How to get rid of ants in the kitchen?

Hi,

I work for the Department of Entomology (study of bugs) and had an ant problem last year and again this year. Baby powder is what the scientist in the department recommended and it worked. I have a one year old and did not want to put out poision. When I got home one day this week the kitchen floor was covered so I covered them in baby powder and they all died so we just swept them up. I put the powder around the baseboards in the kitchen and our back room where they seem to start out and have no problems after that.

Good luck.

We had that problem a few years ago and found some answers that worked great for us. First of all we poured plain white vinegar around the outside of the house where the ants were making their way in. Another option is to spread corn starch around the areas that you're finding ants. They can't digest the cornstarch and it's harmless to your children.

Hope that helps :)

Hello, we have fire ants bad!!! I got an email that said to sprinkle lots of plain old cornmeal on the ant hills.Anys cannot digest it so it kills them. It may take take up to two weeks, but kills them none the less. This has worked for me. Rain doesn't bother the plain cornmeal.
Sprinkle it on the out side of you kitched on in lids on the window sill. They will find it. Good luck.

D.

We have problems year round with ants. My husband puts this stuff called Ortho home defense around the outside perimeter of the house.

A more organic and safe way is to use Boric acid.
go to www.organicgardening.com type in ants
find the article on ants, and then you can print out the article that tells how to mix up the boric acid.

Cinnamon or cyan pepper really keeps them at bay. I have a two year old and she loves to play with my pots and pans so I was afraid to use poisons, plus you don't have to wash every dish in the house after putting out a food product to keep the ants away!!! Oh nutra sweet works great on mounds. I know it sounds crazy, but it was made as an ant killer to begin with. The stuff really kills the whole mound!

A dryer sheet folded and placed where you think they are coming in has worked for me. I have about three dryer sheets in my kitchen. One on the windowsill and one up under the cabinet. Ants don't like dryer sheets.

Someone had advised me yellow corn meal but it didn't really work for me.

We put the ant baits where my toddler couldn't get to them (under the stove, in the cabinets, on the counter behind the toaster oven). Also, if you can find them crawling on the house outside (usually right outside the kitchen) you can attack from there with spray. I had also heard of the talcum/baby powder thing, and something about using cucumber to ward off ants.

C., last year when we had all the rain i had the same problem, yuck is right, i took everything out of all my cabinets in the kitchen and sprayed inside them with an ant & roach killer - i found one at ace hardware (their brand or ortho) that was the least toxic, you will have to keep the kids from the kitchen probobly at least overnight (i had to keep the dog out) maybe spray in the evening and then the next day wipe out all the shelves and put stuff back. i found that the ants were attracted to my honey and molasses bottles, they can smell the sweet stuff even though they were sealed well. i now keep those items in a zip lock as well to help keep the ants out...you should spray the foundation of your home as well if you are in a house, to create a barrier outside - before they get in the next time.

The absolute best Pest Control company, in my opinion, is Fisk Brothers Termite Company. The family ran company has been in business for I think over 60 years and they are Christians.

My grandma always told me to sprinkle cinammon along the window sill and at the door frame, for some reason, the ants will not cross it. It doesnt always work but its somewhere to start that you dont have to worry about the little ones.

You can buy an ant spray that is safe to use around food prep areas and kids...I think it's made by Off brand. I can't remember but I got it at Wal Mart and it works really well.

My name is J.. I myself have been married for 10 years and a mother of two children. I have a 6 year old and a 4 year old. I had the same issue with ants about a year ago. I don't like using chemical because of my children. You can't trust that they are safe for the children like you used to. I finally aked a family member what I could use. Now it's sounds goofy but it works. Put a small thin line of grits where you see the most ants. What happens is the ants eat the grit and when the grit exspands the ant explodes. Now you can't see this because they are so small. Now at least one of the ants takes it back to the queen and she dies as well. Do this for about a week and you will see the differance. I did it for a week and they were all gone. I use it even now when I just see one or two and then it only takes one or two days to get rid of them.This is the only child and food friendly way I know. I hope that this helps.

J.

I've had this problem recently too, but I've only seen them around the kitchen sink. I sprayed some Raid along the wall/counter behind the sink & it has helped a lot. I think my next step is moving everything on the counters to do a thorough cleaning!

i struggled with this at my last house whenever it rained. The "safe" traps never seemed to work. I finally went the "unsafe" route. In the evening, I sprayed ant spray along baseboards and on counter tops, particularly along paths they had been traveling. It was the kind that said "don't use around food/people". I washed the counters well in the morning and the ants were finally gone.

I think we had tons of ants living under/around our house. You can also have the ourdoors treated (like termite treatment) if you think it is a major problem that will continue to reaccure.

The best thing I've found is to get the Ortho insecticide for home and yard (it comes in a gallon jug with a spray attachment) and spray OUTSIDE completely around the base of your house. Be sure to get the bottom of your windows and doors. The idea is to keep them from coming in in the first place, then you don't have to have poisons in the house. As for natural products, they supposedly won't cross a chalk line. Used coffee grounds work pretty well. I sprinkled a little inside my window screens and around the outside where they seemed to be coming in. The also are not supposed to like oranges. The idea is you leave strips of peel scattered around behind the things on your counters. Spraying them with vinegar once they get into the house is supposed to stop them dead and vinegar is non-toxic. The final solution for me has always ended up being the foundation spray. If the colonies seem to be fairly close to the house I've occasionally gone to the source and killed the colony. Good luck!

The reason that ground cinnamon works is that insects don't have nostrils. They breathe through thny holes in their sides called spiracles. The oils in the the cinnamon cause it to ahdere to the ant's exoskeleton ("skin") and it clogs the spiracles, making it impossible for them to breathe. One of our cats doesn't like to come inside much, and we leave food outside for him. We had a problem with ants getting into it at first - then I surrounded the food bowl with a circle of ground cinnamon, and the ants left it alone.
I even use it on the anthills in my yard. I open up the anthills and pour it into the core, hoping that it will reach the queen. Even if it doesn't, ants don't like having their mounds disturbed, and if you keep doing this, they will leave.

i had the same problem when my girls were babies their dad brought in a plant and ants were everywhere and honestly it took a week we put the baits on the counter, on top the fridge and in cabinets( the lower ones like under the sink) also under the fridge and there we went no more yucky bugs. just keep stuff wiped down where the baby goes sticky thing are like a fair for ants. also i think lowes sells a spray that kills ants and is not harmful to kids.

I would call whoever you use for pest control. That is what I did when I started to see a few coming through the window. Since they have sprayed I havn't seen one since. If you don't have a company already, I highly recommend Blaze Pest Control (in the OKC metro area) ###-###-####. Good luck to you.

if you live in a house try treating the ants on the out side and under the house if you can cause I don't think they make a child friendly ant poison that would work that's why its called poison but you can put poison under the house and around the base of the house since that is where they come from good luck

Terro. You can find it at Lowes.

Hi C., I've had the same problem on more than one occasion (even in my 2nd floor office!) They are looking for higher and dryer ground. You're safest, easiest and most effective bet is to try and find their outside source. Check the wall imediately behind where you find them, along the base and around sills, and use an outdoor-rated spray on the whole area if you find them. Pots and planting beds are the usual culprits, as they offer good housing. I had a plant that I brought in for the winter that they were traveling back and forth from. If that brings no luck, try to get as close to the wall as possible - inside and under cabinets if possible - with the traps. But as they like to build up their nests inside the walls themselves, that would only be a temporary solution. If you can break the chain and keep them from finding a new route long enough, they'll give up an find someplace else to go, and it'll get easier as we evetually dry out. Good luck.

Go to Ellison's feed store and tell the clerk. They will give you an insecticide you mix up. Don't spray it in the house. Go outside and spray all around the base of your house and the frames of your windows. That will keep more from coming in. Then go get a mild ant killer from the store and spray the inside of the windows and make sure your baby stays away until it dries. Just smash the ones left with a paper towel.

I have had that problem before also. At my local plant nursery I was told to use cinnamon. Apparently it is like walking across glass to an ant. I went home and sprinkled it in the door jams and along the windows. It worked like a charm. Atleast with this, I did not worry if my girls got into it.

I have used bark from a cedar tree before. You just lay it in you cabinet. It worked for me, hope it does for you.

Try to locate the nest and put a small amount of ant gel right next to it. We had problem with ants for a while until I discovered they were inside the window so I just placed the gel there and they were gone within a few days.

I know how to keep them out of the house,put ground cinnamon areound you base broads under the kitchen sink and around your window seals..the ants wont cross it,,Been doin it for years my grandmother told me about it and I thought she was nuts,,but it works..
good luck
alittle about me,
wife of 28 years
mother of 4 and grandmother of twins,

Hi! I can remember as a child we would get ants in our kitchen. What my mother would do was put out salt and get rid of any water source. She would dry out the sink after every use and in a few days they would be gone. I dont think they like salt and that is why she would sprinkle it around.

Cayenne pepper does wonders! Sprinkle it around where they're coming in and on the ant hills outside. Which reminds me, I need to go sprinkle a little in the yard today. We just moved in and we have ant hills by the front walk. At our old house this is how we got them to vacate our yard. Sprinkle enough that you have a good coating on the ground about twice a week for two weeks and they should be gone.

If you have a window sill, Terro sells baits now and I love it. But it is very toxic, so if you have a pet or child that can get to the window sill, think twice.

This is a tip I learned in Girl Scout camp training. Try talcum/baby powder. If you know where they are coming in, put down a line of powder. My trainers swear it works to keep ants out of tents.

I also experienced the ants in our old apartment. The bait traps worked very well for us, maybe you can take a day out to train your 1 year old to stay away from them.

Blessings,
D.

I have tried this and it worked for me. If you can find where they are comng from, get some crushed red pepper, the seasoning and line it uo along the window seal or door frame where they are coming from and put enough down ther and it will stop them from coming in and if the ones that are in there eats on it they will die you will just have to sweep and mop up the dead ones. I hope ot works for you. Good luck!!!

If you can find where they are comming in just sprinkle cinnamon in the window sill or threshold of the door. They will not cross a line of cinnamon. My grandmother did it, my mom did it, i have done it for yrs. Works great.

I've been using this stuff called Hommus ant killer and it seems to be working very well...I smear it around the window ceils.. Fixing to buy more and spray all my craks and cervis's.. in my kitchen area, just as a precaution..it's been holding them off so for.
Hope it work's for you too.
K. Ann

I've never heard of the Baby powder thing, but I have had that problem in Pensacola and we used three things:
1. Baking soda line...something about them not crossing a "white" line, so the baby powder would probably work
2. Sprayed Raid bug spray in the areas where we thought they were coming in...we had them coming up from the carpet in the twins bedroom and in our bathroom
3. We had a "do it yourself" bug place where we bought this spray (human & animal safe), it killed everything (even a poor little frog), we sprayed it around the house every 6-8 weeks or whenever it really rained hard...it would bring out the ants gallor (we had carpenter ants mostly)

Hope this helps! It is horrible when you have little ones, and you never know if the ants will bite them...that was our thing with them being under the carpet in the twins bedroom.

Take care,
God Bless,
J. D

Proud Blessed Momma to Ash & AJ ~ 4 yrs old in 6 days