the only good ant is a dead one - please any advice my home is under attack!!!

[girliefriend]

Am having ongoing ant issues in my kitchen and living room - have no idea where they are coming from, I am borderline OCD in keeping surfaces clean and making sure no food is left out but pretty much everyday when I get in from work they are climbing all over the cupboards and floor - it is starting to really get me down!
Have put ant powder around the outside of the flat and used nippon on trays inside - doesn't really seem to of made any difference

• grrrr!!!

Anyone got any advice please [hopeful face] xXx

I sympathise. I was over-run last year, and I got something from B&Q - it was a plastic round thing with sticky stuff in the middle (it was called ant trap, or something) and it seemed to work. There were two in a packet, but that's all I can remember.

Last year I discovered that sprinkling powdered cinnamon along the bottom of external doors seems to stop them coming in and I've been told that if you draw a chalk line around door frames they won't cross it. I haven't tried the chalk but the cinnamon seems to work.

Mix borax and sugar together leave out for the ants to tuck in and they will take it back to the Colony and importantly the Queen it works a treat.

I got the same thing today that AgentProvocater explained.

It is a round thing called ~ANT TRAP. The ants go inside take he baite, come out again and go back to their nest to feed the other ants. Like this you will eventually kill the whole nest! As sometimes it is diffcult to find the nest and you kill only the ones that you see.

Thanks guys that does help, I like the idea of the cinnamon will try and get some today, when I googled it there was some advice about ants not like vinegar so sprinkled some on work surfaces last night and (touch wood) none yet this morning - although major drawback that kitchen now smells lke fish and chip shop!!! Have got some ant traps but none seem to of gone in them yet but will leave them out and see. What is borax?!!
Thanks again xXx

In a ground floor flat I used to live in I got ants every summer without fail, I tried all sorts of ant remedies but the one I found that worked was a mousse, made by Raid, I think. Available in B&Q.

Chalking round the doors sounds like some sort of anti paranormal/ghost cure!

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001CJ11ZQ/ref=asc_df_B001CJ11ZQ636668?smid=A2SG83I4WE2ROJ&tag=ciaouk-home-mp-21 &linkCode=asn&creative=7974&creativeASIN=B001CJ11ZQ

These sort of thing are best. Ant Powders are a bit dodgy if the kids get hold of them. We had a bad invasion last year and two of these did the job - it was a different brand though.

Thanks, have got those ant traps down but don't seem that bothered by them at the moment, only seen one ant today which is a big improvement on ystd! Will try and get to b&q as mousse sounds good. Bloody nightmare - hate hate hate ants!!!

I like the thought of chalk being a dual purpose anti ant & ghost solution I think the theory behind it is that they don't like the powdery texture.

LOL will give it go! Although not had too many issues with ghosts thankfully!

Borax is a white powder all round cleaning product you can get anywhere. It will poison them.

Put a saucer of apple juice outside the house on the porch and loads climbed in. This stopped them coming into the hall.

i got an ant trap, where they take the food back to the nest, cost 4 pounds, gone in 24 hours! i have one left it you want it, unuseD?

we had the pest control officer out to ours they were that bad at one point. He put stuff down. He advised me to get the nippon liquid nad put that down in the evening (away from pets and kids!) which they take back to the queen and other workers and it kills them (killing the queens the most important as then there is no breeding!!) then 4-5 days later, put powder down to kill any remaining workers.

talcum powder round doors, windows etc for average size infestations

I regularly get ants. This year the score so far is Ants 1 Inthesticks 2.
I found a neat thing at B&Q. It's a liquid dispensed like a felt pen. You run in around the floor or skirting, any hard surface. They die after contact.
It's harder on carpet though, has to be powder then.

Ooo just come back to this thread, didn't realise had more replies!!!

Well the latest is I do seem to of made some progress, went away for a 3 night break last week and was thinking my flat would be infested by the time I came back but I think all the OCD cleaning has paid off!! Also SIL suggested leaving cinnamon out as app they don't like it and also talc, so seem (touch wood a million times) to be , dare I say it, ant free at the moment!!!

Thanks for replies guys xXx