What is the safest and most effective way to rid a house of ants?

[KarenMarie]

http://www.terro.com/dev/products.php?product=liquid_ant_bait

This is the best stuff I have ever used.

I had a really bad problem one summer... so did my neighbors. I got a box of this, and the problem was gone with a day and a half.

Just about everyone on my block uses this now.

edit: and this stuff is pet and kid friendly... unless they actually pick it up, use scissors to cut it open and eat it.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: Jack Ryan
http://www.terro.com/

Worked for me. Within hours traps are crawling with ants. Within about 4-5 days virtually none left. Works nicely.

i second that. it's the most effective stuff out there.

what kind of ants?

the small little ants in my house kept appearing everyday, even after they drank a quarter size pool of this stuff

wow..the little bastards were thirsty

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: Jack Ryan
http://www.terro.com/

Worked for me. Within hours traps are crawling with ants. Within about 4-5 days virtually none left. Works nicely.

i second that. it's the most effective stuff out there.

what kind of ants?

the small little ants in my house kept appearing everyday, even after they drank a quarter size pool of this stuff

wow..the little bastards were thirsty

yup, like water. and apparently acted like one too since there wasnt a day that i didnt see them

I tried THIS. Guess i'll try THIS next even tho they seem to be the same thing. just packaged differently. (i have to restock anyway, since i used my bottle up :Q )

 

[FeuerFrei]

Sounds like your house is infected and is producing antybodies to help fight the infection.

 

[darkeneddays]

Ants are so bad at my place I've gone to putting pretty much all my food in the fridge. After enjoying a bag a chex mix chok full of ants I gave up on putting anything other than can goods in my cabinets. They have also raided my peanut butter and sealed pop-tarts and granola bars. With fall/winter coming around they seem to be toning it down some but hopefully some of the suggestions in this thread will eliminate them altogether.

 

[Turin39789]

Just get a pet

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: Jack Ryan
http://www.terro.com/

Worked for me. Within hours traps are crawling with ants. Within about 4-5 days virtually none left. Works nicely.

i second that. it's the most effective stuff out there.

what kind of ants?

the small little ants in my house kept appearing everyday, even after they drank a quarter size pool of this stuff

wow..the little bastards were thirsty

yup, like water. and apparently acted like one too since there wasn't a day that i didnt see them

I tried THIS. Guess i'll try THIS next even tho they seem to be the same thing. just packaged differently. (i have to restock anyway, since i used my bottle up :Q )

I tried the drops also. it really did not seem to work.

i got some of the pre-packed stuff (2nd link) on clearance that i will use once they show up again. if that does not work i might have to call NK and get a small nuclear bomb..

 

[T9D]

Originally posted by: Jack Ryan
http://www.terro.com/

Worked for me. Within hours traps are crawling with ants. Within about 4-5 days virtually none left. Works nicely.

I use that too. And it does work. BUT everytime I use it it takes at least 3 months to kill all the ants and get the queen. I'm just happy it worked though.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: OVERKILL
chili powder worked for me

Cayenne pepper works even better. Line the seams with it...ants won't go anywhere near it, or over it.

 

[funboy6942]

I heard moth balls crushed into a powder and spread around the entire preimiter of the home keeps out not only ants but all kinds of other bugs as well.

 

[Rumpltzer]

Are you on the ground floor?

We'd get ants on the ground floor of the Santa Barbara student apartments, and maintenace would set out these blue liquid traps that didn't do anything. Spraying with Lysol or Windex would kill the ants, but it wouldn't stop new ones.

The solution that worked for me was this stuff I bought at Home Depot. It was like grains in a big shaker can that you'd shake around the outside of the apartment. It would stop the ants from coming inside and it seemed to work for the whole summer.


My homosexual, racist, wheelchair-bound roommate (I'm not even making that up) wanted his boyfriend to move in with him so badly that he made life hell until I agreed to move out. Before I did, I sprinkled the place with a 5lb bag of sugar. I can check with him to see if the ant grains kept them out after I left...

 

[Fritzo]

Raid sells ant spikes now. They're little plastic spikes that you put around the outside of the house. It got rid of our ants in about two days.

 

[Lonyo]

Buy a new house.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: MrsBugi
Our place is undergoing some construction, and in the hot summer heat a flurry of ants have found our home to be their refuge.

Ants are on the floor, in the carpet, in the bathroom sinks (I suspect they've infiltrated the pipes, since construction is being done in the bathroom), in the bedroom, in the bed... I've done what I can to get rid of them in the bedroom by ceasing to eat in bed and getting rid of all foodstuffs in the room, but they persist.

"Raid" ant traps haven't been effective at all (the ones that smell like peanut butter), and I am at my wit's end!

Can anyone recommend a fairly safe and very effective way of ridding a house of an ant invasion? If necessary, I can use more drastic measures and leave for a weekend.

Comet

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Originally posted by: Dobbs
WD40 works well but maybe if they are every freakin where you need to call an exterminator and have the home tented.

I'm surprised it took this long for someone to mention an exterminator. Seriously, if the house is infested, this is your only option to make sure they are taken care of.