The last few days, I have noticed many of you asking about Ant solutions……. many of you are suffering from Ants in your house (or outside).
We all have that problem at one time or another. I am NOT shy to tell you that I had a HUGE bug issue just two months ago at my house – cockroaches in my neighborhood are so horrible. I got it under control, but it was a headache.. I hate paying for bug spray – it’s super hard to shell out $7 (haha!!) and I certainly am not a fan of pest control, especially when they all require a contract, and charge you $35 – $45 a month. OUCH.
So I did it myself. I used Borax – mixed a cup of that stuff with a cup sugar, then a cup water and dumped it down my water meter area outside (the one in the front yard with the plastic cover). Haven’t seen any show up outside since. =)
When dealing with ants, you want something that’s going to be fast, effective, and not require a huge “to-do” of driving to the store, shelling out cash, and buying all these products. Many times, what you have at home will do the trick better than anything in the commercial market. At least I think so.
Here 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 
If you have kids you have an over-abundance of this white smell-good powder. Sprinkle it where ants are coming in, and draw a line of baby powder. Just be cautious if you use it – like any other product, it’s not safe to ingest or inhale, so if you have little ones or pets, you may want to keep them out of the particular space to avoid any medical issues.
Borax
I LOVE Borax. For ants, mix it with something sweet – like jam or maple syrup..or even molasses. Ahh, messy I know 
Place it in a line where the ants will cross so they can ingest it. They will be tempted to eat the sweet stuff……bring it back to the ant hill, share with their friends, and they’ll all die together. 
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.
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, just straight up table salt – sprinkle around baseboards, window sills, etc.
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.
Just remember – when working with Borax, keep it out of reach of the kiddos – it’s harmful. Do not use Borax in your house if you have little ones or pets… as if ingested, can be toxic. You want to make sure that whatever you choose to use, you do so with the proper precautions.
As always, I’m definitely not a scientist – just telling you what works for me in hopes that it will help you too
We’ve also used Cream of Wheat where we’ve seen ants. I saw it somewhere on a do it yourself kind of site to get rid of ants. It also worked! Something I always have handy and very cost effective.
I was going to add Cream of Wheat to her list, too. My MIL swears by it! :)
Dry cornmeal works also. Got them out of my garden by using that – kept my veggies free of pesticides. Just sprinkle it where you see ants. It acts just like rice with birds expanding once consumed.
Does the coffee need to be used or unused?
we had ants suddenly appear. TONS.. and couldnt figure out where the hell they were coming from in my kitchen. Had pest control come out. They werent coming from the window. they were coming from the plug outlet!!! Anyhoo they put some kind of powder inside the socket.. no more ants!
Does coffe need to be used or not used??… i used borax and didnt work one bit .. i put it in the ant hole all over the cracks out side alnog the walk way and nothing.. still tons of ants grrrrr.. hope coffee works just need to know used or not .. thanks for the help:)
There is an organic insecticide known as Diatomaceous Earth (also known as D-Earth) — according to label on bag, “kills fleas, ticks, ants, cockroaches, slugs, beetles, earwigs, silverfish and other crawling insects. There is a “food grade” D-Earth that can be purchased at farm supply stores and used on pets as a flea killer — totally harmless to pets but dehydrates insects! You can put it in a flour sifter to cover the area you are trying to treat. Here is a website about it: http://www.earthworkshealth.com/organic-pest-control.php It’s a mail order site for the product — but I bought mine at the local farm supply store. DO NOT BUY the stuff sold at pool supply stores. It needs to be “food grade”. My house is living proof that it works. I have four cats and a year ago they were infested w/ fleas, as was my house. D-earth got rid of the problem — WITHOUT chemicals — and it’s cheap!
I used D-Earth to get rid of a maggot problem in my outside dumpster. I put D-earth Sprinkles over top of my trash bages whenever I throw stuff away….. Problem solved
http://www.ehow.com/how_4477225_insecticide-also-works-fleas-insects.html
This article explains how it kills ants. However, it tells you to buy it at swimming pool supply stores. DO NOT GET THAT KIND! It is VERY toxic!!!!!
Incidentally, I also use it on my rugs and mats outside the entryways to my house — on the steps, etc., to kill anything that might cling to shoes.
Wow, I’m so glad you posted this today. For the past 5 days we’ve been having an infestation of little tiny brown ants coming out of our STOVE of all places! I’ve spent each morning so far killing and cleaning up the little pests but they just keep spreading – I had to throw away 2 loaves of bread, a bag of grapes and a 5 lb. bag of potatoes they managed to get into overnight halfway across the kitchen today >:(
I’m totally going to try the Borax and the cornmeal, this is the first year we’ve had an infestation and it’s pretty horrible, hopefully this will clear it up!
It’s not freapy, but I love my Truly Nolen. I have no tolerance for bugs – and it’s the best bug service I’ve ever had. I never see any bugs, if i see one I call them and they come out. Its just one of those things I cant do without.
you can buy the d earth stuff at home depot or lowes. have
bought it both places. and nothing and I mean nothing is getting
rid of the ants this year. they are inside and outside. its the craziest
thing i have ever seen. i have done borax, bay leaves, vinegar and peppermint
oil to spray on all the places they are crawling. Diatomaceous Earth that word
cracks me up. all over the place outside and behind the stove and on the sides of
the refrigerator. they just keep moving. I have never had ants like this.
WARNING: TOXIC. Dursban, powdered chlorine, and borax work well for ants, roaches, silverfish, and scorpions if you don’t use in pets or kids.
SAFE: Mix a combination (pick and choose) of cinnamon, black pepper, basil, oregano, bayleaf, garlic, onion, rice, farina, cream of wheat, rice, and/or red/cayenne pepper. Put them all in a blade grinder and grind it to a fine powder. You can use herbs and spices that have been on the shelf for a while. If you can put in well mashed chilies, like tobasco and jalapenos and paint it on the area.
I’ve used ground rice for ants. Scouring powder works well. Cassia powder (cinnamon) is a common ant repellent.
Just be careful to anything sniffing around the powdered mix, and if you have hummingbird feeders, don’t use vinegar nearby.
Thanks for all the useful tips.