What's the best method for eradicating ants in the kitchen?

Question

I've tried to use bait motels, but it's not working. I've avoided using the sprays, due to acrid odors they leave behind, and also because I have 3 cats. I'm really infested with ants up the wazoo. Please help.

In case region is relevant, I'm in New York City. Also the ants are the tiny kind (as of now anyway).

Answer 1

Clean every nook an cranny, kitchen cupboards,
shelves or storage ares in your kitchen of any food residue.
Use lots of bleach to make sure everything is clean.
Put all food supplies in containers. No open boxes,
or open packages of any kind. Your cat food should also
be in sealed containers. Check under your sink for anything
that ants might like to eat. Sprinkle some ant-poison in
areas where your cats can't get at.
Keep cleaning your kitchen with bleach.
On the outside of your windows and doors and around the
house spray some ant insecticide.
If you have a basement check there too.
Those little critters get in anywhere they want.
There is a food source for them somewhere and until
you find it and get rid of it, they will be in your house.
If nothing else helps, call a pest control company.

Answer 2

1. Clean up the surfaces and seal any sort of food substances. 2. Follow the ants to see where they are entering and exiting. 3. Use regular chalk to draw a thick line between the food source and their home. Make sure they can't go around the end of the chalk line. There is some chemical in the chalk that they won't walk on. 4. Leave the chalk there for a month or so until they find a happier hunting ground.

Answer 3

I have two cats and where I live we get ants every year because of the sandy soil. Try this:

Heat until brown 2 1\2 ounces of corn syrup, remove from the heat, (careful!), and then add 1 teaspoon of boric acid. Stir it in well. Add 2 1\2 ounces of water and mix it well.

Put some holes just a little ways up from the bottom of a plastic container like a small margarine tub. Add about a spoonful or two of the syrup and put the cover on so the cats can't get at it. Set it where the ants can get at it. Once they discover it, they will take it back to the nest. The boric acid kills them.

You will get a build up of dead ants in and around the container so then you have to change it. When the ants don't come anymore you can stop putting it out.

Good luck.

Answer 4

I bought a gallon bottle of indoor/outdoor "Bug Stop" at Wal-Mart for $6.50 and sprayed my baseboards and under sinks. I have to say, it's incredibly gratifying to see their little carcasses in the morning. I am finding fewer and fewer, so they're either all dying or they're getting the word out that my house is not a good place for them to move in to. If you're worried about the cats, just spray under your sinks and behind the appliances; that's where the ants will be mostly anyway. It gets rid of other pests too.

It really does work! Good luck!

Answer 5

We had ants just like the ones you are talking about.

My husband got this stuff called COMBAT Ant killing gel. It does state harmful to animals and humans. He used it around the sink and in the corners on the counters. The first day he used it we did not see any ants. Since he placed it where he did the dogs and my son were not in anywhere near contact.

Good Luck I know it is frustrating.

Answer 6

The animals don't help since you can't really spread too much stuff around. I found Raid Ant Killer in a little squirt bottle - the same size as Artificial Tears or Visine. You can usually find it at home centers/hardware stores.

Answer 7

fill a spray bottle with half white viniger and half water. Spray around the windows, doors, areas where the ants come in. This works well to get rid of spiders too

Answer 8

get some new motels just incase the ones u got were old, i have also had success with putting used coffee grounds around the perimiter of your living space, messy but effective, u can get them free from starcucks, if u live in an apt. talk to your landlord and see if your neighbours have ant problems, the landlord might need to take action.

Answer 9

Stomp on them, make a game out of it. How many ants can you stomp in one hour. Eventually they'll get the message.

Answer 10

My mother inlaw she swore by taking moth balls and putting them in small glass jars {like baby food jars with the lids] and poking holes in the lids. She never had ants. You could try combat motels. They worked for me.