For two days now my kitchen has been covered with ants. This happens almost every summer about this time. The ants think my house is their own personal soup kitchen, 5 star hotel, drinking hole, their oasis. It drives me nuts. I've tried everything to get rid of them. I've gone on line to try to find the perfect solution.
I've tried cayenne pepper:
Whatever I read, said to pour the cayenne pepper wherever you see the ants entering the house. So I poured a bunch on the floor right at the spot where they were marching in. And guess what, they just kept on marching - right up and over the pile of pepper. It didn't phase them.
Then I tried black pepper:
Exactly the same result. The ants marched right through the black pepper. I didn't even hear a sneeze.
Some expert swore that Comet cleanser would do the trick:
Nope. They didn't budge. Just kept coming in.
By this time I had a big gooey mess of red, black and green powder all over the floor and it's not easy to clean up. And if you breathe any of the two peppers in while you're doing it, forget it. You're in a lot worse shape than the ants.
I tried You tube to see if I could find a solution and what I found was this video of two sadistic teenagers trying to get rid of the problem with what looks like a shaving cream circle and some lysol. It didn't seem to work either. I'm not sure why they posted this unsuccessful attempt:
I wonder if this would really work. It's kind of long so if you don't want to watch it all go to the end where she's talking about using OrangeGuard:
Why hasn't this guy been arrested?
I hate to admit to the lady in video #2 that I finally ended up using good old ant spray. That really did do the trick. I wonder if I'm going to die. What do you use to get rid of ants? Please help. And don't tell me some combination of powders that I'm going to have a hard time cleaning up and that really don't kill the ants. Maybe I'll try the OrangeGuard. Do you think that might work?
Good luck with the ants. I remember my Mom using boiling water and bleach, but that was outdoors between the patio stones. Hate to admit it too, but we now use ant spray!
ReplyDeleteGrant's Ant Stakes always worked for me
ReplyDeleteHi Koby,
ReplyDeleteDon't feel bad. I really think that ant spray is the only thing that works. But according to Franklin in the next comment, Grant's Ant Stakes should work. That's going to be my next attempt. I'll let you know what happens.
Hi Lin,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip. I'll look for Grant's Ant Stakes. Hopefully that will be the solution.
This is really Nancy - but because Barbara and and I have networked computers - we can't seem to separate our names and photos. Makes it very confusing.
Nancy
I've got the same kind of invasion. They were coming up our stair railings, using it like an escalator. Then the kitchen got hit. We replaced a metal railing last week and a lot of yard was dug up...I think we disturbed a small ant city and got them on the move.
ReplyDeleteI tried those ant stakes but lost patience and used the spray. I've won for the moment.
I've used lots of talcum powder around the gaps and cracks where they come in - seems to work!
ReplyDeletethanks lettuce,
ReplyDeletethat's a powder i haven't tried. I'll try it.