I started noticing ants in various areas of the house we just moved in

Question

Carole · Answer

Providing you don't have pets in the house - use ant baits. They take the bait back to the nest. Also be sure not to leave food lying around. Put everything away when you are done as ants can find food if it is left out and it will encourage them to enter your home. You can also buy packets of ant sand and that acts as a deterrent. May not be much help if they are already in your home. You put it around doors and any areas where you don't want ants to enter. This is more a preventative measure than one to adopt once they are already present in your home. Good luck!

Teresa · Answer

Thanks...I have a 1 year old and a dog so I can't leave any pesticides around...I have to go by Home Depot to get a pesticide sprayer for outside so I'll look for the insect sand...they're coming in through the small opening in between the French doors ;( seems like the house was not sealed off too well because we had them when we first moved in coming through the window. It's very frustrating.

Connie C · Answer

You can use cinnamon as well. They don't like it & won'd cross it.

Askem Askem · Answer

after you kill them wipe the area with white vinegar. also if you notice any ant hills outside sprinkle a little bit of garlic powder. they do not like the smell and will go away for a little while. you can also pour some vinegar on the ant hill daily for a few days and they will go away. another option is using borax on any hills outside as they will eat it and take it to the next ant hill and then they will die as well. hope that helps

Teresa · Answer

Wow thank you all so much!! Really awesome advice! I'm going around today doing all of the above!

Kath · Answer

We had ants in the kitchen. I set out the bait in the can. It didn't do anything. I went to Lowe's to find something else. I asked the clerk and a woman walked up and said she used Terro liquid ant baits.She was just a customer passing by. Thank goodness she spoke up!  I put one on the window sill. it worked! I put one outside by the front door and it was covered by ants that had been traveling from the garden to a crack in the cement landing. No more ants! It says to keep it away from pets and kids. The active ingredent is borax.

Teresa · Answer

Wow! Thats awesome! I'll get some for outside the front and for the garage...thank you!

Kelp4Less · Answer

@Teresa , use diatomaceous earth. We sell it on our website very inexpensively. I used it on our back porch and the ants were gone completely in about 2 hours. It gets in between the ants exoskeleton and innards and cuts them up, basically. But it doesn't do anything if there is no exoskeleton, so it's okay around pets and kids (don't let your kids eat it, just because, but it won't hurt them). I have a 1-yo, 2 dogs, and a cat at our house. They didn't really mess with it anyway, but just in case. Also, I used it in our bathroom, I saw a few ants in there, and haven't seen any since. Here is a link to our site: http://www.kelp4less.com/shop/diatomaceous-earth/. It's only $9.95 for an entire pound. We used about 1/2 a pound around our little areas, and I haven't had to use any more since then. Best of luck!!!

Krista Davis · Answer

I had a problem with ants, too. Ant bait did nothing. I kept reading that our grandmothers used cornmeal. Apparently the little guys can't stomach it. So I took an empty jam jar, (unwashed with a film of jam inside) poured in cornmeal and shook it very hard. The cornmeal stuck to the jam and the ants ate it. The difficult part is seeing them march in. I kept wanting to wipe them away. Of course, they need to carry the cornmeal back to the nest. I left the jar out for them for about a week. Haven't seen an ant since and that was at least a month ago.

Kathy Angel · Answer

This year I found a bumper year of ants on Home & Family there was a segment about on picnic pack a dryer sheet to keep the ants away so I put 2 dryers sheets in each room within a week all the ants were gone no harm to my pets side benefit if you use scented you get room freshner.

Kelp4Less · Answer

@Kathy Angel , that's a great idea!

Rosanne · Answer

at the nature center, we use shake cinnamon, but at home, we use coffee grounds outside the perimeter of the house. Some people draw a chalk line and the ants won't cross it.

Debbie/Dragonfly Treasure · Answer

packaged cornbread mix that says it is sweetened and put it where they are coming in if you can find it, or even on your counter in a small lid. They will take it to the mound, everyone will eat it and die, they can't digest the cornmeal, but will take it because it is sweetened. Little goes a long way.

I started noticing ants in various areas of the house we just moved in

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I started noticing ants in various areas of the house we just moved in

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