Fed up with sugar ants! Help!?

Question

I keep my house immaculate & we do not leave food around. That's why I cannot understnd why everytime I turn around, there are more damn sugar ants in the house! I'll find them in the oddest of places too- on a windowsill in my son's room (he doesn't eat in his room), in the bathroom, on the washing machine. I literally cannot leave a glass of WATER next to my bed during the night because if I go to take a sip, guaranteed there will be ants in it. We have tried traps, ant spray on the inside and outside of the house, I don't know what else to do short of setting the house on fire! I'm just so tired of these things! Any suggestions!?

Answer 1

Sounds crazy, but try vinegar! Fill a squirt bottle with plain old cheap white vinegar, and squirt it anyplace you've seen ants (kitchen counters, windowsills, etc) and let it dry. It's non-toxic, won't harm anything, and the smell will go away in just a couple of minutes. It worked for me!

• I have a suggestion for the ant problem; plain old cinnamon. I put in or at the site of the ant invasion, they back off quick!

• Black pepper is a nonlethal, poison free, cheap, and safe way to get rid of ants - sprinkle the black pepper where you see them congregating and watch 'them scatter. Follow them to where they're exiting - which is the same spot they're entering in at - and sprinkle the pepper at that spot to keep them from coming back in. It's safe to use in your cabinets, on windowsills, near your pets and kids, around food, etc.

• I have a book with several tips for the use of apple cider vinegar. One of them is getting rid of ants. Make a mixture of 50/50 water and vinegar and pour it into a spray bottle. Spray the surface with the solution several times a day. Ants guide themselves with their scent. Vinegar has a natural chemical that alters ants' scent and which ants avoid.

You can find some more good tips here:
http://www.thefrugallife.com/ants.html

Answer 2

I've had those ants a few times over the years. It always seems no matter how clean you keep your kitchen (or elsewhere) they still seem to come. But, I've been able to safely get rid of them for years at a time by doing the following old time remedy. I also suspect this would be a good solution for outdoor ants as well, just so long it wasn't raining during the few days of treatment.

Get a cheap bottle of boric acid powder (a very mild and safe form of ant control you can get at places like Home Depot and Lowes in the pest control section next to the gardening supplies). Also get a small container of mint jelly from the grocery store (I found it at Albertsons grocery store).

Mix two tablespoons boric acid powder per 10 ounces of mint apple jelly. Take a thin piece of cardboard or a doubled over piece of paper and tape it firmly against part of the surface (such as a counter) directly over the pathway the ants are using and make thin rows of the boric acid jelly solution on it, with enough space between the rows for the ants to get between so that as many of the ants have access to the edges of the jelly as possible. Some will get stuck in the jelly, but many will take bits of this stuff back to their nest and feed it to the rest of the colony and queen. You may have to replace the paper or cardboard with fresh jelly daily for 3 or 4 days, and then they'll be gone for good. (By the way, you may actually see more ants in the first 24 hours after you first put the boric acid jelly out, but then it tapers down quickly during the 2nd day because they begin dying as they take the stuff back to their colony.)

The way the stuff works is that it dehydrates them from the inside out.

Answer 3

See if you can determine the point of entry from outside the house to locate their nests. Pour several gallons of boiling water into the entrance than stir up the soil and repeat. Or, use a small hand duster and blow some boric acid powder(available as roach powder) into nest entrance and any cracks and crevices where ants are seen. Scatter talcum powder, cream of tartar,borax, powdered sulpher, or oil of cloves at entry points, or plant mint around the house. Ants won't cross Vaseline if you make a thin line barrier with your finger, they will also not cross over salt. Good luck

Answer 4

Mix boric acid with powered sugar and set little bait stations around the house. The ants will carry it back to the nest and eventually they will all die. Boric acid is not poisonous to pets or children but can be an irritant to eyes or mucous membranes because the crystals are sharp edged and pointed. That is what kills the insects that eat it.

Answer 5

I had the same problem .I had more success with Cinnamon than I did with the commercially available sprays and traps.Ants don't like cinnamon and will not cross a line of it.
You might want to give it a try...Good Luck I feel your frustration.

Answer 6

A bug bomb which can be purchased just about anywhere(K-Mart,Lowes, grocery stores) will reach places sprays and traps cant. If that doesn't work, up your insurance and then torch the place, ( Just kidding on the last part)

Answer 7

Go to your local Wal Mart or hardware store and get some Terro........... its works every time...small bottle, not too expensive....... you put in on a small piece of cardboard, included in the box, and it attracks the ants, they take it back to their hills and the rest eat it and die............ simple, quick. I use it all the time......... keep some under the sink just in case we get new ants...

Answer 8

I would suggest Vinegar...just go buy the biggest jug of plain cheap white vinegar, take it home, put it in like a Windex bottle(squirt bottle) and spray were ever you see them, or have seen them. I have also heard of black pepper. I personally haven't tried black pepper, but my grandmother swears by it.
Good Luck!

Answer 9

someone could have tossed a couple of bags of sugar under your crawlspace. not that i've ever done it to other people that i don't like, or anything remotely similar to that.