Many of you may be seeing some ants….. it’s that time of the year around the house where they are going to come out and walk around your place. Some of you = inside, and others, well, outside.
There are a few of the solutions that have worked for me – and that I have personally used, depending on what I have on-hand at the house.
Baby Powder or Borax…..sprinkled around the ant-ish area, you will find that it might effectively disrupt them from coming around.
But, it also comes with a warning – if you have pets, or kiddos, be careful using these two items because they are dangerous to ingest, and inhale.
Borax also works for Cockroaches – I sprinkled Borax outside my house, in between sidewalk cracks, outside the garage, and anywhere I knew they would cross. If you have a water meter outside (most of us do), they like to sit in there – it’s moist and dark at night so it’s the perfect hang-out spot. Take a cup of borax, and mix it with a cup of water and a half cup sugar. Then DUMP it in the water meter box when it’s dark, at night…….. they’ll scatter, but in the process, they’ll ingest it – and it makes their insides blow up very gassy to the point that they die. Sounds like a bad science experiment …but this is what I do personally every month or so.
Coffee Grounds –Sprinkle in the area of ants – they hate the smell.
Herbs or Spices , Salt or Pepper- You can put Bay Leaves in your cabinets…….. or sprinkle Cinnamon/Garlic around your home. If you’re a huge Chili Powder person, try that too — it deters them due to the smell.
You can also use regular black pepper, OR, table salt – sprinkle around baseboards, window sills, etc.
Cream of Wheat, or Grits: Sprinkle as you would in the area of the ants – they ingest, and it expands in their belly.
Vinegar & Apple Cider Vinegar –A mixture of 50/50 Vinegar & Water OR 50/50 Apple Cider Vinegar & Water is the best thing you could use. Almost all of us have Vinegar – we use it to clean our floors, toilets, I even use it in lieu of fabric softener in my wash. Like the other things above, ants HATE the smell. Soak cotton balls in it and let them sit in your cabinet in small trays (tops of pill jars work pretty swell).
Dryer Sheets – can be generic –Dryer sheets work just perfect too – lay them around your home, slowly it will allow them to disappear. The sheets contain certain “compounds” that, although they are very pretty smelling, are toxic to bugs.
Good ideas……thnks for ur post!.
Anyone have a suggestions for scorpions!
Molasses in a dish, draws the grasshoppers, which in turn keeps the scorpions away
Just tried garlic powder…ants were drawn to it and went right through it. Very strong smell too! :( Now trying something else.
Being
from the south I always used Borax and sugar in equal amounts. I was helping a
friend in Pa. and was telling him
this recipe when I messed up and said Alum
Powder and sugar, equal amounts. Best mistake I have ever made. Use a mask to prepare this just to
make sure you don’t inhale. Place in a pointed top style picnic bottle made
for ketchup or mustard. Place a small stream next to your walls – in and out
the house – and leave overnight. KEEP AWAY FROM
CHILDREN, PETS, OR PEOPLE WHO WOULDN’T KNOW NOT TO EAT IT!!!! Get ready
FOR A MASSIVE CLEAN-UP!!! I use gloves and mask to clean up. Amazing what
creatures you had without knowing it.