Unfortunately, I have ants in kitchen. Natural remedy?

manyhats

Mon, May 26 2014, 6:57 pm

I've done my homework checking previous imamother "ant" threads.
There are many suggestions. To name just a few: cinnamon, Pam, windex with ammonia, boric acid and sugar water, and something called diatomaceous earth which can be purchased at Home Depot.

I'm most inclined to try the diatomaceous b/c it is a professional product,

Any advice would be most appreciated.

TIA

MaBelleVie

Mon, May 26 2014, 6:59 pm

The most natural remedy that worked for me was sealing/caulking all cracks everywhere around the kitchen. Beyond that, only nasty chemicals worked effectively.

cbg

Mon, May 26 2014, 7:04 pm

I heard mint, but never tried it.

The only thing that got rid of my ants was Terro liquid ant killer.
I know it's not natural, but it worked for me. Just be careful the kids don't touch it.

medola

Mon, May 26 2014, 7:07 pm

I live in Florida and we get sugar ants here all the time. Go get yourself some Terro ant killer bait from Home Depot or online. It is this little clear liquid and very safe. It works as bait, you put a little bit on a business card and place it around your counters or wherever you're seeing them. It works by attracting the ants who feast on it and then go back to their ant homes and share it with the colony and then all die. Yay! Works like. a. charm.

strawberry cola

Mon, May 26 2014, 7:08 pm

years ago, I read a book from the library called Bug Busters ( I think the author's name is Lifton, but not sure). It contained a fantastic remedy for ants- a mixture of water, sugar and Boric acid in a container with tape on the outside. It worked unbelievably well and very quickly. I would suggest checking out the book fro the exact formula.

goodmorning

Mon, May 26 2014, 8:04 pm

Cinnamon (and talcum/baby powder) are great for keeping ants out of cabinets. If you draw a line with cinnamon/baby powder, ants will not cross the line. They don't, however, actually kill the ants.

We had an ant infestation in our pantry and cleaned the shelves well, vacuumed the entire area around it, and made a line of cinnamon and baby powder around the pantry and outside the window through which they were coming. We have not, B"H!, seen them again.

ra_mom

Mon, May 26 2014, 8:05 pm

manyhats wrote:

Thanks for all your suggestions.

I will look think about them. .

More suggestions are appreciated. They will help me narrow down the choice.

Food grade diatomaceous earth is natural (shell flour) and does not contain carcinogens like regular diatomaceous earth does.
But it is a flour and can be messy.
You can put some in a squirt bottle and neatly squeeze it along the corners/walls.
If you know where it is coming from outside, it will help a lot to put it out there.
It is available on Amazon.com for home delivery.

Miri1

Mon, May 26 2014, 9:07 pm

For my home, they were coming in the front door, and I put a strip of salt as a barrier, and this stopped them. It's just too hard from them to navigate over the salt strip. This doesn't kill them, but diverts them.

Diatomaceous earth shouldn't get wet, by the way. Also, you can bait them. You need to figure out if they are after sugar or protein (you can test this by putting out a blob of peanut butter, and a piece of fruit, to see where they go. Then you put the diatomaceous earth around the area. I think it may work the same as boric acid. You don't want to create mounds of the powder, as this just makes them avoid it. If you get a squeezy bottle, and just let out sprinkles, they will walk over it, and it will block the breathing holes. I did this in my garage. It's technically not poisonous, but you should take care not to inhale it (wear a mask). It's not instant, but over time, the ants will bring it back to the nest, and eventually they should diminish.

joyful mom

Tue, May 27 2014, 7:39 am

I also had ants now and so far I've been using cinnamon and white vinegar. I have little kids so I'm first trying to get rid of them without using any chemicals. For me the diatomaceous earth is not an option since I have a lot of carpet in my apartment and I read that it's not good for the vaccuum cleaner...

baba

Tue, May 27 2014, 7:59 am

Rub down all the surfaces with (diluted) vinegar.
Apparently they then cant find their way back.
Keep doing it for a few days and they wont come back.
By me it worked.

JoyInTheMorning

Tue, May 27 2014, 10:38 am

Diatomaceous earth works because the fine powder dries up the exoskeletons of the ants. A few days later, they die in their colonies.

Having said that, I have found that once there is already an infestation, it helps to use both poisonous ant baits and diatomaceous earth. I've used the strips by Raid. The ants eat it and die. Then other ants come and eat up the dead ants, so you don't even have a mess to clear up.

manyhats

Tue, May 27 2014, 4:41 pm

Thanks for all those ideas.

Regarding terro ant killer, it's main ingredient is BORIC ACID: I went online and found a home-made recipe for this product .

Mix 1/2 cup sugar with one and a half tablespoons Boric acid. Add one and one half cups water and mix. Store in a jar/container . Label it b/c it looks like water. Keep out of reach of children.

Method : Saturate cotton balls with solution ( place in narrow lids/caps/shallow bowls- if you have)
and place where ants congregate and also at point where they come in( inside and outside of door)

Initially more ants will show up to join feast. But food is poison for them. Ants will take back this food to den and share with all ants. Within 2 days all should be dead.

Anyway, on my home front. DH"s minhag! is to put borIc acid by itself- no water or sugar..
The situation is improved. I continue to see some ants but they don't look healthy.

greenfire

Wed, May 28 2014, 9:23 am

a lot of natural remedies ... including vinegar ... cloves ... and green solutions don't do much but for the immediate short term - then they come back to dance in your face & even when you're not in the mood

you then have to go with the strong stuff ... even if I don't like killing ants - they really should not move in without a lease ...

I find that when I get the actual chemicals & spray the doorways of the house - they don't bother to come in ... same goes for any windows near porches or intersections of overhang roofs - which attract ants to climb up your trees and onto the roof & into the windows

do this once a month - or twice if there's a lot of rainfall - in the spring/summer when the ants are at full charge

rzab

Wed, May 28 2014, 9:47 am

we had a small infestation os ants by my porch door. I cleaned the area well and put baby powder on both sides of the door and the ants never came back