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Ants, ants, ants everywhere let's get rid of them

Ants only come into houses for the purpose of finding food, warmth and shelter. When they find food, they will make the most of it and will establish a trail that leads hack to their nest outside. Follow the trail to the point of entry into the house and block it off with mastic sealer.

Destroy and wipe up every ant you find. Or mix some boric-acid powder (which is lethal to ants) with icing sugar and leave it on their trails. They will eat this and take it back to their nests, where the poison will be spread.

You can repel ants from your home by sprinkling sage or white pepper any where that you might have seen ants. You can sprinkle around affected areas, in crevices and in cupboards where this will not bother your pets or children but you will keep ants away at the same time.

Another method is getting rid of ants is to boil one pint of tar in 2 quarts of water and then set this mixture in an uncovered dish where ants gather and they will become 'stuck' in the mixture and will not get in your 'way' again!

Some people have even tried drawing chalk lines on the floor where they have seen ants. This works great because the ants won't cross over this chaulk line and you are going to have an ant free basement, kitchen or home!

Another method to keep ants away from your home is to leave apple pieces, cores, or apple peelings any where ants enter your home or you have seen them enter the house. There is something about the acid in the apple that will kill the ants when they take it back to their own home!

Do you love to eat cucumbers? Use your leftover cucumber peelings to keep ants away. Just sprinkle your cucumber peelings wtih a bit of salt and then place them where the ants are or have been and you will be able to keep them away!

It is said that ants hate lemon juice. So squirt lemon juice on windowsills and the bottom of doors. Also bay leaves left by doors and windows will also deter ants.

If you love camping but hate the ants place mothballs about the camp to scare and keep ants away.

You could also use a proprietary ant killer. There is a jelly bait which the workers take back to the nest; an insecticide lacquer for wall and floor junctions; and a puffer pack of powder for blowing into nest entrances and into any cracks, crevices and wall cavities where ants are seen.

Ants also hate peppermint, so a simple deterrent is to buy some peppermints and place them in the corners of your cupboards. They will last for ages and keep the ants well away. It is also said that if you have an ants nest, place a peppermint at the entrance and the ants would rather starve than go near it.

Some also say that ants will never across a chalk line. So get your chalk out and draw a line on the floor or wherever ants tend to march. See for yourself!

The following was sent into the site

How to handle an Ant invasion
1. Never step on or otherwise squash an ant. And never spray an ant with a pesticide. Ants leave a scent when they are injured or killed this way. And, that scent signals many, many more to come to the area where the ant was killed. Vacuum them instead! They won't have a chance to leave their scent. However, if you do squash an ant, immediately clean the area where you killed the ant with a good cleaning solution to get rid of the ant's scent.

2. If ants are invading your home, vacuum the ants that you see until you find out where they are entering your home. Once you discover their entryway, make a circle of petroleum jelly (Vaseline) around the opening. Ants never walk on petroleum jelly. It's toxic to them. Make that circle at least 4 inches in diameter. This will provide the ants with enough area to walk in and will prevent them from going further than the circle. Put an ant poison inside the circle. The ants are sure to find it. Leave the ants alone to consume the poison. Pretty soon, no more ants.

3. If you have pets that are kept in terrariums or cages on stands, such as reptiles or birds, place petroleum jelly around the full circumference of the legs of the stand. This will prevent ants from attacking your pets. And, the treatment can last for years. If your terrarium has electrical appliances in them, such as heaters or lights, simply place petroleum jelly on the wire so that ants cannot climb into the habitat via the electrical wire.

Also sent into the site

You can sprinkle ground cinnamon any place that you do not want ants, They really HATE cinnamon. I sprinkle it into the carpet under my parrots cage and then lightly sweep it down into the carpet so it is not noticeable would only suggest doing this on brown or darker carpets, but you could always try a test spot on other colors first) Repeat process as needed.

One more trick that I use on the walls, kitchen counters, food cabinets, and also on really just about everything that you wouldn't want or couldn't use cinnamon on. I mix peppermint extract and water together and wash down the item with a sponge dampened in the solution. I also put the mixture into a (brand new never used) spray bottle and spray on tile floors, entry ways, in my garbage cans, etc. Repeat as needed.




Visitors comments



Peppermints don't work! Comments By: Elizabeth on 2004-11-10
Hi - I haven't tried all the other tips for getting rid of ants yet but PEPPERMINTS DIDN'T WORK!!!! they were eating them!!!!! I spent 20 minutes cleaning them all up......I might try the other tips......
 
ants are invading my lemon tree Comments By: rachel on 2005-03-03
Kind of doubt that ants hate lemon juice since they are swarming my lemon tree and seem to have taken up residence in the pot where the lemon tree is planted.
 
Curry power! Comments By: lorraine laws on 2005-05-28
Ive just tried madras curry powder, the ants are runnings for the hills! im going to sprinkle it around the crack in the wall where they come in and hopefully they wont come back. First impressions, they really seem to hate it.
 
Curry Powder Comments By: Barb on 2005-06-24
I just placed some near an ant nest on my property...WOW! They really don't like it!I also but some around the base of my fruit trees.

 
Cinnamon Comments By: Kim on 2005-07-06
My sons room was being invaded by little black ants I sprinkled the ground cinnamon on the window sills and carpet and have had NO problems since this i also sprinkled it outside there windows. It was a great tip! Thanks
 
Cinnamon works...kinda Comments By: T. Robinson on 2005-07-11
I tried cinnamon around my doorway. It worked the first time. But a few weeks later they came back. Now they keep coming back.
 
ants & cinnamon Comments By: Willow on 2005-10-25
We'll see what the longterm result is; but I sprinkled some cinnamon & actually watched an ant run away! Just to check, I sprinkled some more in the direction he was headed & boy did it ever change directions fast!!! Thanks.
 
Mint leaves didn't do much Comments By: standardmark on 2006-05-03
Bloody ants. Being veggie, killing them wasn't too easy. i was soon a vacuum warrior though as they were doing my head in.

put pepper and mint down off a small mint plant and the litle freaky things came back. they must like it.

Replaced mint with neat bleach!

my ltitle pantry had a few in too, this was treated to chilli powder.

I'll see if they have taken over when i get back in. the curry approach could be an option.

 
Talcum Powder ....... They hate it!!!!!! Comments By: May on 2006-05-30
Well they've packed their bags and checked out. They really hate talcum powder. I sprinkled it on my carpets going right up to edge and on to the skirting board about 2 hours later there wasn't an ant to be seen
 
Cinamon??!?!?!?!?!? Comments By: Jeff on 2006-06-24
I just found an ant on my wall and tested the cinamon by taking my finger and drawing a circle about 2 inches thick with the cinamon! The ant was litterally trapped in the circle, it would not cross the line!!! It was like he was in a circle of fire!!!!! Amazing!
 
about the powder Comments By: Anon on 2006-07-17
I tried the cinnamon and taclem powder it didn't work I still have them everywhere
 
Ant Killer Comments By: Tony Ward on 2006-11-27
One teaspoon of each - Boric Acid + Sugar + water gets rid ants completely.
 
CINNAMON!! Comments By: Anon on 2008-02-24
I have used everything and spent lots of money in my quest to keep ants away. I have always kept a clean home but either the weather or something I forgot to put away draws them in and next thing I know my entire home is invaded. Throughout all this Cinnamon has proved to be the best thing...it sends them and their troops running. It's non-toxic, smells great and other than my house looking as though it was powdered in cinnamon it is the best thing. I have chemical allergies, I'm also disabled so it's hard to keep on top of them so in everything I've tried...nothing beats cinnamon!!
 
what do you do with the mix Comments By: gbwixted on 2008-07-13
I have the boric acid and the sugar and the water what do you do with it after you mix? Do you put it in little containers or spread the mixture out? It is to thick to spray
 
fireant advice Comments By: shelly on 2008-12-01
For those of you who don't live in the southern part of the States, there's a reality there called 'fireants'. They build beds, ravage everything they can and hurt like hell when they bite. My solution was to take glowing embers out of a fire, place them on the mound, then put an inverted terracotta pot on top and plug the hole with a rock. The next day, the mound was sterilized and the ground was fertilized.
 
does ant hate the smell of rubber bands? Comments By: stephanie on 2010-08-05
hey im a kid , 9 yrs old from singapore can i ask a question does ant hate the smell of rubber bands my mother kinda told me that. plz answer.
 
How to get rid of ants? It's in my parrots cage... Comments By: Farah on 2009-05-04
Hi i just wanted to know how to get rid of ants, its in my parrot cage and in his food, its doing my head in...
 
ants in my birds food Comments By: D onna Bernal on 2010-03-21
I had black ants invading my bird cage and its food.I took a couple of apple slices today which it haden't had for awhile and saw no ants today.I also put less bird seed in the birds cup and put that cup inside of the larger one with water in it.No ants today.Wow!my bird and I are both happy.I have an indian ringneck parrot.
 
CINNAMON Comments By: Angie D on 2010-10-12
I just used powdered cinnamon and my ants ran for the hills woohooo it really works..my bird cage was infested with them in the food and water...i recommend this!
 
Ants in the electrics Comments By: Christina on 2010-10-18
Has anyone got a solution to eliminating ants in the electric cable conduit? We live in Southern Spain.
 
DO NOT USE BORIC ACID!!!! Comments By: Jim on 2011-06-05
DO NOT USE BORIC ACID!!!!! IT KILLS THEM!!!!!!!!
 
what??? Comments By: southern girl on 2011-06-08
Don't use boric acid it kills them, really that's what we are trynna do. Kill them. What good are they doing us? None so that was dumb to say!
 



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