How to get rid of little tiny ants?!?

[westchestermom]

Hi,

We're staying the my parents until we move across the country and they seem to be having a problem with those little tiny ants that can be such a nuisance but won't really hurt anything. My dad keeps threatening to spray them with ant spray (and to put a fogger bomb outside the door to kill the wasps in their nest). I keep telling him to hold off on the toxic chemicals and that I can find a safe, natural, effective alternative... so does anyone know of anything to make the little buggers go away that is not toxic to humans or dogs? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated it as I really don't want to have my family exposed to all those poisons and fumes. Thanks!

~jen

[SaraMama]

I'm having the same problem, ants in the kitchen and hornets on the porch! Hoping someone has some suggestions for us!

[MindfulBirth]

I use lavender essential oil. I put a line of it right next to the floorboard where they live and they will not cross that line. You have to put down a new line every few days, but it sure makes the house smell yummy.

I've also heard that sprinkling cayenne powder in the area will keep them away, but I've never tried that to say how effective it is..

[Ilovelife]

This is what works for me every time, with both the tiny ants and regular ants. I make ant traps by combining 1t boric acid (get it at a pharmacy), 1/2 t sugar, 1 t warm water. Put the mixture into bottle caps & place them in the areas of ants. Keep children & pets away from them. But they only need to be out for a day or two. You'll see all the ants come to the traps and feed, after they've been out for several hours. Then the ants will go away. You can pick up the traps once there aren't many ants visiting them. The ants eat the boric acid mixture & bring it back to their nests, which kills them all. (I know, kinda sad really.) After that, I wipe along the baseboards with peppermint EO (I usually use pepperming Dr. Bronner's). Works like a charm.

I know there has been some discussion on here about the safety of boric acid. It is a substance that I am comfortable using. Here is some information about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boric_acid
http://www.rosemill.com/html/boric_acid_information.pdf

[MyOcean]

I buy Terro, it's basically the same as Ilovelife's homemade but less work. It's not that I'm too lazy, it's just when I see ants I freak and need an immediate solution. It's only $4. I love it.

Found at hardware stores or home depot.

[JLav]

Originally Posted by MyOcean

I buy Terro, it's basically the same as Ilovelife's homemade but less work. It's not that I'm too lazy, it's just when I see ants I freak and need an immediate solution. It's only $4. I love it.

Found at hardware stores or home depot.

I second Terro, it works great...the ants disappear very quickly.

[Bestbirths]

I put honey on a plate the size of a quarter. I put a light "dusting" of mule team borax over the honey. I set 2 or 3 plates of this natural "ant trap" away from areas where the children and pets go. The ants come and eat the honey and the borax makes them explode.

I like to let the ant population live and grow in our home, because ants eat flea larva and we had a flea problem last year. Since we don't use chemicals in our home, we need all the help with fleas that we can get. I only put the traps out when we are having company....the rest of the time I let the ants live

chomp chomp little ants, eat the yummy larvae......

I let them live on the carpets but I set traps sometimes on the kitchen counter when they start coming up there. Our children have been known to pick up ants and put them on the pets so they will eat any larva off of our pets...we have three cats and a dog.

[chanale]

Our ant invasion has been going on for nearly a week. At first, we couldn't find the source, but a few days ago I found it - they're coming out of an AC vent near the ceiling. One of my essential oil books said peppermint was good to use, so I filled a large spray bottle with water, a little Dr. Bronner's Peppermint soap, and quite a few drops of organic peppermint EO. Days later, ants are still coming out of the vent. We spray at least 8 times a day. DH threatened to call an exterminator, especially since his folks will be staying with us starting Sunday. I'm going to try increasing the soap to give the mixture some cling. If that doesn't work I'll resort to the borax trick - thanks!

[funkykat]

thank you ladies!

this is why i love this discussion forum so much...i had a book with natural remedies and can not find it. we have ants all over the living room, and dh is freaking out. he tried googling for solutions, i said just check the mothering boards, and lo and behold, you ladies had the answer!! thank you!

[babybugmama]

bestbirths that is so cool...I did not know that.

That said, I've used peppermint EO to deter ants and it worked great. The borax thing never really worked for me