Guest Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 I have little ants all over my house! I HATE HATE HATE ants!!! So many bad memories from my childhood in Baton Rouge. I have had a bug guy out who charged me a fair handful for traps and spray. I must have intelligent ants because they avoided the traps even when placed and left in their path. Spraying RAID causes them to find new crevices. UGGG!!!! Any fool-proof ideas to get rid of them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Dish soap and water in a spray bottle :) Along with cleaning really well to get rid of their chemical scent trails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueridge Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 We've had an endless parade of ants of all sizes. We've always had fantastic, overnight results with Terro Baits. Have you tried them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhomemaker Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I was talking to a lady the other day who mentioned that she had a problem with ants. She told me that she got some mint and put it around her kitchen and anywhere near where they were coming in. They were gone in no time b/c apparently ants hate mint. :confused: I had never heard that so it stuck in my head. Definitely a cost effective solution if it works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proverbs356lady Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 (edited) Ugh, I hate ants too! We've had great success with Terro. After first putting out the bait it seemed worse, like they were having a party. But by the next day there were less and by 24-48 hours they were just about gone. If you want something more "natural" you could try Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth. I recently read it be used to get rid of ants. I've never tried this though. Edited July 11, 2011 by proverbs356lady Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 We have ants, too! Last year we used fresh basil and that kept them away. I don't have any yet this year. (Basil that is)!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nono Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 (edited) We've had an endless parade of ants of all sizes. We've always had fantastic, overnight results with Terro Baits. Have you tried them? :iagree::iagree::iagree: DON'T kill them. Let them carry out their "drunk" buddies and return to their home. Also, like SailorMom said, clean well, and preferably with something lemon-based. Also, if you can find where they are coming in, grab some sidewalk chalk and chalk across their line. We've had some fun times corraling ants with sidewalk chalk. Love the basil and mint ideas too. Gotta put them in my aresenal. We live on a sandbar that is really simply one large ant hill. :tongue_smilie: Edited July 11, 2011 by nono Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsbaby Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 They have been horrible here too! I had to empty out our food pantry because they were everywhere! I used all the tricks. Bait, peppermint oil, and cinnamon. They seem to have gone down in numbers:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smillard00 Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 We have also had great luck with Terro. The ingredients in it are basically corn syrup and Borax. It is a little bottle of syrupy liquid and you put it on little pieces of cardboard and paper and set it in all the areas where you see them. They have a little party there and carry it home and kill the colony. It takes a couple of days, but really works. And it is very safe and I think a pretty "green" way to go. We are pretty sensitive and are very careful about chemicals in our home, so we much prefer this over something like Raid or whatever the bug man sprays. I've also heard that you can spray them with Windex and scrub away their little trail that they follow, but this won't kill the colony as far as I know. It just gets them out of one area. Another thing I read was that you could sprinkle Borax around your foundation outside to stop them there too. Kind of along the same lines as the Terro, just an outside application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Terro - only thing that has worked for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Terro! It's a miracle ant solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I use Ortho Home Defense Max on the outside of the house, specifically sprayed on the foundation. Then I use Terro inside the house. This combination works for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily of the Valley Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I agree with the suggestions to use Terro. We had an ant invasion in our kitchen. I put Terro out about a week ago, and I haven't noticed any ants in the last couple of days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embassy Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I don't know if this could apply to you, but having a child view ants as a pet does a good job at decreasing their numbers. Apparently, they don't appreciate the big "giant" that carries them around the house and squishes them by mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Overnight results w/Terro here too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ailaena Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I don't know if this could apply to you, but having a child view ants as a pet does a good job at decreasing their numbers. Apparently, they don't appreciate the big "giant" that carries them around the house and squishes them by mistake. This is hilarious, I wonder if it would really work... The first year we lived in this house we had tiny, little "sugar ants" (as my neighbor called them) in one part of the kitchen. I tried all kinds of non-poisonous stuff before resorting to poison, which I abhor using. Nothing worked, I just kept killing by hand, keeping them to at least one area. Last year, someone on this board mentioned sage. I happened to have some fresh sage, so I tossed down a branch between the fridge and the dishwasher (where they are located) and they were gone by morning. I literally left the same sprig there all season (I'm lazy) and the ants never came back. This year, I had no fresh sage, and they were starting to get sort of bad, so I spread out some jarred, rubbed sage in that area and the ants were gone in a couple of days. This was a couple of months ago, and they are still gone (wood! Where's the wood!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Amdro all the way around the foundation of the house. It was the only thing that worked for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 We did the outside treatment with ortho Max and a yard killer. Still have them. I will try the Terro and cleaning the house very well. Is that available at Wal-Mart or do I need to hit Home Depot? I LOVE THESE BOARDS!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueridge Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I get Terro at Lowes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laundrycrisis Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I got rid of some ant hills outside with garlic powder, peppermint tea, cinnamon, Italian seasoning and urine :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Just an update. TERRO IS FANTASTIC!!!!!! I am getting the full yard treatment bag next time. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Ah man. I just Ortho'd my yard today. I got them out of my house with this recipe: 1 T borax 1 T honey 1 T warm water Soaked into 3 cottonballs and strategically placed. However, when doing yard work I realized we were surrounded and I should probably treat the yard too. Where did you all find terro if I need a backup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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