Help with ants

[bethelgal42]

These little buggers are driving me nuts. We have a ranch house on a slab but they seem to come out of the air vents on the floor.  We have Ortho Max Home Defense and they seem to have left everywhere I have sprayed except for the dining room and Anne's room.

Anne could drop a cheerio in the living room and it is left alone but one cheerio in the dining room and there are tons there in the morning.  I have sprayed Home Defense, keep the floor clean and swept and they keep coming back.  Anyone had any luck killing off stubborn ants. It has to be something safe to put in Anne's room.

[rn536]

We had to get an exterminator for our stubborn ants.
I also used to spray vinegar down where the ants were or where they were coming in but not sure it helped much.

[oldbaylover1024]

In my house, ants are awfully hard to get rid of. We had an issue with the ants coming in through the duct work in our dining room. Someone mentioned powdered cayenne pepper and I swear it worked. Buy the cheap stuff from the dollar store and sprinkle it outside your house, around the area you think they're coming in. Right at the edge of your siding. Then, I lifted the air vents and sprinkled some in the shallow duct area. You can't smell it, and if it's inside the duct, Anne shouldn't be able to get to it. I also used our dust buster to lightly vacuum the area just in case I dropped any powder where J would be walking/touching it. Vinegar worked temporarily for us, but the smell was overwhelming after a while. Like I said, our issue was the dining room where J plays and she never had contact with any of the powder.

Also try cleaning the floor with some carpet cleaner and/or Oxyclean. I swear that stuff is all-powerful!

Good luck! Those ants are a PITA!

[oldbaylover1024]

I've also heard cinnamon sticks, lemon juice, and coffee grinds work, too.

[bethelgal42]

Thank you. I will try the Cayenne pepper and vinegar when I get home. Does the cayenne pepper just keep them away because they don't like it or does it kill them?

[oldbaylover1024]

Feb 10, 2015 12:56:44 GMT -5 bethelgal42 said:

Thank you. I will try the Cayenne pepper and vinegar when I get home. Does the cayenne pepper just keep them away because they don't like it out does it kill them?

Hmmmm... I'm not sure to be honest. All I know is they stayed away. Spring is really the season to terminate ants. They tend to huddle down in winter and underground nests are hard to find (or can be). When spring comes you should see the ants coming into your foundation or home somehow. Look around your patio, deck, yard, and sidewalk for signs when the weather warms up.