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Ant Invasion!
updated: Jul 10, 2012, 8:23 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

Does anyone have a non toxic way to eliminate an invasion of ants?

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 295763	2012-07-10 08:30 AM
I've found that ants won't cross baby powder!
COMMENT 295764	2012-07-10 08:33 AM
The sole of your shoe when applied with downward pressure works well. Definitely non-toxic.
COMMENT 295767	2012-07-10 08:35 AM
Boiling hot water. Kills weeds too.
SBSWEETPEA	2012-07-10 08:35 AM
Those orange/citrus non toxic cleaners work well.
COMMENT 295773	2012-07-10 08:40 AM
When we lived in Hope Ranch Annex we had ants galore. I'm not against toxic solutions but I really don't like the smell of Raid, et al. My wife and I found that a simple cleaning spray, such as Formula 409, does a great job killing and controlling the ants. Not entirely non-toxic, but much better than most insecticides. We always made sure we sprayed the entire trail all the way back to the entry point...if we could find it.
COMMENT 295774	2012-07-10 08:43 AM
Home Improvement sells a product called "Orange Guard" which is a citrus based non-toxic pestcide that is edible and safe around children and pets . We have a pre-school and use it to control ant invasions . It is very effective.
COMMENT 295777P	2012-07-10 08:58 AM
there is also a spray that is made from mint oil--I get it at Ace--evidently it burns their feet. Kills and discourages them. They follow scent trails so thorough floor cleaning after sprays is needed. Sometimes they move indoors looking for moisture. Check under sinks for any drips at pipe connections.
D8VANILLA	2012-07-10 09:04 AM
www. arbico. com Natural methods for pest control. I highly recommend Nematodes, which will get rid of ants, fleas and other pests. Request the catalog.
COMMENT 295779	2012-07-10 09:05 AM
Try corn meal. We have had amazing success with that. Just leave a small pile where the ants come in.
SBJULES	2012-07-10 09:11 AM
I second the 409 or windex. Both do the trick.
COMMENT 295789	2012-07-10 09:23 AM
Forget about the corn meal. You might kill few ants here and there but it will take a long time (many days), you will never kill all of them, and in the end you are sitting there in your house with dozens of piles of corn meal on the floor. On top of that other bugs would love to eat the corn meal.
COMMENT 295796P	2012-07-10 09:42 AM
409 is perfect for the inside. The key is getting the entry point & source outside though. It seems this time of summer, when it starts to heat up, the ants return looking for water, etc. I clear the entire perimeter of our house with a small rake, followed by a brushing with one of those long, telescoping poles with the round brush head. I then spray the top two inches of foundation to the ground. This followed by a generous sprinkling of Triazicide purchased at the local hardware or Costco does the trick for months! Nothing's worse than returning home after a vacation to find the ant's version of the 405 freeway at rush hour entering & going all over the house, especially the kitchen. Yikes! Been there - done that. Boo
COMMENT 295813	2012-07-10 10:03 AM
Simple Green!!! Just spray at the end of the line and they will all turn around and go back they way they came in. Swear it works and you won't kill them either.
COMMENT 295821	2012-07-10 10:09 AM
We had a fire ant nest of epic proportions under our driveway for nearly 10 years. Nothing I tried worked to eliminate them - boiling water, soap, borax, cornmeal, I even broke down and tried those little bait traps. Someone finally suggested ammonia.s I was hesitant, but they explained that it quickly breaks down into a fertilizer. The smell and the fumes do them in. It took two rounds of dumping straight ammonia down all the entrances and I haven't seen them in two years now. If you can pinpoint their nest, I highly reccommend it!
COMMENT 295833P	2012-07-10 10:19 AM
Would providing a source of water outside help?
COMMENT 295840	2012-07-10 10:24 AM
Depends on where you have them, and what you're trying to achieve. If you have massive ant problems in the yard or home, I like the idea of nematodes (D8Vanilla's suggestion). For a small temporary solution, I've used chalk. If you make a nice, thick line with chalk, ants (and other insects) will not cross it. This is because chalk is make of diatom skeletons - essentially small critters that lived in a glass shell. The little glass bits get into the joints of ants and other small insect's exoskeletons. I believe it also desiccates them. It's a good solution for something like a small area you don't want ants to cross. You can also buy diatomaceous earth for larger areas & outside. Just be careful about this in large uses (like surrounding the house), because I'm guessing you don't want you or you family/pets to breathe it in. I know people use it under chicken coops or in areas where animals have fleas/mites because it affects them the same as ants.
COMMENT 295842	2012-07-10 10:24 AM
Please don't kill (or burn feet of) our fellow creatures. I have a method that works every time, even in severe infestations. After cleaning the kitchen deeply and fixing any water leaks, I simply talk to them and explain that they are not allowed in the house anymore. I then gently warn them that if they don't leave I will have to resort to lethal methods. It really works! Try it-- what's to lose?
COMMENT 295859P	2012-07-10 11:05 AM
Orange Guard - made from the oil of orange rind. Smells good and is non-toxic. Can be used in kitchens. No, I do not own stock, but I use it :-).
COMMENT 295860P	2012-07-10 11:06 AM
Ants leave scent trails for their fellow ants to follow to food sources, water, etc. We've had very good success using cinnamon powder to mask these scent trails wherever we've found a line of ants. Just sprinkle it around, rub it into countertops, etc. It works best if you can apply it as close to their entry point as possible. Safe, non-toxic, and has no undesirable karmic side-effects.
COMMENT 295875	2012-07-10 11:50 AM
try reasoning with them
COMMENT 295882	2012-07-10 12:20 PM
If it is just a few scouts, I just wipe them up gently up with a sponge and drop them back outside. Then I hit their scent trail with Mr. Clean or 409 so they can't follow it back in again. If it is 1000's of them, it's difficult to clean the area without killing at least some. I try not to kill anything I can avoid, as last time I checked I was not able to create new life in anything bigger than a bacterium.
COMMENT 295922	2012-07-10 01:43 PM
if it wasn't s.b., i'd think 842 and 875 were jokes.
COMMENT 295935P	2012-07-10 02:01 PM
Don't kill ants? Why not? I definitely sympathize with the OP. We have ants that sometimes come in to get the cat food and water. My daughter uses the closest spray bottle no matter what it has in it to clean them up, they all die. We do need something for both inside and outside. We cannot sit on our lawn without tiny black ants climbing on us. They sting our skin so it's not just annoying it's painful. Still looking for exterminators that guarantee their work. For a non-toxic option how long does it take for nematodes to get rid of ants, fleas, etc?
COMMENT 295956	2012-07-10 02:57 PM
Cinnamon?!?!? Really?? Why? Now you have countertops which are all dirty and unusable because they have cinnamon all over them. Seriously...some people just don't use their heads. Just use any spray cleaner you got. Kills the ants, wipes out their trail, and when you are done you have a nice clean surface. Doesn't get any easier than that.
COMMENT 295979	2012-07-10 04:08 PM
I've heard diatomaceous earth creates a barrier most ant species won't cross. But you have to get rid of the scent trail. They will follow it relentlessly. Personally I have an arrangement with the ants on my property... if they stay outside the house I won't bug 'em until they step inside - then I slam the intruders with Raid but wipe it up right away making sure to wipe out any possible 'markers' the ants left behind. So far so good... we're all getting along and I haven't had to use the stuff in quite a while - I just hate the smell of it.
COMMENT 295987P	2012-07-10 04:33 PM
I'm not the OP but am interested in this topic, as well. We have cats and the ants frequently end up in the cat food. I just bought Orange Guard at Island Seed & Feed and am hoping it will help. I looked at the web site for Orange Guard and noticed it may also be available at OSH.
COMMENT 296013	2012-07-10 05:24 PM
I, too leave 'em alone whene they're outside. However, when they swarm into my kitchen, eat my food and then bite me... gotta go. Those are the fire ants, though. The little black ones I think are Brazillian and will outnumber and run off the fire ants in no time. I don't mind them in the kitchen as much. They pick one thing and leave all the rest alone. Grease ants vs. sugar ants. As far as the cat food goes, during ant season, we keep out cats' bowls sitting in saucers of water. Just have to make sure you keep the water level up.
COMMENT 296123P	2012-07-10 09:20 PM
Outside they can protect pests that invade plants and create all kinds of yucky goo Does anyone know what the commercial bug people use?
COMMENT 296154	2012-07-11 07:07 AM
cayenne pepper works too, they have a sticky goo on there feet which is why they don't like baby powder, chalk or the pepper.
COMMENT 296157	2012-07-11 07:19 AM
vaseline
FRESHPAVEMENT	2012-07-11 07:20 AM
Baby powder works well, like the first commenter wrote.
COMMENT 296186	2012-07-11 08:12 AM
I can't believe no one mentioned Joy, Dawn soap and water. Just a couple drops in a bucket of water degreases the oil on the small hairs ants use to keep dry. They literally die in one drop of water. For big areas - drip soap into the stream of water from a garden hose.
COMMENT 296189P	2012-07-11 08:18 AM
@767 What a great suggestion for killing weeds, boiling hot water, thanks. One fact about some ants is they eat termites.
COMMENT 296192	2012-07-11 08:22 AM
Stop ants from congregating by pouring white distilled vinegar on the area. I get this from 1001 uses for white distilled vinegar! My new favorite site, that and a hilarious T-shirt site for math nerds!
COMMENT 296205	2012-07-11 08:39 AM
Talk to them??? Oh Lord, I cannot stand all the hippies in this town... ughhhh.
SBREAL	2012-07-11 08:43 AM
Try cinnamon....non toxic and does the trick.
COMMENT 296221	2012-07-11 08:55 AM
Bic lighter & a can of Aqua Net.
COMMENT 296241	2012-07-11 09:25 AM
@205. If this world were populated with more of your so- called Hippies, it would be a TRULY kinder and gentler place. I'd much rather have a town with a bunch of "Hippies" in it than people spraying poisons and giving those companies a market to sell in. ANd certainly people who say that they can't stand kind hearted, hopeful and well meaning people. THere you go.
COMMENT 296253	2012-07-11 09:53 AM
And now for something completely different: assuming we're talking about the little black Argentine ants that are common around here, I've noted two things over my 24 years here in SB. 1--they only come inside when there is no water outside for them. They find plenty of food outside. 2--when there's too much water outside they may also come in, like during big rains and broken sprinkler systems. Either way, you can stop them where they're coming in by spraying a light soap and water mixture along their trails, you may have to do it a few times before they get the message. And to keep them out: leave a drip running somewhere in your yard, or even a water bowl or fountain and that seems to work when it's dry.
COMMENT 296264	2012-07-11 10:13 AM
You don't want to kill the ants, you want to kill the colony and the queen. Google boric acid ant control and follow the directions. It takes about a month, but will be a long term solution.
ZEBRA STRIPES	2012-07-11 02:30 PM
Cinnamon works, if visually it doesn't matter. We used to get ants in the kitchen trash bin under the sink. We lined the edges of the cabinet floor with cinnamon. No more ants. Nontoxic, smells great.
CORKY	2012-07-11 04:04 PM
I tried cornmeal with no results. I'll check on baby powder. I've had an invasion this year in the kitchen and bathroom. Can't stomp on ants on the sinkboards/counters. Windex only worked on the ones swarming and was a waste, chalk is supposed to work, but it won't stick to the tile. I usually just brush them off onto the floor and try not to think about it.
CORKY	2012-07-11 04:09 PM
Oh, yeah and I sprayed vinegar all over. No results.
COMMENT 296536	2012-07-11 07:15 PM
Dr Bronner's liquid peppermint soap works every time. It's benign, easy to find, easy to use (straight), inexpensive, lasts a very long time and best of all ant's won't cross it or go near it as far as we can tell. We've used it for years under the sink and there hasn't been an ant invasion for years. Good luck and if you try it just wipe it all around the port of entry. They'll get the message fast.
COMMENT 296541	2012-07-11 07:33 PM
Windex works very well.
COMMENT 296706	2012-07-12 09:59 AM
Baby oil, or mineral oil. Draw a line with a bit on your finger... they can't/won't cross it. Works great around the hanger for hummingbird feeders, kitch counters, pet bowls, sinks, countertops...but not on dirt (obviously nothing porous)... get it.. Best, xo - tink
COMMENT 296731	2012-07-12 10:20 AM
Vinegar or windex
COMMENT 296941	2012-07-12 07:55 PM
Simple green... HELLO!!!
COMMENT 297135	2012-07-13 11:19 AM
amonia works great!

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