Cleaning & Organizing
Dear Community,

Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.

If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.

Thank you.

Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.

Ant Problem! Any suggestions?

I have a major ant problem right now! I've tried almost all of the ant killers I can find but nothing seems to work! Any suggestions would be great!

Re: Ant Problem! Any suggestions?

  • Terro baits are the only ones that have ever worked for me. The ants will seem to increase but after about a week they go away.
    image
  • imageSantorini2011:
    Terro baits are the only ones that have ever worked for me. The ants will seem to increase but after about a week they go away.

    Yep--Terro. I didn't even notice an increase.  Bought the Outdoor variety and just put one outside the window and one on the counter inside and they were gone for good within the week. 

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  •  I will definitely try it! Where can I get it at? How long did it last?
  • I had to get it at a hardware store. But those first 2 have kept them away for several months. Every once in a while I see a lone ant trickle in to the bait trap on the counter, but that's it.
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • Yes - Terro are the only baits that worked for us. I got them at Target. We had a really bad ongoing problem in out kitchen with ants, and raid and combat brand traps did nothing. Withing one night of putting out the Terro traps, all the ants were gone, and have stayed gone for several weeks now. 
  • Grant's ant traps always work for us.  Ants are usually gone within a day or two.  Good luck!
    Visit The Nest! image
    Follow Me on Pinterest
  • I used to use a mixture of powdered sugar (entices the ants) and baking soda (kills them).  


    The last two summers DH has sprayed that bug barrier (I don't know the exact name/brand) around the house and we have had zero ant problems.

    imageBaby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • Wow sugar and baking soda is something that could be tried haven?t used it any time.
  • Another vote for Terro. We got them at Lowes.

    Peppermint oil seems to keep them away once you get rid of them - dilute a few drops with water in a spray bottle. Bonus - refreshing mint smell.

    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • The Terro stuff also comes in a liquid form, with little cardboard squares to put a drop onto. I find that it works even better than the traps, because you can use it in more places, and use as much or as little as you need. The exterminator who came by the first time told us to buy it, and we haven't had to call him back since then! It's available at Home Depot and probably lots of other places.

    You can ignore the cardboard sqyares and the directions: just squirt out a skinny line of the bait, and ants will come and eat at it like a trough. They bring it back to the nest and kill their friends and queen, so it gets rid of the whole colony. At first you will see a ton of ants because they're coming for the yummy bait, but then they'll disappear and not come back. The bait is sticky, though, and tough to wash off, so don't use much and don't use it on delicate surfaces. Also, deploy it as close to the ant's home base as possible, so you're not enticing the ants out further... follow the line of marching ants backwards until you figure out where they're coming in, if you can.

    Hope that helps!

    BFP #1 9/7/12. Loved for a month, and lost 10/11/12.
    Antijenic Drift - my blog
  • I use Grants and am happy with them, plus they ship for free. You can also get Terro traps here. Another thing I heard is to sprinkle cornmeal where you've seen the ants and they will carry it back to the nest and it kills them. Haven't tried it though. Good luck!
    Daisypath Anniversary tickers
  • Another Terro user here. It worked way better than any other stuff I've tried.
    image



  • We got rid of ants in 48 hrs with something really simple:  we found where they were getting in (most of the time it is through a windowsill), and placed peppermint oil-soaked cotton balls there.  Also, wipe your counters down often because ants leave a hormone trail to show other ants where to go.  If you wipe it off it confuses them.  We rubbed the oil on the sill and left small bowls of it on the counter since we have granite and oil isn't good for the counter.  Worked like a charm, and I was grateful because I was skeptical.
    image
  • Another fan of the liquid Terro here...
  • I recently read that if you try like 1 cup of borax and a cup of sugar, and mix it with water, the ants will eat and take back the borax with the sugar bits and it will kill the hive. =)
Sign In or Register to comment.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards