When I was growing up during the warm summer months my grandma's kitchen would be filled with ants. Each morning we would wake up to ants around the sink, on the counters, and crawling up the cupboards.
One day she hired a person to come to the house to spray for the ants. Afterwards, we couldn't use the kitchen for several hours and had to disinfect the countertops and sink area. After the spraying my grandmother took sick. The smell of the spray was toxic to her and put her in the hospital for a few days.
During this time I needed to clean the kitchen and try to air out the home so she could return. I decided to clean the windows in the kitchen. I noticed that we had ants again. The spay they used didn't stop the ants in the kitchen or garden.
When I was cleaning the windows I decided to spray the ants with Windex. I saw the ants dying off quickly. For the next week we didn't have a single ant in our kitchen. When the ants returned a few weeks later I sprayed them again with Windex. This seemed to be the perfect solution to control the ants in the kitchen.
Windex was't harmful to my grandmother and the ammonia in the Windex was perfect for cleaning the kitchen. We used Windex on the stove and refrigerator to clean the stovetop and outside of the refrigerator. Now we used Windex on the counter, around the baseboards, and sink area. We no longer had ants in our home.
Years ago we didn't have Internet, home remedies, or other solutions to control ants. When we had an ant problem we just took out the bottle of Windex and sprayed the kitchen.
Today I still use Windex or another brand of window cleaner to control ants in my home. I guess some old tricks stick with us through the years.
To deter ants from invading your house, find out where they are getting in and lay bay leaves along their track - they will go away fast!
Please help me to get rid of the ants! I do not leave any food out and I keep my kitchen spotless but ants are all around my sink, counters and wall in my kitchen.
I learned today that the cheap nonstick cooking oil spray kills black kitchen ants on contact, even if it lacks the ability to keep them from coming back.
I have had an ongoing problem with sweet ants and can't get rid of them.
With the current heat wave and lack of water, my kitchen has been invaded by ants. They are everywhere.
I had tiny ants around my kitchen counter that were coming from around the receptacle on the back splash.
Just about every year we have an ant invasion in our house. This happens in the kitchen area. What can we do to get rid of these ants in the kitchen?
I have these little brown ants crawling all over my kitchen counters, my sink, etc. and want to get rid of them. I have tried all kinds of things, but nothing works. I would like to know if anyone has a natural home remedy for getting rid of these pesky ants? It is kind of unappetizing to have these things crawling over the dishes and silverware and everywhere else!
By Linda Delcamp from Brighton, MI
My husband and I live in an apartment complex and we had the same problem. There were ants crawling around our kitchen and bathroom floors. I called the management office and one of the maintenance men gave me a box of Raid Double Control Ant Baits.
You must be careful where you place these. This is toxic to children and pets. This does not work instantly. The ants will take this back to the nest. Eventually all the ants will die. I have found boric acid in dollar discount stores. As it is with any powder chemical, be careful when adding the boric acid that you do not inhale it. As a precaution, I always place these in areas of our home in the spring whether I see ants or not.
ANT KILL
3 cup warm water
4 tsp. boric acid
2 cup sugar
Mix in large bowl until dissolved. Add some cotton balls to three jelly jars or something similar. Pour some of the mixture onto cotton balls in each jar. Do not fill completely. Leave small amount of mixture on the sides outside of the jars to lure the ants. Tightly place lids with small ant holes on jars. Put in areas where you see the ants but out of reach of children and pets.
How can I keep ants off my kitchen cupboard?
By joann berg
I kill them by using non stick cooking spray! It kills them if they are the little black ants.
I have ants in my kitchen; how can I get rid of them for good?
By Bobbie from Cotter, AR
I had great success with a 50/50 mixture of sugar and Borax (the powdered laundry soap). However, if you have small children or pets, you have to be careful where you place this mixture, because it can make them sick if it was to be ingested. If you know where the ants are coming in, you can just sprinkle it in that area. The ants are attracted by the sugar, and take pieces back to the nest to share with the colony. This mixture kills the ants, (including the queen), when they eat it. (Or, you can sprinkle the mixture along the outside of your kitchen wall, but the same precaution applies if you have small children or pets).
If more than one colony is entering your kitchen in different places, you may have to sprinkle the mixture in each area.
An alternative is to use peppermint essential oil. You can mix the oil with water, then spray the areas where you see ants coming in. Or you can simply place drops of the oil in those areas. It must be real essential oil, which can be purchased in a natural food store, natural health store, or online. Essential oils don't actually kill ants, but the ants are so repelled by the smell, they won't want to visit your kitchen anymore. LOL! Your kitchen will smell minty for awhile, until the ants find another food source. NOTE: Essential oils should not be inhaled or ingested by cats or other small animals.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
DeDe
Put a line of talcom powder across the place where they are coming in. They won't cross it.
Does anyone have a suggestions on how to get rid of ants? They are on my kitchen counter and believe it or not in my bathroom! Please help.
By Kathy F.
Well, the ants come from outside and they may have built a nest in your wall cavities so you could hire a exterminator to spray the foundation on the outside. They use a product that the ants carry back to the nest to feed on and die.
I am a vegetarian and try not to kill living things and this includes ants. Is there anything I can use to keep ants out of the kitchen without killing them?
By CuddlyDuck from Birmingham, West Midlands
