The other day I discovered that our dining room had been overtaken
by brazen, ravenous ants. It’s no wonder that they were attracted to a certain area in the house—where the boys consume food with their formative
eating skills and fledgling hand-eye coordination. It was easy work for lazy ants.
I did the thing where
you see some ants together and then you look farther and see more and then farther and more, and it makes your stomach sink because you have been invaded and you didn’t
even know it. I had three kids in the house. How was I supposed to keep them
out of the ants, while still feeding them, and try to figure out how to get rid
of the ants? The vacuum is the easiest band-aid. I did that a few times, but
clearly was only vacuuming the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
 |
| Stupid ants |
A friend and her twins were over in the morning shortly
after I discovered the ants, and I had her run out and buy me some ant traps
and ant gel, which I had never used. First of all— I’m blessed to have friends
who will drop what they’re doing and buy me ant repellent. Secondly—it didn’t work. I waited for 8 or 9
hours and they were still swarming the baseboards and clinging to anything
resembling food, except for the ant traps. And the gel wasn’t safe to use since the area was accessible to
children.
Later, when everyone had gone to bed and the house was silent
(This may or may not be the best part of my day), the ants still scampered like
the invading scoundrels that they are. I got online and looked up ideas for
getting rid of ants. Fascinating. Not really, but the result I got was.
After washing down the baseboards and walls around where the ants were with half vinegar/half water rinse, and dowsing the baseboards and nearby carpet with baby powder, I woke up in the morning to a completely ant-free dining room! They haven't been back and it's been two days now.
Don’t spend money on (insert popular brand of ant repellent here)! Get out your vinegar and baby powder and draw the battle lines.
 |
| Ant enders |
Sooo...any of your ants come back? I tried this today on a spot that the ants always like to come into my kitchen from outside. So far they haven't come back inside. I hope it continues to work!
ReplyDeleteAll is still quiet on the battlefront! Once in awhile I see some ants outside on our balcony (mostly by our recycling basket), but after I sprinkled baby powder in the actual basket I haven't seen any more ants in there either. I feel so victorious! I'm glad it's so far helping with yours too! Another thing I read is to put bay leaves or other herbs crumbled up by where the ants come into your house-- the plants naturally repel bugs so they don't get eaten. I'll try that if there's every a problem again, and compare notes. :) Glad this was helpful to you!
Delete