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We have the exact same problem with the ants coming out of our wood floor cracks and crawling into the dog bowls!!! We tried baby powder, but it didnt work, and we don't want to use something toxic either. This is such a great tip!!! Thanks!

You can make an extremely effective de-skunking formula out of peroxide, baking soda and Dawn dishwashing soap.

Ants don't like chalk.

When the ants come marching in and right up to the kitty bowl, we make a 'moat' by putting the food bowl in a larger bowl filled with water. It's very effective.

Try borax, you know the "20 mule team" your grandmother always seemed to have around. Crawling bugs hate it. Telephone poles used to be treated with it. Sprinkle it around your foundation for a treatment or in cracks that bugs use. Dissolve a cup in your mop bucket and wash your floor with it. The residue will land in the cracks and help keep the bugs away. It seems to be eco kind. I just bought a box for treating my house. It worked quite well last year. I think It would be good for people with children too - No pesticides.
Ya, I come from a long line of yanks.

Try diatomaus earth for ants also...it essentially makes them into mummy's. Ant mummy's outside are much more attractive then in your cabinets!

Borax is also used in Ultra Touch insulation...that is it. Well, except for the cotton. Good one.

Does this work with roaches? I heard baby powder works, too and tried it, but I'm not sure if it was just coincidental that I didn't see any (we didn't have that much of a problem).

@nothinlikeadame-- Be careful with Borax!! "The estimated lethal dose (ingested) for adults is 15-20 grams; less than 5 grams can kill a child or pet." It's poisonous.

Maybe I have extra jaded and crafty ants in my place, but they scoff and scoff hard at cinnamon, cayenne, boric acid and most especially Raid ant bait traps. I've seen them cruise up to whatever supposed repellent agent I've put down, sniff it out and then run in the opposite direction. Poison spray and blunt trauma seem to be the only effective deterrents. It also seems to help if I leave the dead ants scattered about as a warning to the rest of them.

Haha in the UK 'skunk' is another word for cannabis (and of course we don't have the animal here)-I was quite shocked that you'd be talking about that smell in your house for a moment then!

Great tip though.

Mint plants keep ants away from the foundation of the house. Mint extract keeps them out of everything else. There are all-natural mint sprays that even kill ants.

I have had good luck beating back our ants by spraying soapy water on them. I make up a small spray bottle of (dish) soap and water which I spray directly on the ants themselves (kills our little ants instantly). I also coat the surfaces and cracks where they are showing up with the soapy mixture and leave it for awhile.

The way you know you've got the ratio of dish soap to water right is that when sprayed it leaves a light soapy residue....it does not not take much dish soap. I use a dish soap that smells like green apples (can't remember what brand) and the extra benefit is that until cleaned up the soap leaves a fresh clean smell.

...doesn't work on roaches though

Thanks for the tip about mint, easup! I was actually intending to plant some mint around my house, so you just gave me the extra incentive to do it. Now if I could just find some mint plants...No one seems to have them this spring.

I've tried almost every single natural ant remedy. (Except for the mint. I do want to plant mint around the foundation) and it never works. Cinnamon. Borax. Corn meal. Etc, etc, etc.

The only thing that has EVER worked is Terro. And even that doesn't make that big of a dent because our entire backyard is completely full of ant hills.

Great tip, wish I would have known about this two years ago!!! I scoured the internet looking for tips on how to get rid of the smell of skunk residual in the house! I did the Peroxide/dishwash/baking soda mix on my dog but then the house stunk for days on end! We had a chronic problem with my dog vs. skunk at that time.... dog lost!

I fight the ant problem every spring. I pour water in the tray I use for the dog's food and water dishes. And, I'm using popcorn salt across their entry point under the kitchen door. This seems to be working. I think it acts as a desiccant.

Talc works too.

Peppermint extract wiped around the door/window jams and other points of entrance also works...and smells nice and fresh, too! Dab a bit on a cotton ball and go to town, the ants run like heck....the vapors mess up their antenna and it eliminates their chemical trails.

Here's a few other natural insect repellant plants:
lavender
Cloves
Rosemary
Mint
Thyme
Eucalyptus
Peppercorns
Dried lemon/citrus peel
Cedar
Bay leaves
Citronella oil

I make sachets out of combinations of these ingredients to put in my closet to deter moths. Works like a charm, and smells great!

I also put a bunch different ingredients into a mortar and pestle with some olive oil and make a paste, which I spread all over my outside kitchen windowsill. I live in NYC and have a tiny kitchen, and I find that roaches usually get into my apartment by climbing up the building and getting into the kitchen window, even if there's a screen. Bay leaves seem to be especially effective in detering roaches. I keep my paste in a jar in the fridge and put more on if the rain washes it off. Works wonderfully and there's no chemicals near my tiny kitchen!

-Jaime

any advice for keeping spiders out? I've heard they hate Eucalyptus, but wonder if anybody has any other suggestions.

Haley,
I promise I will not feed children borax.
Please don't tell me bacon is bad too. That would be too much to take. MMMMM bacon;)

We were invaded by ants when we went away for Easter. I've gotten them out of most places (they even invaded our dishwasher!), but the garbage area under the sink has been particularly stubborn, as the back wall --almost impossible to reach -- is one of their entry points. Thanks for this! Will definitely try it!

I'll have to try the baking tip. Not that our house is stinky... I just think it would smell even better with the cinnamon!

http://thebluepearlgirl.blogspot.com

Ants dislike sage too!

Mint will grow from cuttings, if there's a neighborhood plant you particularly like. Just put it in a glass of water for a while, or directly in the pot and keep it moist. Be careful planting mint though-- you should plant it in containers and not directly in the ground unless you really like mint! It's incredibly invasive and almost impossible to kill, so it will take over if you don't watch it.

I love this idea...I had an ant issue in the past....so this would have been ideal instead of spending $$ to get a pest control company to come by.
Thanks!

Jen Ramos
'Cards & Prints You'll Love...'
www.madebygirl.com

madebygirl.blogspot.com
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That would be diatomaceous earth that mergrl is talking about :)

Does anybody have an effective deterrent for centipedes & millipedes? They're pretty prevalent here in Buffalo during the warmer months.

I moved into a brownstone in September and struggled with ants until January when their colonies finally started dying off. We used mint oil, then terro, then real kill ant baits. In that order. We wanted to keep it natural, but couldn't since the apartment was infested. In January winged females (would-be queens that would mate then comeback and start colonies to replace the dying ones stated to emerge). Every morning for over two weeks I plucked about ten a day from my curtains. We have colonies directly under our brick floor with dozens of pin size ant holes everywhere not to mention the gap of earth between the brick floors and brick walls. So far this spring there are few tiny babies that we've stated fighting with mint oil. I've read a lot about ants over the last few months so here are some tips.

be careful with in using too much essential oils as they might be harmful to pets (especially little ones)

nothinlikeadame - like haley's said, borax isn't a good idea.

BambiJo - terro will work on ants that like sweest, but not oil eating ants. maybe you have several varieties. also putting the drops on scotch tape makes cleanup easier than directly on a surface

newyorkdoll7 - maybe your mixture sprinkled on tape then taped down on the edges might be better than olive oil since many insects such as roaches and ants eat grease and grease residue.

Borax IS a good idea, and for a child to ingest 5 grams, that would be a lot. Hopefully there would be no reason for your kid to be licking the cracks in the floor or your foundation. What worked for me was mixing borax with sugar water and dropping that near the cracks in the floor where the ants were coming into my kitchen. They would eat the sugar water and take it back to the nest.
They are all gone now! But this cinnamon thing is a great tip, I might even sprinkle some as a prophylactic.

Call me whatever but I'll use chemicals till they outlaw them. I spray a wide perimeter all around the foundation. Not only do I not have ants' but I don't have problems with mosquitoes, flies or termites either.

Those who think all chemicals are evil might be interested to know that the reason for the explosion of the bedbug population is that the chemicals that were effective in combating them were outlawed.

Just saying there's always a balance. Not all "natural" things are OK (cocaine and heroin are natural for example) and not all chemicals are automatically bad.

No offense to those who like the old folk remedies...I bet when you get sick though, you reach for proven chemically based drugs...