It’s ant season again and I can already see ant scouts wandering around but not actually finding anything.
I always take the normal precautions against ants, take garbage out 3 times a day, put out traps when I see them congregate, seal up holes in my corners, and yet the ants will still eventually find a way to get in. In the past I’ve thrown an empty soda can into a garbage can and literally within 10 minutes there’s already an ant line going into it.
Is there something I can spray or rub against the sides of my trash cans to prevent ants from climbing them?
There are a number of sprays that are designed to kill ants (e.g. Raid). You could spray the outside of the can and that would keep them from crawling up the sides, but it’s not a pleasant odor and I’m not sure how safe it is to breathe it 24 hours a day.
The best solution would be to find the outside nest(s) and destroy the source of the problem, but depending on where you live that might not be practical. You could call an exterminator and see what he would recommend. Traps should be helping.
Ants leave pheromones to create ant trails, when you have an ant trail, take a rag/paper towel, some water with dish soap in it, take the soapy water and clean any hard surfaces along the path of the trail, see where the trail is entering your home, create a diatomaceous earth barrier at that entry point, also put a trap (I use Terro brand) down at that entrance point.
I use to swear by Terro brands since I would put 3 down at the start of summer and once they took the bait not have to worry about ants again for the rest of the year but I think my ants have evolved since they don’t even touch the stuff anymore.
Boric acid + warm water + sugar (proportions online). Mix in small jar with lid, store in fridge to retain effectiveness (I don’t know why, but it “goes bad”). Ball up half a paper towel, soak, drain excess and leave on floor near trash. Ants will eventually swarm over it, taking the boric acid back to their nest. Just leave them be, replacing the ball with another every day, and, after two or three days there’ll be no more ants. At first, you may have to repeat the process every 10 days or so. AFAIK, boric acid isn’t going to kill pets or children, but if you have either, you’ll want to devise an arrangement that keeps it out of their reach (ball covered by heavy brick resting on four twist-off bottlecaps, etc).
My 100 year old gran taught me about cucumber skins when I was living in an ant infested apartment at uni. Cucumbers grow on the ground but you never see ants on them? Hmm…
I went home, skinned two cucumbers and jammed the skins into every crack and gap. As there was an ill fitting door, right beside the problem area, which lead onto a bar parking lot, I felt certain, even if this info was true, it would likely fail, for this reason.
I was very wrong. I lived in that apartment for several more years and never had to reapply and NEVER saw another ant in that kitchen.
I always recommend boric acid and peanut butter. Put some of each into a ziplock and smoosh around to mix. Then, snip a corner from the bag for a handy applicator.
Boric acid is ant kryptonite. Mixed with something they’ll eat and they’ll take it back to the nest and all die. Ants won’t cross a barrier of dry boric acid powder.
For small ants, Apple cider vinegar kills and creates a no cross barrier. Doesn’t seem to be effective on larger ants. I will follow the parade to determine the entry point. Spray the vinegar and no ants. Of course they will find another entry spot.
@Asuka are you really taking your trash outside 3x a day?? As someone who lives alone and rarely cooks, I don’t have to change my trash but once a week, maybe less. But that’s just me, not saying it’s the norm. Now I’m fascinated by your trash habits!
How big is your trash can? Do you use a bin liner? Do you use 3 bin liners a day? Do you cook elaborate meals 3x a day? Where do you put the trash when you remove it from the house - is it far?
You don’t have to answer my nosy questions but if you do, I thank you for indulging me
I’ve had luck with the borax, water, and sugar mix in the past. Now it doesn’t seem to work for my ants this year. They eat it but don’t die overnight like they used to. Same with Terro.
There is a food-safe spray called Orange Guard that is expensive (like $18 per bottle) but works well, kills on contact and keeps them away.
There is also food-grade diatomaceous earth, it is basically ground-up seashells that are very sharp microscopically, it will tear up the exoskeletons of ants and many insects and can be used to block ant trails.
If you live in a house look outside and see if there are ant trails along the foundation, I have had luck spraying their trails with Orange Guard and that blocks them from coming into the house.
BTW, I’ve seen bottles of boric acid at the dollar store. White bottle with a red cap, near the cleaning supplies.
And that extra hyphen had me pondering what an ‘in-door trash can’ could be for an embarrassingly long time. Mounted to an entry door or perhaps the inside of a cabinet door? No, dummy, it means not outside, lol.
I’ll throw a single can or a single wrapper from a snack into the trash can, then pick up the trash can and take it into my backyard where I store my larger (and sealed) trash cans. I’ll dump the small amount of trash into the trash can and keep the liner and bring it all back inside. I only throw out the liner if I put something that gets sticky and contaminated the liner.
