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Original poster

Ants - Yuk!

13 replies

jmum6 · 06/04/2006 13:37

Have an infestation of ants in the kitchen (to give me a chance to worry about something other than birdflu!) and dp wants to put poison down. I'm all for getting rid of them as they're multiplying by the day but not sure about powder or other poisons due to crawling ds.

Any ideas to get rid of ants by means other than poisons?

OP posts:
Original poster
jmum6 · 06/04/2006 13:46

And did you know they come out more at night? I switched the light on last night and the place was swarming with them. Shock

OP posts:
annobal · 06/04/2006 14:19

You can buy an ultrasonic pest repeller by Lentek that seems to work. My neighbours had a nest of ants in their basement and bought one of these and appears it has done the job. You can get them from ebay. The great thing about them is NO POISON (I have a 1yo crawler). We've got a few ants at the moment and i'm waiting on mine...

GeorginaA · 06/04/2006 14:24

I've tried everything with ants and the only thing I found worked at all was Ant Stop! (in fact, I pre-emptively treated around the perimeter of the house outside in March this year, and will be doing so every other month) According to the bottle, once it's dried it's safe for kids & pets, but probably wouldn't hurt to keep your ds out of the kitchen anyway - that's what I did last year when ds2 was crawling and we had a kitchen infestation.

Good luck!

MrsBadger · 06/04/2006 14:30

Are they coming in from outside, or are they nesting indoors?
If coming in, track them back to the hole/s they're coming through and block up as effectively as possible. Make sure kitchen is clean too - no crumbs, sticky spills etc for them to get at. Ground (or even not ground) cloves aren't bad as ant-repellent (and smell nice), but you need to use a lot - if you build little ramparts they won't climb over them.

If they're nesting in your kitchen (v unlikely btw, they normally come in from outside), something more drastic may be necessary.

emkana · 06/04/2006 14:32

I found that putting baking powder along their trails helped.

anteater · 06/04/2006 14:35

\link{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=9&threadid=18885\try here!}

Rhubarb · 06/04/2006 14:37

Hello anteater! Meant to get back to you ages ago but had a sick house these past few weeks.

Sorry for the hijack!

Original poster
jmum6 · 06/04/2006 15:23

Anteater thanks for the link, right am going in for the kill with the baking powder and I like the idea of the jam outside. Can do both of those right now!

Will look for the ultrasonic thing and cloves at weekend when dp's home.

Thanks all :)

OP posts:
layla · 06/04/2006 16:49

Lakeland do a few different solutions like a tape that they get stuck on and a little bate trap.

anteater · 07/04/2006 14:59

Rhubarb, I have let my sister know you may email.

Marie12 · 07/04/2006 15:08

I used Ant Stop bait stations from Tesco - just put them on the floor in the room where the ants come out and leave it, within a day they were gone. We had LOADS of them all over the downstairs of the house and haven't seen any since. I have a 10 month old and a dog so have to be careful what I put down. Its just a plastic thing with 4 holes in the sides and it attracts the ants and they go into it and pick up the 'bait' and take it back to the nest, destroying it within days.

hunkermunker · 07/04/2006 15:09

Oil of cloves.

Nbg · 07/04/2006 15:11

If you know where they are coming in normal household bleach does the trick followed by boiling hot water straight from the kettle.

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