apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

How about using French canning jars---they have the gaskets and look nice, too.

Find which way the beasties come in and sprinkle mustard seeds on the trail - works like a charm.

Ikea has great ones with an airtight seal that I use. They look great and are inexpesive. Good Luck. I've been through that in Florida.

Jamie, Ikea makes the exact jars with a rubber seal!

These are nice:

http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=74062&PRODID=10018773

but pricey for me.

These are more in my price range:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40065867

And this is super cheap:

http://www.glad.com/plasticwrap/pressnseal.php

The Container Store has a bunch of different types:

http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=74062&PRODID=10013282

http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=74062&PRODID=10018773

http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=74062&PRODID=66840

-Ruth

Or straight cinnamon! Ants won't cross a line of it.

The Bodum Yohki jars are more modern-looking than the jars pictured above, but I've had great luck with them. Plus the lids come in a few different versions these days, so maybe you'll find one you like.

not sure what your price range is but also at crate and barrel:

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=850&f=27738

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=4780&f=30651

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=4780&f=26019

Crate and barrel use to have a great set of 3 glass oval canisters in their outlet section of their website, just bought the set for $10 the other day. Seems to be gone now

I think World Market sells these with a rubber seal, too.

We love the Ikea glass Burken jar's for storing dry goods.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50081452

We keep the larger sized jar's on the counter for wheat flour, brown sugar, white sugar, powdered sugar, ap flour, rice and homemade "bisquick" (for pancakes and etc...) and I've never had a problem. The brown sugar even stays moist and, for the price, they can't be beat.

I buy all dried goods by the bulk- flour, rice, cereal, pasta, etc to save from excess packaging and everything goes into the old school glass canister with the metal clasp, they are made in Italy and you can get them at Hardware store they do not cost much.

I had the same problem as you. Last year i switched over to the ikea Burken jars, bitterepiphany, posted above, and they worked great. First year ever I did not get ants in my kitchen.

I battled pharaoh ants until I thought I'd go crazy. I finally went to glass jars with seals, and then sometimes I put stuff inside of zip lock bags and then in sealed jars.

If you have ants---don't SPRAY---that scatters the ants and they form MORE colonies. You have to use baits. It's more tedious but it actually works. It's worth calling a professional exterminator to get the baits.

Also, wash down all ant trails with copious amounts of hot sudsy water---which will destroy their "scent" trail.

Dont store your food on top of your fridge whatever you do.

The heat will make it all spoil very quickly.

Atlas EZ Seal canisters are great, and many come with an air-tight seal:

http://omp.ohiolink.edu/Images/Bdg/Hist1MDS/d362/1112508172-15161-22671-767376-876-1983012051.Om3332_001.jpg

Available at many 2nd hand and antique stores for less than $5 each...

I second SunnyBlue on bait traps.

Or just keep everything in the freezer like I do! (We also have mice.)

Have you tried getting an exterminator? I'm in Texas and every spring we get ants too, but as soon as the exterminator comes they are gone, and if it rains afterwards, they come back for free. We usually exterminate a few times from spring to summer, but it's worth it not to have to deal with ants.

French Clamp-top Glass Jars

http://www.kitchenkaboodle.com/product_detail2.php?sku=VMC977832006!2442

I like these because they are square not round:

http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=74062&PRODID=66840

I use half gallon mason jars. They're simple, easy to come by, and have handy dandy markings on the side for cups and ounces and ml.
http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2841638&CAWELAID=109333718

I use the Slom jar from IKEA and haven't had an ant problem. The clasp keeps the lid on tight.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40065867

I used to have the Burken jars and ants DID find a way in.

I work in a restaurant, so when a jar of Dijon mustard gets used up I take the nice big mason jars home. Try buying goods that you usually buy, but in nice jars. Otherwise, search out garage sales, antique markets, etc, and if all else fails, the ikea ones are pretty good. I like getting used ones though, more eco-friendly and more character.

I also have a thing for the vintage tins/jars that have the big wording on them for flour, tea, sugar etc. You can buy them at a lot of kitchen stores new that have the rubber sealed lids like mason jars now, and some second hand ones have good seals too.

Big benefit to glass mason jars and ceramics for storage is that things look good left out!

I've been using "cracker jars" that you can get from Target or the Container Store - they're cheap and I love the way they look.

I love the OXO ones with the pop-top - get them at container store. Lots of sizes, they stack, they're awesome.

Second the fridge/freezer tip, the only way we can keep cereal around here.

I use these jars with screw-on lids from Target. They come in all different sizes and run from $3 to $10.

http://www.target.com/Cracker-Jar-Lid-Set-oz/dp/B000RMO3ZY/qid=1238008361/ref=br_1_16/176-3524195-8873354?ie=UTF8&node=1191302&frombrowse=1&pricerange=&index=tgt-mf-mv&field-browse=1191302&rank=pmrank&rh=&page=11

Less messy than cinnamon or mustard powder is plain old vinegar. I used it to fight ants last summer, and it took a few days, but worked like a charm. Just fill a spray bottle with white vinegar, and spray where you see them entering, and along their trail. It will smell like a salad for a little while, but that dissapates remarkably fast. That way you won't have to spend a whole lot of money on fancy jars either :o)

If anyone is set on the ones from Container Store, they have a coupon on their website for use online or in-store that is good for 25% off the entire purchase. I believe the offer is good through April 13.

I think you would be best served by these glass preserving jars with rubber washers and hinged lids. My mom has tons of them. These are what they look like, and you can likely find them in any kitchen supply store:

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&um=1&q=preserving jar&btnG=Search Images

restaurant supply stores sell plastic containers that seal nicely and have a higher capacity than most of the links others have posted for a low cost. Function over form with those bad boys.

i bought Raid ant baits and they work great.

Exterminator. Solved all my ant issues.

I saw jars almost exactly like the C & B ones you posted, but with a seal. The largest was just under $10... very affordable!

Click Clack. Airtight, and I love that I can open and close with one hand. I will never go back to anything else.

http://clickclack.com

Screw-on top won't stop ants- the little suckers just follow the rings like a superhighway. Good luck!

I use wide-mouth Mason jars (the best deal I've seen so far is at Smart&Final) and Ikea jars that look exactly like those in the picture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason_jar

Another vote for wide mouth mason jars! We have a variety of sizes, from large for bulk goods to small for leftovers and such. Added benefit is that we got a food saver with a mason jar adapter so we can seal extra bulk goods up and they last practically forever! Solves the "what to put in that useless space above the kitchen cabinets" problem - pretty jars of rice, beans, flour, dried fruit - and we save tons by buying in bulk.

I love mason jars, but even with my small hands, its hard to scoop out the flour, sugar, etc when baking. I have the Slom jars from Ikea and though they do not have huge openings either, i do like that they latch with a rubber seal!

I love the SLOM Ikea glass jars (the link is posted up above by "hmr"). They come in small, medium, and large.

http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=74062&PRODID=66840
These are the ones from the container store..I got mine at Walmart and they are great!

I use rice to fight the ants. Leave grains of rice on the trail, or just leave a cup of rice on the countertops, shelves, and wherever ants may go... believe me, I don´t know hoy it works, but ants are gone.

check out these from world market:

http://www.worldmarket.com/kitchen-tabletop/Home-KeepingStorage/kitchen-storage-containers/Air-Tight-Canisters-Set-of-3/lev/4/productId/8297/No/16/Ne/1100001/Nao/16/pCategoryId/1100176/sectionId/2866/Ns/NEW_ARRIVAL_FLAG|1||CATEGORY_SEQ_3020|0/N/1100177/Nty/1/categoryId/1100177/gpCategoryId/1100131/index.pro

also check out the awesome price!

They also have some more on their website that could work

Or straight cinnamon! Ants won't cross a line of it.

Yeah, cinnamon works. Smells nice, too!

I recently bought three glass square containers with silver screw on air-tight lids. The biggest was just under a gallon size and was 5.50

I second all of the above suggestions for jars.

To help keep the ants away, put out pretty little bowls of whole cloves and cinnamon sticks. I suggest one per room where you often see ants.

My parents used to get dozens of ants in the house every day - even climbing up through the shower drain. Ick! Countless spraying and bait traps later and they were still happily bedding down.

Since I suggested that they put out the bowls, they haven't seen a single ant! Just remember to periodically change the cloves and cinnamon for best results.

We get rid of ants by mixing 2 TB boric acid (borax), 2 TB of honey (or brown sugar), and 1/2 cup of water. The sweetness attracts the ants, the borax and water will kill them. We put it in a shallow dish behind our toaster oven so we don't have to see dead ants all day, and change the mixture every day because there are usually a lot of ants in it. Within a week or 2, no more ants. I've also read about people mixing the borax and brown sugar and sprinkling the powdery mix around places where they think ants are getting in and again, the sweetness attracts them and the borax, which they bring back to their nests, will kill them and any other ants in the nest that eat the sweetened borax.

I've seen these with the rubber sealing lid at the 99 Cents Only store. I bought one for my cereal and love it! They just had one size.

thank you everyone!

OMG, hmorris, thank you so much! I need document boxes, The Container Store has the best ones I've found, and now I have a coupon. Win!

I store almost everything in this type of jar... I may get some flack for this but I use a piece of cling wrap on each jar and then put the lid on, it is invisible and creates the air tight seal that will prevent pests and items like cookies from going stale...

I got the Snap and Lock they are great, now they have glass instead of plastic. Check Costco and SAms..Maj