUST put this cup or small bowl directly in their marching line, yes ants to march in a line and leave a sent! so they can find their way home. When you find were they are coming in, sprinkle that area with cayenne pepper. Ants use their legs to smell. If you are able to find their marching line, I always can, but it takes some looking,. you can find their ant hole outside.. then pour a large pot od boiling water down the hole. You can also pour water mixed with 1/3 bleach if its a ton of holes…. this kills the queen and the worker ants in the nest. The nexts run pretty deep. In the home you can pour baking soda (safe for animals) with a bit of cayenne pepper on top in the entry ways of the kitchen. You can also use arm-in hammer carpet fresh, it deters the ants and safe for cats and dogs. I never get ants in our kitchen as this stuff works! good luck!!!!!!!
I have ants in the kitchen,I have heard bay leaf in cabinets will keep ants away,anyone know if this is true?
Why not try the bay leaves to see for yourself if that works vs. waiting for replies?
you replied XD
Yes
You know pee will prevent ants from coming into your house. That’s what I did. I peed all over my house
I tried pee but they seem to like it. Now im trying poo agter taco bell with bayleaves as a garnish.
Oh my.
Genius!!!
Lol
I have heard about this, save urine in jar until full and pour around permitter of house. Haven’t tried it myself.
grow up
Fu
Use bay leaves in my coach in storage under sinks etc. basically all over they do not like the smell
yes bay leaves work fine takes a week or two but then they are gone just spread them around the kitchen counters
Yes bay leaves work but it takes a few weeks before you will be ant free Then when a new generation is born you will have them again. Keep a few leafs around at all times to be ant free.
yes bay leaves work real well may take a few days before all are gone but keep a few spread out and no more ants
We just moved in our home and everyday im waking up to these freaking ants on my bed . On my dresser and its driving me crazy . Im trying the vinegar and water now.
Did it work???
Pour Cayenne pepper around the foot of each one of the bed post, pull the bed and head-board away from the wall and don’t have the side tale touching the bed either. Then use this to kill the ants… Use one cup “borax” and one cup regular sugar. mix very well! Some people wet it with water, but not too wet. You want the sugar to attract them and the borax is a poison to them that they bring back to kill the queen, (a laundry soap to us). You “MUST” put this cup or small bowl directly in their marching line, yes ants to march in a line and leave a sent! so they can find their way home. When you find the marching line (look for 15 minute you will find it) and were they are coming in, sprinkle that area with cayenne pepper. Ants use their legs to smell. Follow marching line to how they are getting in…, I always can, but it takes some looking,. you can find their ant hole outside..that way too, then pour a large pot of boiling water down the hole. You can also pour water mixed with 1/3 bleach if its a ton of holes…. this kills the queen and the worker ants in the nest. The nexts run pretty deep. In the home you can pour baking soda (safe for animals) with a bit of cayenne pepper on top in the entry ways of the kitchen. You can also use arm-in hammer carpet fresh, it deters the ants and safe for cats and dogs. I never get ants in our kitchen as this stuff works! good luck!!!!!!!
Pour Cayenne pepper around the foot of each one of the bed post, pull the bed and head-board away from the wall and don’t have the side tale touching the bed either. Then use this to kill the ants… Use one cup “borax” and one cup regular sugar. mix very well! Some people wet it with water, but not too wet. You want the sugar to attract them and the borax is a poison to them that they bring back to kill the queen, (a laundry soap to us). You “MUST” put this cup or small bowl directly in their marching line, yes ants to march in a line and leave a sent! so they can find their way home. When you find the marching line (look for 15 minute you will find it) and were they are coming in, sprinkle that area with cayenne pepper. Ants use their legs to smell. Follow marching line to how they are getting in…, I always can, but it takes some looking,. you can find their ant hole outside..that way too, then pour a large pot of boiling water down the hole. You can also pour water mixed with 1/3 bleach if its a ton of holes…. this kills the queen and the worker ants in the nest. The nexts run pretty deep. In the home you can pour baking soda (safe for animals) with a bit of cayenne pepper on top in the entry ways of the kitchen. You can also use arm-in hammer carpet fresh, it deters the ants and safe for cats and dogs. I never get ants in our kitchen or bedroom as this stuff works! good luck!!!!!!!
OMFG, that vinegar recommendation is bullshit. It does not work!
So what does
Ant killer from the local shops Lol. The reason why the vinegar is not working is because you need to do it all the time like every single day.
Dish soap and water kills them instantly
Mix equal parts blue Dawn and vinegar.. (warm the vinegar before adding it) put it in a spray bottle and shake lightly. This has killed all kinds of ants I have come across. I also sprinkle black pepper where I spray.
Note: The spray also works great as a cleaner!
The only bad thing about the homemade sprays… i use windex and ivory soap mix…. is that it instantly kills the ones you SEE… but does nothing for the nest. As we say in the Corps. .. it sticking a bandaid on a sucking chest wound.
Many people are commenting about the spelling in the comments I have neuropathy and I cannot type myself use the microphone which really is lousy so even with my pain I will try to tell you myself that ortho is the way to go. Exterminators best remedy is the phantom ortho better.than what they have. Not only does it kill ants, but so many other insects so I recommend ortho good luck to everyone and let me know how goes thank you and please stop the cursing much worse then bad spelling. Helping someone means more thanx.
Can you tell me what Ortho is please? I live in Aus & have never heard of the term but have a major any issue!
Thanks in advance
It’s a brand name of an insecticide
I tried traps terro glue ortho bleach etc and still coming I’m going crazy busy this
Ortho is a company that kills pests you have
Ortho is a brand of bug killer usually in a white and red square gallon jug its called ortho max
Ants start coming around in the spring.I take a tiny bit if talcum powder outside my door.next to the wall they come in,on the side of my cabinet.It works.Not a lot of powder-take the puff and shake it out,then apply.It erases the scent and ants can`t go back home.
Thank you. I don’t understand why people are so rude with ridiculous comments and fowl language.
That’s just how people are. They look for an opportunity to make someone feel bad and they pounce.
Diatomaceous earth works best. Non-toxic to all. Sprinkle around perimeter and on ant hills. Dries them out!
Dia. Earth does indeed kill whole colonies, but it’s not a desiccant. It’s micro-milled diatoms that accrual are sharp enough to dice up the critters’ innards when they eat it. Boric acid is the desiccant. But both work pretty well, mainly because ants that pick it up take it to feed the queen, which kills her and thus takes care of the whole colony. Dia. Earth is not poisonous, but would be a major irritant, so I use it outdoors, away from family.
Hello Ms. Susan- I was just diagnosed with Neuropathy due to a long term side effect of the anti seziure medication called Dilatin. I’m 48 years old. Why of all things for someone to comment on the world has enough problems. This website is posted to ask& comment on bug solutions not a bashing party of another person”s ability or in ability to spell words correctly.
That is so weird because I feel the exact same way and was just wanting to post something similar, and my name is Crystal & I have severe Epilepsy as well, I have been on Dilatin also but it didn’t work for me, I am 38 & finally have them most the way under control. Epilepsy sucks, good luck, and thank you very much for standing up for people that would like to participate but isn’t a good speller because that in my eyes is the same as bullying.
your right Their ugly comments is indeed BULLYING. They do not have the guts to Bully person so they hide behind the internet
Ortho? Out a your mind
What a fantastic comment… Nice and Positive message.
Anyone who wants to buy the ortho though I recommend the maximum strength but as long as you have the ortho is fine I usually get the gallon and then I pour into a little squirt bottle little bit at a time it’s much easier than carrying around the gallon also if there is a Walmart near community they are the ones that sell it could be hardware stores or other food stores that carry it but the only one that I know of where I am is Walmart
Thank you, that sounds hopeful. I’m glad you mentioned Walmart, i was thinking i would have to call in exterminators
I have danced naked it did not work thanks
Gotta be cute for that
Lol the ants was laughing at you and the enjoyed the show
Susan, is it safe to use around pets? That is my biggest concern with pest control products.
No it’s not. Ortho is a very toxic insecticide to pets and humans. Please use a natural, non toxic method to get rid of the ants. Toxins accumulate in your body, especially your liver. It’s just another overload of bad stuff that’s adding to killing people and our environment!
Jennythanks for reading my comment yes it’s fine for pets as long as you put them in a different room than the room you are spraying or if they can go outside in a case or take them away for at least 20 minutes also I would do the outside very important that you do all the walls and windowsills and everything on the outside of your apartment or house because that’s how get in but it will not harm the pets people in my senior housing use it now that I’ve recommended it and it works for them they’re very happy and they have cats and dogs soneed to follow those directions thanks Jenny
Ortho is absolutely NOT safe to use around pets. Check their website.
I just want to say that ortho will help with any Ants outside ants, carpenter ants sugar ants spiders and so many other insects so it works it’s better than anything exterminator will give you that even say so they don’t have anything close to ortho it works do your outside your window sills do your corners have pets take them out for 20 minutes or put them in another room that you’re not working in let me know how it works for you it works for me and I had a bad infestation so good luck
You need to stop telling people this is safe for pets. I hope one of them sues you when their dog / cat keels over dead. Shame on you.
Wow…lady in Ohio…you are just so NASTY. Why are you getting so angry? You do realize people just read comments like yours…and laugh? Susan is not saying it is completely safe around pets. She said take the pets away for a little while. Also, it is up to anyone to simply read directions. So, if they go buy Ortho my bet is they will read what Ortho has to say to consumers of Ortho. Keep shining with the negativity! You sound like a really happy person! Lol. Thanks for all the info, Susan.
Shut up!!!! You have no idea what you are talking about. Please people. Ortho is a very low percentage of ingredients that professionals use. I think bifenthrin. So,how can it be better? This lady is freakin nuts or works for ortho
Hi to anyone who is trying to get rid of Ants try cucumber peelings it seems to work for me my mother told me about this a long time ago
How do u use the cucumber feelings do u soak in water n spray or just set them out wat do u do?
Shut up!!!! You have no idea what you are talking about. Please people. Ortho is a very low percentage of ingredients that professionals use. I think bifenthrin. So,how can it be better? This lady is freakin nuts or works for ortho
Again…so angry! You people kill me. I am guessing you have bad road rage and yell at small animals too. Hahahaha.
Listen when you have people like Susan giving bad information should we be kind? These chemicals are serious business and she is out a her mind! How can Ortho be better than what professionals when it has the some ingredients at much lower doses?
I live in Australia, have a MAJOR problem inside & out, asking me where the nests AREN’T is easier than asking where they are! They are in the bathroom, in the wall cavities, the kitchen, my gardens, everywhere!
I’ve had the property extensively exterminated (even a smoke was used ) & still 1 year later I’ve not been able to win the fight!
Can someone please tell me what Ortho is please or an Australian available alternative?
Thanks in advance!
Ortho is a first gen non alpha cyano pyrethroid .how is that better than pro products? Maybe i need to switch
Mr honesty. Been told by the exterminator that was coming here that ortho
was better than what they have they have the phantom which is the best we have the ortho I’m here four and a half years I had an infestation of ants a black rug in my bathroom which was not rug was ants so I don’t have that anymore gone so whatever works for me works for me I’m trying to share it with everyone and pass it on it works for me for meand everyone else that uses it in the senior housing so you’re entitled to your opinion I’m entitled to mine whatever works I will pass it along because it does work exterminators come once a month this stuff good for one year so I don’t need to pay an exterminator Every month when this lasts a year thank you.
Ortho is just the brand name of the company that makes numerous pesticides sold in stores. Trust and believe it is not even close to the same stuff a pest control company uses and nor will it last as long. You have to be licensed to use the chemicals they have and theres a reason for that. It is much more dangerous then anything found on the shelves of your local hardware stores or retail stores. With that said, if you have a problem that is never ending regardless of what you do to prevent it. Then you have a much bigger issue then you can imagine. You might consider at this point to have the house tarped and fumigated. Im sure you’ve seen houses that look like they have a circus tent set up around an entire house. Thats to fog everything inside the home with a pesticide that will make its way inside of every wall, crack, cabnet, ceiling, etc…Problem with that is, more then likely your problem lies underneath your homes foundation and in the soil. During the colder winter months when it rains it tends to flood them out of those hard to reach areas and they will make their way inside. Or during the summer they will do the same as finding water becomes an issue as well. It sounds like to me that your gonna have to take an approach that im sorry to say is very time consuming. You will need to start off by getting some kind of bait that lures them to a type of pesticide that does not just kill on contact. Normally the ants roaming inside your home are not coming from a nest in the home nearby more so then a huge nest or several nests underneath the soil or concrete. Which means your bet is to set out something that attracts the initial workers ants that are sent out to scout the area first for possible food. Which is normally those few you will see scattered out by themselves or very small packs. Once they find the food they leave a scent that will guide the rest back to that spot once they report back. So get something sweet for them to come to, and get something in boric acid based pesticide that the ants will all bring back to the queens into the nests and kill the entire nest. Its very important to kill the mommas considering the rapid rate and large amount of mommas that produce an alarming amount of babies constantly… It takes time, be constant baiting them outside the home not inside will drastically reduce down over time until they die out or move on elsewhere… Also keep in mind that fogging them will only kill them inside which will also force them to run to a neighbors area and eventually they will be back if not killed properly.. The only advantage using Orthos chemicals is that you control the amount of spray necessary to get them killed inside and around the house. Which means be careful if you have kids or pets. A hired pest control company has stronger stuff but they are required to delute it down if there is any chance of harming kids and animals for obvious reasons… Another tip i can recommend is to start off by getting some type if talc powder. Baby powder is okay but not the best cuz it still has a sweet smell that can draw certain types of ants to the area before they realize its bad and leave. Get something that is less fragraunty smelling and just a basic non added smelly talc powder and inside your home, take off ever light switch cover, plug outlet, or any face plates in the home and spray each hole around and inside the boxes that hold these electrical plugs,switches, etc. Thats one of the easiest entry points. And also lay a thing layer around the baseboards throughout the home and window seals as well. If you see them in the home remember they leave a invisible trail everywhere they go for the others. If you kill them, use warm water and bleech to thoroughly clean up the dead ants and surrounding areas to kill the scent. Even killing them witn your finger will leave a scent for the others… Each colony has their own deterant that will work. So you may have to try different stuff until you see results.. Your basic pesticide free stuff to try inside are tbings like Bay leaves in the food cabinets, vinegar and warm water, dawn dish washing soap and water will kill them safely, salt barriers at the entry points where u see a trail leading from in the walls and door, petroleum jelly lightly spread into cracks in walls, cabinets, window seals, etc…, ground dryed peppers of any type can sometimes work but not recommended with animals or young kids running around on the floors. If you spray pesticides outside the house, spray every crack around the foundation, windows, arou d the doors, and make sure you spray at least a foot or 2 from the ground up. Make sure your kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room is always dry after using them. If you take a shower or turn water on, dry it after your done..Water and moisture is just as attractive as sweets are.. GOOD LUCK. SORRY FOR THE LONG STORY I WROTE BUT IF YOU TAKE ALL THE STEPS IVE MENTIONED AND CONSTANTLY APPLY IT, OVER TIME YOU WILL WIN…
I assumed ortho home defense (bifethrin)is what was being referred to. Thanks for taking the time to provide clarity and advice instead of sarcasm (like i did).
Still not entirely true however , we don’t water down insecticides below labeled application percentage
Wow. I am truly stunned by the quality and accuracy of that answer. I work for a pest control company and have 20+ seasons in this field.
Thank you very informative!
Tarped an fumigated for Ants?????Yikes? Where do you people come from?
Am from Perth and had bad ant Problems. I bought some Borax and mixed it with peanut butter and all ants gone killed off the nests.1 tablespoon of Borax to 4 table spoons of peanut butter. Sometimes they are after sweet stuff just use honey or jam. put out 2 little baits and see if they go for the protien or the sweets and mix up a large batch of they one they go for and place in jars and punch hole in the lids for the ants to get in and out if you have pets.you need to keep replenishing it till no ants
Once i got rid of ants with Flash cleaner + any old washing powder and sugar + hot water.
Next get the lids to milk ( the hard plastic ones) get a knife and make holes in it , Next you need to fill the cap and leave it on the ground , Soon the ants come out eat it take it back and it kills everything.
Stop with the Ortho already.
Hi Tammy sorry about your ant infestation.Ortho is a liquid spray that is better than anything that an exterminator has it will not hurt pets it will not hurt you you just have to leave the place for 20 minutes or the room that you’re spraying for 20 minutes leave the windows open even if it’s cold start on the outside spraying all your windows patios walls whatever then do inside under the sinks where the pipes are make sure that all your bathtub sinks and any place where there could be water Is always kept dry . is what ants look for water under the stove under the refrigerators anything where there’s food also spray there in all the corners the woodwork. your patio door outside your patio door inside. I’ve done it so many times I feel like an exterminator the stuff is good it lastssix months to a year there’s a regular and there’s maximum strength major department stores I don’t know what stores are in Australia if they have a Walmart they have a Home Depot but nurseries places like that will probably have it or worse comes to worse get on the computer and order it from America do whatever it takes for you not to have this problem anymore it is a mess it is frustrating it is annoying these Little pests can just make you crazy so I hope this helps plus my comments are under Susan so if you look at the comments before you gave a comment if you go in the pestkill.org see if you can see my comments about the ortho so good luck to you my email address is there so if you can look at the thing and whatever and I hope this helps you have any other questions please go on the website and hopefully I can answer it for you okay .take care.
Tammy, im sorry but that is far from the truth..Any pesticide can and will harm animals and possibly children if over exposed to it. Ortho is actually a deluted concentrate to the types used by professionals. Yes it is a different type then they use but can still cause harm if not used as directed.
Mr honesty ortho is fine for animals . Told Tammy that because says right on bottle is ok. Seniors in my development that use it that have cats and dogs are fine with it there’s no children in senior housing but I know for a fact I do it at my daughters and my grandchildren are there all you have to do is take the cat put it in another room or put it in a cage outside for 20 minutes that is the rule 20 minutes outside or in another room and your fine all these people that have animals here are fine so I don’t know where you get your information but I actually use the stuff just hearing things without using it is wrong unless you use it and you had the experience you shouldn’t give your opinion when U have no experience in its use and that’s the honest truth.
It’s one thing to give your opinion. The pesticide label is a federal document. All pesticides must be used in accordance with the label. No where on the Ortho label does it mention to leave the room for 20 minutes you stupid woman. You are giving bad information. I’ve owned a pest control company for 20 years. This lady is dangerous
battery acid does the job quiet well 🙂
That is a very affective treatment. But is illegal, extremely unsafe for animals and humans of all ages, and can eat away and ruin a lot of things, not to mention will remain in the soil for years and years.. Not to mention kills everything near it and spreads when water is used.. Get it on your skin it will burn, get it in your clothes and once water hits it, it will put holes in every spot its on. Bad advice overall but yes, very effective. But unnecessary..lol
im going to try
?
Which one is the best Baby Powder or lime?
Lime or a non scented talc powder similiar to baby powder
Im gonna try the ortho thanks
Wicked……. came here to learn how to kill ants and now I have learnt how to spell hee hee ……… so funny
We live on a slab and these things keep coming back. Even in the dead winter of chicago they just came back last night. I have orkin that comes out (on the side) and helps get rid of them but my guy can’t come until 3:30 tomorrow. They are in a guest room and I found them all over the carpet. What should I do?
Maggie,Susan is out a of her mind. Try to find a good bait. Depending on the type of ant. Terrorists bait in the individual package works for many kinds of ants. Most important is,DON’T LISTEN TO SUSAN.
Maggie pick up bottle of ortho home defense.lasts up to a year . Exterminator every month. Gets expensive. Please read my comments on ortho in comments.good luck. Susan
Kitchen ants – trying to get rid of BUT they have somehow gotten into the water line for my refrigerator. Every time I go to get a drink of cold water (outside the fridge door) I check for ants – none – then 5 or 6 ants start coming out of the water line. Help PLEASE.
A spray bottle, water & equal a mounts of vinegar & blue dawn or can it be any color of dawn dish soap?
I have been having great success by simply sprinkling cinnamon at any access point I find them using. My preference is to move them on rather than wipe out an entire colony….
They come back every single year. Sick of ant fuck them I kill all of them dirty things and the dirty flies.
I live in Sydney Australia and had big problem with black and brown ants. One had a bluish head on it and there were millions of them. For this ant I found it loved sugary food so I mixed golden syrup with borax powder 50/50, gave it a whirl in the microwave till borax dissolved. Placed the mixture on tin lids around my paved areas and various hot spots in the garden (covered with cereal bowls to stop my dog touching them) I was persistent in refilling the lids and moving to various other hot spots but eventually they were gone. I would say it took a good three months over summer because as I say there were millions of them. The ants collect the mixture and take it back deep in the nest where they feed the rest of the colony (larve,soldiers,queen etc.) however the borax kills the rest of the colony over time. Good luck but be persistent. I don’t like to use pest exterminators or heavy chemical solutions because I think we do enough damage to the planet and oceans already without adding any more. Always look for the planet friendly solutions please.
Part two. The ant problem I am working on at the moment is a tiny little brown ant. Some are plain ants but others have a larger head on them with pincers. Don’t know how I got these ones (suspect they came in a pot plant I bought) but I have gazillions of these and they are all over my garden. In the soil, in the pot plants, under the pavers where they are leaving mounds in the paving sand. So, I found these little pests don’t like the sugar/borax remedy so would have to try something else. If they don’t like sweet maybe they like meat. Tried dog food and borax mixture and although they liked it I found it was drying out too quickly and was hard for them feed on after a day. What I have ended up using on this one is a mix of smooth peanut butter and borax with a dash of vegetable oil to keep mixture soft. Same deal with the tin lids and bowls everywhere. They seem to love it so I will just keep moving around the garden and paved areas till I get rid of this pest too. Also works on roaches, they turn their toes up too. Best tip, be persistent and you will eventually win the fight.
Borax, the kind in the laundry detergent area?
I have ants in my room I need to get them out how can I do it? Is there any spices I can use to get rid of them?
what is ortho I live in Scotland UK don’t have a wallmart
lil
You do have Walmart in Scotland they are called ASDA. Walmart are the parent company
Asda is also part of Walmart. When I lived there you could get a ant powder which worked
Good don’t buy it, Susan is crazy.
David, you do realize in the manner Susan explains to use it Ortho is completely fine? In fact, the main active ingredient in ortho is also used in flea and tick medications for most pets. If consumed in large quantities by pets it could be dangerous and the fumes will irritate them (hence stay out till dry.) Otherwise, though it should be fine. 14 years of Veterinary knowledge is my source, now calm down with the hippy shit.
Best ant killer. Boric acid which is a powder. Powder around the foundation of your house and no ants. Cheap too. You can buy it in a plastic bottle, snip top off and it blows out when squeezed. Buy at garden stores… I found it at Walgreens for a few dollars
to get rid of ants you should get a vaccum and sweep them up if still there see if there are any nests then if still there get extermanator.
I have a parrot and I’m afraid to use any kind of air borne remedies. But these ants are on my very last nerve.
Try sprinkling some salt wherever you find them.. It might work:)
I use terro. Its bait for ants and works very well. I’ve also used home defense to spray my foundation in early spring. Try Terro. You will see great results and poison the main source.
I have ants in my kitchen and I would like to know how to get rid of ants? Please tell me! Cuz I hate going in my kitchen. and seeing those things.
Tara works very well. It is in a bright orange box and sold by Home Depot, Drug Mart, Target and more. You place a small piece of cardboard in area where ants are traveling. Pour small amount of Tara onto the cardboard. Ants are attracted to the liquid, feast on the Tara and return to their nest and in turn wipe out the colony. It is safer than airborne Ortho and easier to keep out of range of pets
Terro not Tara
We have a big ant problem that has been going on for years now. Little black ants come in through the kitchen window and kitchen door. Outside, they invade every single plant pot I try to maintain. They lay eggs underneath the door mat, under rocks, even in the gutter drain. I think they are all through my flower and shrubbery bed. I can’t even pull weeds without stirring up a lot of ants. So…I tried Terro bait, over and over again. Last summer they kept on coming and coming for the Terro the whole entire summer long. I kept putting it out, and they kept on coming, from June through at least September they continually kept coming to the baits. They loved the Terro! Not sure if any colonies ever died out. I think Terro is basically the same as laundry Borax, just in a neat, handy form.
How did you put the terro ? Drops ? Or the new Terro bait stations? The bait stations work great
Thank you, David. I have been using Terro bait stations, generously, at point of entry. I think they may learn after a while to avoid them? It was worse this year than last year, and they seemed less interested in the Terro liquid than previously…so I changed the approach. I actually poured out a little puddle of Terro by the window point of entry, so they couldn’t miss it. Then I sprayed a border of foaming disinfectant spray to “block off” every direction beyond the Terro spot, like a chemical fence, to limit their options inside my house. Kept re-applying the foaming disinfectant spray several times/day to make sure no scouts would make it through. They started swarming the Terro liquid. Then I observed outside…found a backyard shrubbery area that their huge, relentless trail came from. I put outdoor baits for them…but that didn’t seem to help much. I tried generous amounts of Diatomacious Earth…which only very temporarily helps, till the wind blows or till it rains.Finally, in desperation, I chose “AMDRO Ant Block home perimeter ant bait”… (I didn’t want to use the AMDRO, because it is more dangerous…although we don’t have any pets or small children to get into it.) I set out “Spectracide Ant Shields outdoor killing stakes” near various spots where they keep appearing. And “Terro Outdoor Liquid Ant Bait Stakes.” Then I added a safe organic ant killer/repellant that *might* help, but not too sure…says it “kills on contact”…but it really doesn’t. Now they are no longer entering my house!!! They are still actively rebuilding near the house though. They’ve been busy building new homes in different flower bed spots, in flower pots, etc. Now I think there’s a massive nest in an unused previous backyard garden spot that has dry leaves piled on it. I don’t want any poison in that garden spot! Happy that they’re no longer inside…certain that they haven’t moved far and will likely be back. They still come to our trash cans…even though the trash is bagged and put inside a can with a lid. Maybe I can work more on that spot next.
AMDRO bait uses hydramethylnon as active ingredient, which is toxic and causes cancer in large doses…so I don’t think I will buy it again. Instead, I will go for the borax-based baits, and buy another bag of Diatomaceous Earth, and the organic ant repellant that doesn’t seem to work… Toxicology
Oral, rat: LD50 is 1100–1300 mg/kg.
Oral, dog: LD50 is above 28000 mg/kg.
Hydramethylnon is especially toxic to fish; the 96-hour LC50 in rainbow trout is 0.16 mg/L, 0.10 mg/L in channel catfish, and 1.70 mg/L in bluegill sunfish.
Hydramethylnon is known to cause cancer in rats, particularly uterine and adrenal tumours and lung cancer
Wishing to re-claim the garden spot for next year, and convert it to raised bed gardening…but not wanting it to be completely full of ants! I have plans to get all the leaf and plant debris away from that garden spot, to hopefully cut down on habitat for them.
please don’t use Ortho. It is a chemical that adds more poison to the earth. Borax is good, and we use an oil product, you need to get ride of wood that ants love, railroad ties in landscaping, that is my problem. We also had a water flood inside our home, and I think that there are areas that aren’t sealed up any more my ants are in a second floor bathroom. I just sprayed some cheap, smelly perfume in the areas that I think they come in from. Will se in the morning if I am successful.
Had a big problem with carpenter ants in the house several years ago. Spent $$$ on a year long exterminator service who put bait everywhere in the house which didn’t work. Finally found this site.
For the past 2 years, I have sprayed my foundation with Termidor SC in the spring and have been carpenter ant free all summer. It even killed off their huge nest in my neighbor’s tree. I no longer need toxic ant sprays or bait in the house.
I used Axe body spray and that killed them off
Ok here’s my issue, I had some problems and ended up moving into this house and the person who lived here before had left sticky candy everywhere, needless to say the carpet was covered. I cleaned and bleached everything scrubbed like crazy and had the carpets cleaned Even used bleach on them myself as the carpets light. Now the ants keep coming back, everywhere and there’s to many spots for me to be able to pin point exactly where it starts. I clean like crazy using everything including bleach, vinagar, ammonia, etc.. nothing works. What can I do short of lighting a match and walking away.
O and I’ve tried fogging and all the ant traps and sprays, fixes it for a day then they’re back. I’ve used boric acid..nothing.
This is the first time I have had this “ant” problem. I purchased raid for ants and it doesn’t have a strong smell, what I did was sprayed all the inside and outside of my windows, the tub and sink drains in the bathroom, basement, kitchen drains, kitchen garbage, and doorways. For the first couple of days I didn’t see any but since then I might see 1-2, and I spray every couple of days. Hopes this helps
Just recently ive noticed a few ants here and there, just in my kitchen… we are a clean house, maybe a odd cup on the side but appart from that we’re not sure how to get rid of them. We still haven’t found the nest or a group of them. Can anyone help
I have a disgusting neighbor and she never cleans. My family is clean, but recently ants have been coming from her wall that’s connected to ours? I have bombed my house with pesticide before but they just keep coming through the wall. Any help?
I’m a kid and I need a kid related situation we have ants in our washroom and they are trying to get our dog and cat food
I was told ( Baking Soda ) or ( Baking Powder ) works as well. Just dust the ants, coating them with the powder
I did a full on clean of my kitchen with a strong bleach based cleaner. Then I dissolved table salt in warm water then used a cloth soaked in the salt water to wipe down all the areas I was seeing ants. The saltwater wipe down combined with the deep clean seems to have worked, I Haven’t seen any and it’s been two days since I did that. I tried both methods separately before and it never seemed to have any effect.
Those tiny(smallest ants that I’ve ever seen) black ants seem like they are possessed by the devil or something(have even tried bleach; did not work very well). Soap and water does kill the ones that you see, but it seems that every 1,000 you kill a 1,000 return quickly. They almost go unimpeded through the deterrents; they are so determined. In comparison, probably 95% of ant species are killed naturally and/or deterred without poison. These ants are about to make me give up on the natural method. Still, I’d like to
find something–as my niece and nephew (both pre-kindergarten)–natural come down every other week. Any ideas on some hard-core, highly successful natural(or at least not very toxic) remedies?
Terro bait stations.
Keep in mind, Ants come back Every Spring .
This year “it’s very little ants ” that came , and since March 2015 ,
until now ( 6/18/ 2015 ) it’s been raining almost everyday .
This morning woke up and theirs to many black ants more than
I ever saw them . I don’t leave food on any counters , actually
my home is pretty much clean 24/7 , nothing on counters (bare ),
floors are sweep and cleaned . This might sound crazy to you ,
I will not eat in this house until I see no more ants .
I believe why I see more because of all this rain , and if ants
likes water , why don’t they stay outside ( lol ) .
The ants can’t be coming in the house for food , because they
would STARVE in this house , I don’t keep a lot of food in house
( repeat ) I don’t have nothing on counters , table , anywhere ,
clutter Free .
I just know , I have a challenge with Ants ….Oh yes , 3 months
out of the year , we spray out on the lawn for bugs , any kind
of insects ( April , June and August ) , the ENTIRE YARD and
around the foundation of house .
I need to get something done about this , I hate insects . lol
Terro bait stations.
Haha haha! !
Pathetic humans,
all bow down to the Army of Ants invading your inferior world! !
We are here for completely global dominaton.
Surrender and be spared.
Lol! xD
last week when we noticed “sugar ants ” I brought some poison for it,
let them eat it . The very next day , they were gone . But I found some in the mailbox , and I did the same , and so far , I haven’t seen any .
I brought some plug in and they say ” it keeps ANY insects away ”
from the sound . It’s a sound where the insects here , but we don’t .
I never used them before , but I thought , I would try it .
With ants you’ve to keep up with them because they like to come back
yearly …….And the other reason why they came back , because it’s been raining here since March (almost everyday ) , which that is rare.
I need to rid my house of ants, aunts, and uncles!
I have some really weird ants in my house–some of them are normal-looking, but there are also some with wings. There are also a few that are huge with wings, but I never thought that there would be at least 20 queen ants!!!! We’ve been trying sweeping them up, but they keep coming back! TAT ant baits haven’t done anything!
You might have termites not ants
I can’t find where mine are coming from there is about 15 or so just scattered along the bedroom floor they are tiny and black plz help!!!!
To be truthful you never get rid of ants. You might be able to kill them when you find them but unless you seal every nook and kranny the’ll find there way back in. It is the best money maker for pest control company’s. I myself use any cheap carpet cleaner, window cleaner etc. I spray the carpet with then I vacuum real good then I srcub the carpet so I get rid of the ants and also clean the carpet. Do the same with the window cleaner or Dawn dish soap on the floor walls and counters. Then I have clean floors walls etc. And none of it hurts my pets!!
What worked for me I’d cleanevery thing with dawn and water putting down cinnamon or powered sage put it down were ever you see ants or cracks sweep it in the crack no ants I do It weekly so I haven’t seen any ants I live in a trailer in Texas where it rains By the inch !!!
i have ants in my bedroom also they go on my bed too. although their mainly on my window seals. i tried to find their nest but they never went their. its like we cant eat anything cause they walk into our food. my little sister and i tried the smash thing but we only got like 63 the total was like 200 something. i need help getting them out of my food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have ants nibbling At my stomach all the time. Idk if you’ve heard of me but I’m pretty famous. Too famous to have a pest peoblem
I have had to deal with ants lately.
I know that when trying to rid animals of fleas, it is an effective thing to use regular ol dish soap. I did this once on a stray dog and it freagging works. Gotta do it several times but it kills them all off.
So I tried doing the same thing with surface cleaner. I went to my local Trader Joe’s and got a bottle of their green multi surface cleaner. That stuff kills them almost instantly. They dont come back in numbers. I’ve been trying to find the source to their entry. Last time I had the same issue and this was about 2 years ago. Used the same product and method…just gotta find the source and hammer it with that shizzle.
Might also try the cayenne thing…put it on my kitchen surfaces.
I haven’t had a problem with ants until just recently and of all places they are in my pantry As we all know food is to expensive to have to throw away because of ants. I understand someone not wanting to use the ortho and I will say that my best friend had had a BAD problem with ants the last two years and after I read on Facebook to use vinegar and water she tried this only she didn’t water the vinegar down She said it took care of her problem and she had a bad one. Now she did say her house smell strong of vinegar for a few days but it was well worth it I have three dogs myself so my plan is to clean my pantry out today First going to try the vinegar and fdawn then I’m going to sprinkle Cyrene pepper around all shelfs If I still see ants tomorrow I will be going to get some ortho and I do believe they carry it at some hardware stores. I will say to as much as I would like to take care if these little pest without using any chemicals I have a very big pantry which holds all of my food that is not refrigerated and I cannot afford to keep replacing food because ants Are in it. I will also probably go ahead and add some grits with the pepper but as I said I’m giving it twenty four hours and I’m going after the ortho. Wish me luck!!!!!!
Wish me luck because they have Ben in my house for a good amount of time and I have used a lot of recipes and they did not work.
Wish me luck because they have been in my house sleep good amount of time and I have you several of recipes and it did not work so I wish baby powder and vinegar will work.
Terro are great ant traps and harmless to others. And fast working
Terro are great ant traps
YOU CAN USE BORAX IT WORKS GREAT
Hi people I have ants in my bed. I tried washing the sheets, but they came back. Found seven ants in two days, I bet there’s more. Don’t know the source, just want them to avoid my bed and the fish tank, which they don’t seem to be bothering yet. Any ideas? Can’t use anything that smells or chemicals, just household remedies. I will try baby powder today, hope it works.
Can spraying vineger get rid of ants?
The ants with wings are no doubt termites. I’m sorry. I hope you can get rid of them quickly before they devour your home.
FYI, and I don’t know if it’s true or not, but a pest control person told me that too aggresive killing of ants will allow more termites to live. Natural enemies?
Ants own the world. I think my house is going to move laterally at foot of two because of them.
I don’t have termites and the ants I have don’t fly and thank you for the suggestion of vinegar. I finally found the source of the ants, it was a week old food in my backpack.i threw it out, hope it gets rid of the few left in my room. And yes ants rule the world, I think they were here since the dinosaurs.
We had loads of ants coming frm the bk door so i killed them wiv hairspray but that only lasted for one day I’ve tried all different things but nothing seems to work so all I do now is just hoover them up….any gud ideas!!!!
My dog s a psychic 🙂
We had ants in the pantry while I was gone and my son used a product by Raid that is ant bait in a syrige. He put a huge glob on a shelf, not following istructions to use just little dots. He sent pictures of the swarm, which nearly covered the shelf.
He said he saw a huge ant the next morning, at least twice the size of the others, surrounded by smaller ones, marching to the glob. He squished this one.
Does this sound like the queen? We can’t figure out what was going on. We havent had ants there since, but I’m curious if anyone has seen something like this before.
I am an atypical American. I spell the following words thus: colour, flavour, neighbour, etcetera. I call it Petrol, and generally speak the Queen’ English. Although I was born in the U.S., I attended a school run by Scottish nuns. I hold a Doctorate in Archaeology, specializing in British history. I probably know more about your history than you do, ta very much indeed. Please consider this when next you start to generalize.
I tried everything literally, all the natural and chemical stuff and due to the severity of our problem nothing was working long. Finally i got some concentrated seven dust liquid in a red bottle at walmart, i mixed it up normal and used the big bulky sprayer id gotten seperate and it actually worked but not fr long. So i mixed about half n half w that and water in a normal spray bottle and while it leaves a white residue (it can be washed off) it acutally got rid of them! Its been months and nothing, not even one inside the house (even w my clumbsy daughter spilling everything lol)!!!!
Hope this helps someone 🙂
Food grade de also works wonders for alot of pests like that and is completely safe for household use
ogm u guys suck. none of these werked 4 me
There’s this white powder that you can buy at a home Depot or a Lowe’s store. It might work. It works great on other bugs. Maybe it would work on that. I have the same problem. But fall is almost here and hopefully the ground is going to freeze up soon so we don’t have to see them.
I use a method that dates back to the Early 90′ s, well it was the first time Tried it, not sure of the methods true origin, Items 1: Magnifying glass, 2: A very Sunny day, 3:patience 4: A steady hand, this should be used with extreme caution ⚠ , also have a fire extinguish on hand.
I live in a basement apartment where my windows are at ground level outside. Last year was absolutely horrifying the amount of little red ants I had in my place. But this year, not so bad. Outside, however, whole other story. I have seen thousands of these little buggers right along my window sills outside and they burrow into the dirt between the cement base of the house, and the cement driveway. I have poured vinegar, it didn’t work, I poured straight bleach, but they are back in a few days. I have tried many of the other suggestions here like salt, baby powder, pepper, but I have a cat to consider also…..any other suggestions from anyone???
you can use tumeric powder, its quite strong
i just sprayed axe body spray like everywhere i noticed they all ran out of my house xD
Ants are coming from my wall. I really want to get rid of them! I don’t want to use poison because I have a cat that I love!!! Anyways can someone help me to find a home remedies that works well or a ant killer found at a nearby store that isn’t poisonous.
I been using baby powder and vasline and they don’t come back you got to make sure you find where their coming from like a hole whatever. Its a mess using these but it’s better than using that any spray.
We have ants in our house but they are just plain black. we dont know WHAT kind of ants they are and they are everywhere, but they are just one the first floor. Its getting verry annoying and we want to get rid of them. We are getting sick and tired of having ants in our house!!!
Ants drown quickly in just plain water. Maybe not the bigger black ants but it has worked on the smaller red and brown ants. I live in the Philippines so this is quite a problem for everyone. Keeping your place clean is the key to keeping the ants from coming inside.
I am amazed, I came here to get help with ants, and I see people criticizing others about their spelling. Who cares. Really, just because someone misspelled a word doesn’t mean jack shit. You guys are unreal, grow up.
@frank
This isn’t Africa this is the United States so the last time I looked we where talking about any issues not friggen issues about how others live in Africa! We live here in the great USA, so the last time I looked it wasn’t Americas fault that people in Africa have to live with huge rats and or bugs the size of small rodents. Just saying! And back to ant issues please! Geez!
Ants do you ever get rid of them. Out of your camper once they get in. We got invaded by the pest. I think sugar or protein ants. Haven’t seen any for s week or so now bang there here again. There like babies smaller but look like the same kind. What do I do to get rid of all of them.
I used cucumber skin and place wherever ants appear which helps me to get rid of ants from House. Before going for any Pest control service try this natural home based method.
The posts here are hilarious. Why diss everyone for grammar? It’s the newspeak of the 21st century. Get used to it. Plus, I think some of the errors are a direct result of the gremlin “auto-correct.”
Anyway — I have battled the teeny tiny ants every year for at least a decade. Terro gets rid of them for a while and then they are back. I was handling this cycle up until this year.
This year we discovered a slow leak under the kitchen sink and by the looks of the black mold that accumulated, the leak had been there for a LONG time. We fixed the leak and black mold (that’s a story for another thread), and the ants seen in the house multiplied with a vengeance. I have been fighting them for maybe two months or more.
I think the word got out that we were a water oasis and every ant in our neighborhood moved in because of the ready-made water supply. I had to throw out our Keurig coffee maker because after we fixed the leak, the thirsty, desperate ants sought out water in the Keurig and got into the inner workings. Arrrghh.
So, I have gone through two bottles of Terro and the marching through the house is down to a dull roar, but not gone. I bought and used commercial spray inside and out and that has done nothing to reduce the population.
I haven’t called professionals yet, but I am about to give in and do it. Yes they are not roaches or deadly snakes, but I am oh, so tired of having to make a new drink almost every day because of finding an ant doing the backstroke in there.
I am not a paid professional entomologist or bug hobbyist, but this economical home remedy works for many weeks to rid yourself of these bothersome creatures. Use 1/2 cup borax and 1/2 cup icing sugar and mix well. Do not put this mixture directly on grass as it will burn it and suffocate the grass but place it along driveways or inside your home where ants are seen assembling. Ants are mother nature’s most resilient creatures, and soon you’ll see them fade away as they’re attracted to the icing sugar to take morsels to their hidden nest. Sprinkle lightly a little along the paths ants are seen travelling, and directly on top of their ant hill. I use it along the base perimeter of my home and in the pantry. Borax is the silent killer, and soon you will see no signs of them for 3-4 weeks, but re-apply later to keep them out. It is much better solution than harmful chemical and expensive sprays that are dangerous to pets, children and our environment. I never had any luck with those little circular tin ant repellant/killers but this idea works. Good luck and Happy Trails without these nuisance pests disrupting your leisure and homelife time. Kerwin Maude
keep this up and we may very well create a new species of HUMANT
Sea salt on porch, at holes outside and around doors. Cinnamon works as well and Raid on top of all that!! It takes doing a few times.
I have sprayed the house with tea tree oil .If this dos nt work Im going to try cinnimon lol .At least the house smells nice .
Since two days I got a big invasion of ants in my bedroom.(it’s on street level) It’s were I normally sit and sometimes eat. I did a clean up my whole room today and they still seem to like it in here. I tried the Cayenne power, but it doesn’t seem to bother them. I have a carpet so I can’t really use much tricks with the water 🙁 But I decided I am going to search for their nest outside tomorrow and destroy it the old fashion way: Cooking hot water from the kettle with dishes soap! I am already tired of them walking over my desk, laptop and my feet. *murmur* D:<
I tried using peppermint oil and cayenne pepper mixed with water, but the spray bottle kept clogging up. Is there a spray bottle that won’t plug? I then used talcom powder and there have been no ant problems. Don’t really want to wipe the powder away, think they’ll come back?
Talstar P – kills everything
I’ve always used a big bottle of ammonia filled Windex to just soak up the ants where they come off their path. They get hit quick and it just makes them slow. I wipe them up immediately with a paper towel and wipe the entire area down. It also cleans! You can keep them off with the scent from that, but I clean a little with vinegar for good measure.
Find the area they are coming in; there may be more than one. They normally form a line in and out of small crevices in your home.
Foragers come out just before spring and slowly look for food. They don’t normally spread too far from their exit; about 10-20ft, most of the time less.
Keep your pet dishes cleaned up and your floor generally swept and clean. Vacuum when you can and especially after finding ants.
Keep your food in kitchen and avoid eating on couches, in your bed, etc.
If you make a mess, like drop juice or a piece of fruit/veggie, grab it right away and make sure your garbage lid is clean and area around is clean.
Borax+sugar+water added to cotton balls in a mason jar, in beer caps, juice/milk container lids. Basically little watering holes. You want a very small dosage of borax because too much will kill them immediately. You want the foragers to call out and bring stuff home.
You can also buy “drip” style ant poison and have the foragers get some and bring it back. That can be risky because it invites them into your home.
I like to also lay out small wax paper squares with liquid drips as well.
Once you realize that no permanent solution will ever happen, it’s about finding how they get in, stop them there, kill the ones you know aren’t near the colony, and set bait and traps near your home. Give it 2-3 weeks before you can see any results. Don’t always squash the ones you do see. Scare them back to their entrance 🙂
I have a serious problem. Although ants are attracted to food. Our ants are crawling around our upstairs bathroom. We try to track them in the bathroom,but there was no nest in sight.Now they are spreading to bedrooms and we still can’t find the nest. Then later after dinner today,I found so many ants in our bathroom sink. please help.
Had the same problem – swarming by the hundreds in the upstairs bathroom. Put out Terro baits because they’d worked before, and they ate all of two baits in one night and kept coming. I put out two more on faith, and they finally went away – it was just a huge colony. Our whole yard is really a whole colony, so we constantly fight. The Terro baits work best in the house to keep them generally down. Pouring Windex on ant hills kills them instantly – cheaper to buy the concentrated and dilute it. Odd, but true. If you find a hole they’re coming in, spraying windex in it works decently well for a while. Really, it’s just a constant fight. Pretty sure that’s why Nero just let Rome burn, he was tired of the ants.
Thank you for the help. My wife and I have been noticing ants in our house a lot recently. We have tried the water and vinegar spray that you mentioned. At what point should we call an exterminator?
I have what looks like ants getting in somehow through my bedroom window and my windows are crawling with them. Especially first thing in the morning, but these little blisters can fly. I can’t find the source of where they ate coming from. Any suggestions?
Julia, sounds like termites.
we dropped bricks on top of ants and it worked very well. LoL I just love the smell of Raid but I think it might be really bad for me after awhile. our ants don’t seem to want the Terro at all. they ignore it completely. Terro was always my go to ant apocalypse epic, but it’s just not working this time. thanks for all the natural application suggestions. way better than fire or bricks.
I have ants crawling right outside on my pantry wall in the kitchen the don’t seem to be going inside, to the food. I have been told they are ghost ants, which are very tiny to they eye! But still bothersome, and don’t want any bug in my home regardless of how big or small.
It is hard to treat them with a bait when they don’t seem to be crawling on anything were I can lay bait dow, I have the Torro stuff but laying that on the tabs that come with it, but with them being on the walls not sure if laying it inside on the pantry shelves if they will even go to it.
I also have sprayed the walls with this new Organic item called Orange Guard, but I’m still seeing them.
I need some help, this has been going on for the last few weeks, as soon I think I have it licked they are back again, My husband has sprayed out side and that only seems to send them inside. Help!!
Thank you for taking the time, will wait for your reply.
Hi I have an ant problem , the floor is a slab ceramic flooring is it common for the ants to show up when it’s time for the heat needs to be on? Plus it’s infloor heating , too.
Ants usually look for food scraps, right? The ants in my home are different: they love sneaking into the light switches (YES, LIGHT SWITCHES) and make a nest there, probably enjoying the electric shock.
How do I get rid of these ants who don’t eat my food, but instead get themselves electrocuted-and-loving-it? My wife and I already spent money on replacement switches, but the ants keep coming back.
HELP!
HI,
i found some small brown ants in my house but i couldn’t identify which ant is this?one i can identify which is black house ants but brown ants. i couldn’t. i would appreciate if you could help me.
I read a bunch of comments and noticed that no one mentioned outside barrier of foundation. I put a bag of basic lawn insect pellet (7.99at well known bargain stores) down in a thick line along entire home foundation every spring. I do get occassional spiders but no ants or crawling bugs. An exterminator recommended to do that when we had ants 20 yrs ago!!! I also have a dog and cat. Never had an issue w health problems w them.
Go to Home Depot and grab the Hot shot baits for the colony. It will wipe them out. My problem was so severe that when I swept off my sidewalk it was covered within seconds. I used the baits around the perimeter of my home and within the first 24 hours I noticed a dramatic difference. By 48 hours I had no ants. It attracted them and then they took that stuff back to the queen. I imagine it killed her as well. Keep in my mind these ants were huge black ants and the size of the colony leads me to believe that it went years without being challenged. Smh. I get the creeps just thinking about it.
My family has a huge ant problem, there is a huge ant nest everywhere under our house the ants are everywhere you can’t go 20 minutes without seeing a whole bunch. I have toyed to find the nest but there are ant nests all over my yard please help
they are a few like 1 or 2 at a time 4 at most by my sink and coffee maker and fridge
Please help! I have success in kitchen and bathroom by using nearly full strength bleach. But suddenly they are everywhere in my bedroom which is carpeted. May try the Terro bait but am open to other suggestions. My concern is that I only want to use approaches that will not stain or otherwise harm the carpet. Please help clarify which approaches are safe on carpet.