Antkillers - tell me more the cloves and cinnamon method

[MuffinMclay]

We have some ants in the kitchen. I've worked out where they are getting into the house and keep putting boiling water on that area to kill them, but some of the little darlings are still getting in. They're not in any one bit of the kitchen, just the odd one wandering here and there.

I saw from a recent thread that cloves and cinnamon are the best child and pet-friendly ways of dealing with ants. Do I need to scatter them all over the kitchen? Won't this just divert them to somewhere else in the house?

bump cos I need to know too!

Apparently planting marigolds round the doorway stops them but the trick is a line of cinnamon which they cannot cross (I think because of the oil in the cinnamon).

Of course your house smells like the cookie monster lives there but so what?

Or buy an ant eater and let it roam

I can't search for toffee, but lots of people gave me great advice on non-toxic anti-ant devices recently if you search on my name & ants!

So if I put the cinnamon around the outside of the house that might stop them entering. I'll try that. And the cloves.

I cleared out all some kitchen cupboards yesterday (no ants in there yet, thank goodness) in a mad panic about hygiene, and found 3 jars of cloves.

It is a bit early for marigolds to be in flower, I think. I'm not a fan of them - a bit 'municipal roundabout'.

funnypeculiar - I'll do that (great name!).

oil of cloves (from chemist, old-fashioned cure for toothache) dripped on cotton wool is good for plugging the holes where they come in, too.

anti-ant suggestions
I'm trying the ant bait stuff. Anyone know how long it takes to work?

Can I make oil of cloves myself with the cloves I've got?

nah - use normal cloves if you have 'em - oil of cloves is just another way of doing it

(and mice hate peppermint oil, just in case you ever get bigger visitors)

I'm terrified of mice. If we get them forget cloves or peppermint - we get a cat.