The Fastest Way To Get Rid Of Ants

I'm generally a low tox kind of girl.

The switch started a long time ago, mainly due to my worsening allergies.

So over the years, I've become more conscious of what I choose to put in and on my body or use around the house.

These are the only ants I want in my house!

I don't wear perfume or use anything with a fragrance.

And I clean with vinegar and lemons whenever possible.

I try to find a natural solution to whatever problem I'm trying to solve...and when I can't I look for the least offensive product.

Because let's face it, sometimes all natural isn't really an option, but I like to get close.

That's how I found the most effective way to get rid of ants in my house.

You see, we live at the beach and every spring we have these tiny suckers show up in the kitchen.

And they freak me out.


I remember when I was a little girl, there was an old movie, called THEM. It was about giant radioactive ants in the Nevada desert that were taking over the world.

They were creepy (I really don't like bugs), but not nearly as bad as the miniature ones who invaded my home every April.

I had to make sure there wasn't a crumb on the counter.

Bag up all the food and put it in the fridge.

I swept the floor several times a day to make sure there wasn't a trail leading to my pretty pantry.

And prayed they'd move on quickly since there wasn't any food around.


Unfortunately, I usually needed to intervene.

And trust me I tried every natural remedy there out there.

I've been a Hometalk contributor for as long as I've been blogging and have been answering questions on their community boards for years. By and large the number one question asked is how to get rid of ants naturally.

So I've investigated. Deep dives into all the nontoxic alternatives.

I mixed cornmeal, powdered borax or baking soda with powdered sugar.


I sprayed vinegar on the floor to remove any scent path. And used citrus oil to deter them.

With very limited success...and very messy trails on my floors.

One year I even put double stick tape on the floor to prevent them from climbing up on my counter. I used more tape to cover the outlets and again...nope.

My last ditch effort was to try the little plastic ant traps, which frankly made me very, very nervous since they use a nerve poison.

I had my husband place them under the windows, on the far side of the kitchen, because like I said, I don't like chemicals. Poor guy gets all the dirty jobs around here.

But guess what? They didn't work either.

Then my daughter moved south for a bit and her apartment complex had ants. Her immaculately clean, fabulously maintained living room, just sprung a leak one day, which was apparently common in spring there, too. 

The management mandated ant spraying in all units unless you could prove no ants.

Knowing that industrial spray was not good, especially inside, we went down a rabbit hole looking for something that wasn't terribly toxic and found these Terro Liquid Ant Baits.

SEE THE ANT TRAPS HERE

The key ingredient is Borax, so you still have to keep them away from pets and kids and food, but it's Borax...the same stuff I was mixing with powdered sugar and drizzling on my kitchen floor.

I figured this was a much safer way to use it.

And the inactive ingredients are sucrose (sugar) and water.

They work by interrupting the ants' digestive system.

So I felt better about those then the traditional traps and certainly much better than having her apartment sprayed with some industrial poison. No matter how safe they claimed it was...

Plus, best yet, her ants disappeared almost immediately and never came back. Unbelievable.


So I decided to give them a try and they worked like magic. I was shocked.

I literally put out two traps. One on each side of the kitchen. On the floor, far from food or food prep...and we don't have an small children or pets so I didn't have to worry about that.

I just twisted the tab at the top to reveal a small opening in the clear tube for the ants to enter and leave.

I did place them on top of small pieces of cardboard though. In case they somehow got tipped over and leaked.


At first, I saw a few ants inside, but then nothing. Not one ant in my trap, but they weren't in my house either.

Apparently, they bring it back to the colony and that's that.

I've been using them for two years now and I have to say, no more ants. 

I just pop one or two out in the beginning of the season, or as soon as I see an ant in my kitchen and pretty soon, they're all gone.


No scary ants anymore.

Well, not unless I watch that movie.

Which I do.

I just can't resist a good old fashioned, campy thriller from the 1950s.

🐜

Can you?

Oh...and if you look really close at the picture with the roses you might get a hint about my recent kitchen update!! That's coming soon!!

Hope this one was helpful, friends!