Ants Inside Your Home

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Ants!!!

I love the ideas for getting rid of ants outside the home, but how can I get rid of them inside the home without paying a costly exterminator, or making a mess inside my house?
Katie

As Simple As Vinegar

I have found that since I have started to use a vinegar/water mix in a spray bottle to wash down my counters, table, stove, etc. I have not found any ants inside my home. I used to use brand name cleaners and put out ant traps but the ants would still be found from spring until late summer. So why spend the money when vinegar costs so much less? I had received an e-mail that explained where some cliché's came from. One was "Don't cross the line" which referred to the fact that ants won't cross a line of vinegar.
Cheryl,

Recipe for Success

The best way I have found to get rid of ants both inside and out is the following recipe:

• 2 cups of sugar
  
  
• 1 cup of water
  
  
• 2 tablespoons of borax
  
  

Place all ingredients into a saucepan and bring to the boil (while stirring). Boil for 3 minutes. Using the plastic lids from milk containers (don't know if you have plastic lids on your milk, but here in Australia we do). Place it in the effected room or outside where the ants are. They will find the sticky liquid no matter where it is placed. The ants eat this and then take it back to their nest. Before long there will be no more ants as this mixture will kill them.
Sue

Web Recipe for Eradication

I got this recipe from a website that listed homemade recipes for various items - www.recipegoldmine.com/house/house.html:

• 1 part boric acid
  
  
• 2 parts mint jelly or cracker crumbs
  
  

Mix, then place the bait in a container with ant-size holes in the lid. Place away from children because boric acid can be harmful if swallowed. Dispose of the container after use.

The worker ants enter the trap, feed on the poison and carry it back to their nest. Once inside the nest, they feed bits of the poisonous material to the queen and immature ants, and the entire colony is eradicated.
Laurie

TERRO to the Rescue

My husband's family has a real estate company at the beach and my mother-in-law has used one ant product faithfully for 20 some years. It is called TERRO Ant Killer II, made by Senoret Chemical Co., Inc. It is a chemical, but one drop from a 1 fluid ounce bottle will bring all ants to eat the stuff and take it back to the nest. They will be gone in a day.

I have tried every natural repellent like cinnamon (it is a mess to clean up the ground kind),but this works every time. And the bottle costs about $2.50. It will last you a long time. My mother-in-law was also a licensed exterminator and this was her answer for ants all the time.
Definitely a frugal solution.
Catherine

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