EEEK! Ants indoors, natural remedies please!!

[luv-my-boys]

EEK! I started seeing a few ants occassionally, like when the kids left a crumb of something here or there. no problem. but now I have noticed that as its gotten warmer outside they are coming indoors! They are coming in at a tiny opening in between the door and the door frame. There is no way I can cover it as it is literally a tiny space, enough for an ant army to make its way in. Any suggestions on how to get them NOT to come in? I heard borax sprinkled would deter them? Any suggestions. I dont want to use any of the commercial pesticides with kids and dogs...YUCK. Plus its at our front door frame entrance to anything I put there will surely be tracked in somewhat. I know some will say live and let live but DS is terrified of ants and it is not helping that we are finding them indoors. Plus we are in the process of our homestudy and ants are considered "pests" and therefore we must get rid of them.

[MariesMama]

I have used cayenne pepper, sprinkled where they come in, very effectively in the past.

Could you get new weatherstripping for the door? Sealing up that crack will help your heating bills in the winter too!

[aihcalappa]

We have used Tabasco, vinegar, TTO, and ground cinnamon. The cinnamon worked the best, but we still had a problem, so I got some of those little cartridges with stuff in it that they eat it and die. That worked. Sorry, I know you wanted natural ideas, but I thought I'd mention it, b/c you can stick the cartridge in an out of the way spot, and don't have to worry about having poison all over.

[whitekole]

Ground cinnamon poured in the door frame has worked for me. I haven't had any ants at all since I put it down.

[Close2Me]

green windex

simple green

or just take a bar of soap and set in water for bit then fill into spray bottle - soapy water

[luv-my-boys]

thought I'd chime in, so after I googled all day I found that baby talc is supposed to deter them as well. Since I do have that on hand I tried that. ANTS ARE GONE: I sprinkled it on the outside door frame and by the tiny gap they were getting in from and voila no ants. I do need to reapply depending on front door traffic but heck it works plus the front porch has a nice baby scent to it

[Brisen]

I had the same situation with a door frame with a gap in it, and pouring vinegar around worked. I have ants coming in through a window over our kitchen sink now; it's difficult to keep every speck of food away from there, and while spraying vinegar helps, I have to do it at least a few times a day, every day, or they come back. I'll have to try the talcum powder, thanks for posting it.

[lauradbg]

Diatomaceous Earth. There may be other brands, but we used the Earth brand and the giant black ants that were invading our kitchen are GONE! I sprinkled at least a half a cup around the baseboards in our kitchen, let it sit there, messy, for a day or two and then swept it up pushing into the cracks. The ants have not come back. It worked miraculously and effectively. I can't praise it enough.

[academama]

peppermint oil worked for us--I just painted it on anywhere I saw them and around our door [where they were coming in].

[DeepLakeSwimmer]

Originally Posted by academama

peppermint oil worked for us--I just painted it on anywhere I saw them and around our door [where they were coming in].

Cinnamon oil worked for me in much the same way. Also, because my ants were on the counters, I took to putting a few drops of oil on a damp rag and just wiping all the walls and counters down. The ants are mostly gone and the kitchen smells really nice!