Summer is in full swing around here and with that comes all kinds of pests and bugs. While I understand that bugs are inevitable on the homestead I don’t care from them to be in my home… especially in my kitchen! Luckily I have a solution… a homemade ant killer mix that actually works to get rid of the problem for good.
Keeping toxins out of my home is high priority around here.
Back almost 5 years ago, when my middle daughter suffered from extreme eczema, I made a commitment to eliminate toxins from our home.
I started replacing all cleaning products, our food choices, beauty products, and any household products. This included things like ant killer spray.
Once I started replacing these items with better choices, I started seeing the benefits in all our skin, our health, and our immune systems. I was hooked and knew that finding healthy nontoxic products for our home was the way to go!
I started using essential oils in our every day life and making my own cleaning products, like this Natural Mop Cleaner that Works and this Safe and Easy Shower Cleaner.
Now fast forward to last month here on the homestead.
Slowly but surely ants started appearing in my kitchen and pantry a month ago and I knew I had a problem.
Until one morning I had enough! As I was pouring out an entire bottle of pure maple syrup that was infested with ants from my pantry, I knew I needed to find a solution to these ants and I needed to find it quick.
But one thing was for sure….whatever I used to get rid of these ants had to be safe AND effective. Going to the store and buying a bottle of ant killer spray from the shelves was just not an option.
Finding a homemade ant killer mix that actually works.
I did what anyone would do when looking for a solution to a problem… I turned to google.
In the search bar I typed in best homemade ant killer mix and I stumbled across this recipe I am about to share.
I looked at the ingredients that were simple and safe… that’s a win! However based on previous recipes I had tried, I was a little reluctant it was going to work.
So I turned to the comments section.
I had tried safe recipes before, that claimed to actually work, but then they ended up either not working at all or only a little bit. I didn’t want to make that same mistake again.
So, I made to sure to read all the comments on this blog post.
As I was sifting through the comments I started getting excited. All of the comments had great things to say and there wasn’t one comment that mentioned it didn’t work. I was thrilled and thought “I finally found a good one!”
As I was nearing the end of the comments, I came across one that definitely was the most useful. This reader said, “the solution didn’t work until around 36 hours, so be patient”.
Aha! With that helpful bit of information, I knew I was ready to give it a try.
Mixing up the ant killer mix.
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There are only 3 simple ingredients in this recipe.
- sugar
- water
- borax
That is it! You probably have everything you need right at home with the exception of the borax. I bought mine at my local Walmart in the laundry detergent section. But Amazon is an easy way to get it right to your door if you don’t have a Walmart or Target close to you.
Check out how I mix up and use this ant killer mix.
How to mix up this homemade ant killer mix
It’s amazing that something so easy can be this effective!
Add 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup water, and 1 TBSP of borax to a mason jar. Stir it up so everything is evenly mixed. It is not necessary for the sugar to be dissolved so cool water is fine.
Make a tin foil boat so that your mixture doesn’t get everywhere. I do this by taking a small piece of foil and folding up all four sides so you have a little boat. This mix is very watery so a tin foil boat makes for easy clean up!
Pour about 2-3TBSP of mixture in the boat and place where you see ants. It is very important to place the boat with the mixture in an area where the ants are seen. Leave the boat there for 24-26 hours or until you see no more ants anywhere. That’s it!
Here’s the trick…
The trick to this working is that the mixture has to left alone where the ants are, until you see no more ants at all. It’s going to get worse before it gets better!
As the ants are flooding into your house to eat out of this dish you may be thinking, ” what am I even doing? I’m just feeding all these ants!” But that’s exactly what you are doing and why it is so effective.
This ant killer mix actually works because the ants take the mixture back to the nest and it kills off the entire nest. Not just the ants that you can see in front of you.
But in order for that to happen, you have to give it time and be patient, which is not my strong suit. This can take anywhere from 24-36 hours. Maybe even longer depending on how big the ant nest is.
I know living on a farm you are bound to have pests… but I prefer to not live with those pests inside my home. Especially if I can get rid of them safely and effectively!
Did you try it?
Make sure to leave a comment below if you tried this ant killer recipe. Let us know how long it took to work!
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Just what I need right now! I tried washing down everything with vinegar but it only helped for a short while. Looking forward to trying this!
I hope you have tried this and it worked as great as it has for us! The only natural remedy I have found to actually get rid of the ants for good. I haven’t had ants in months!
It works but the water dries out leaving a white paste. Cheap to make more but is there another liquid I can add that slows down evaporation.
Also what about protein loving ants – I an not having success with peanut butter – any recommendations?
I would imagine you could use any form of liquid, not just water. I have never tried it though so it would be a trial and error! Peanut butter would be my first suggestion with protein, I can’t think of something else you could use. If I think of something I’ll report back here!
You really don’t even need water. Or just add enough to form a paste, so very little. Soak cotton balls in the paste and place them around strategically. Or like I said, if you want to avoid the water evaporating entirely, just omit the water altogether. I’m not even sure what the benefit of the water would even be.
The cotton ball trick is a great suggestion!
I started with sugar and baking soda on day 1, so I had a few good lines of ants. On day 2, I switched to this recipe to be sure. 24 hours later, the morning of day 3, the ants are reduced to a short few. I feel a little bad for them. Thanks for the great recipe.
Wonderful! I am so glad it is working for you!
I’ve done this for years but I put cotton balls in the mixture and then place them in different. Places. And it works great. I usually have to do it again half way through summer.. This has been the only thing that has ever worked for me.
Cotton balls are a great suggestion as well! It definitely has been the only thing that has truly worked for us too!
The best remedy to get rid of ants. I use it all the time and it’s a miracle worker. Safe for pets and no worries. Try it, you won’t be disappointed.
Thank you so much! I couldn’t agree more!
I have used this recipe for years and it really does work. How is this non-toxic or safe for pets? Borax is toxic to anything that ingest it. Also Borax is the main chemical in laundry detergent. I have 2 cats that are inside pets and I just want to make sure my pets are safe if I use this inside my house.
Thanks, Lorrie
I don’t have indoor pets and I only use this indoor so I can’t say. However, you are right that borax is toxic when ingested, so I would make sure to put your traps in locations where your indoor pets can’t get to it. That would be the safest thing to do!
Put 4 boats on each section of kitchen counter top Tuesday night. By Thursday night, the ants were pretty much gone! Thank you! This works! Will be recommending to family and friends.
Yay!!! I love hearing the success stories. It’s so nice to find a solution that is toxin free!
Will this also work with flying ants?
I am not sure as we don’t have flying ants here. If they will land on it and eat it then yes it should!
I’m going to try putting the borax and sugar liquid into a boat, and then place the boat inside a zip lock plastic bag and zip up.
Then I’m going to poke slightly larger than ant sized holes in the sides and put in the garden by the any next, and where the little beasties are cultivating aphids on my plants.
The theory is that if it rains, the boat will still be protected, by accessible.
Does that sound like a plan?? What do you ask think? I’ll let you know if it works x
I like the idea so that the rain doesn’t get in. My biggest concern is the way this method words is they carry it back to their queen which then kills off the entire nest not just the ones that come to the solution. I would be a bit concerned that they wouldn’t be able to get back out of the holes to carry it back to the nest. But definitely worth experimenting to see if it works!
Curious if one could make it a little thicker by adding corn/potato starch to the mixture? Borax does indeed kill any ants that ingest it, basically dessicates them from the inside out, and then their buddies eat the corpse, rinse and repeat. Borax is also a decent agent for treating lumber against termites as well as preventing rot and decay, though it is highly water soluble and doesn’t last the test of time in an exterior environment, as rain water washes it away.
That should work although I have never tried it. Although you can use a different sweetener that would make it thicker like powdered sugar.
You can use less water to make it thicker, or boil it longer. But as it sits it gets a bit thicker also, so you want it fairly runny to start with.
Thank you for the tips!
My grandmother used this in her house and it really works, but now my entire yard is being invaded. If I use this it will hurt my dogs, any suggestions on outside areas? I mean my entire yard.
The best advice I have is to put them in a spot that’s sealed up but that ant’s can get into but not the dogs. Some form of a box, container ect. I think someone said they used a plastic throw away container and poked a hole in the top. Worth a try!
You could fill used jar lids instead of foil
That’s a great idea!
Have I made this correct it is a liquid it’s not thick.
Yes it is pretty liquid. I am sure it is correct!
Just a curious question as I’m looking for a family member that has a pretty large outdoor ant colony that I’m looking to bait, I’m wondering if this would possibly be an option?? I’m honestly kinda leaning towards not as it needs to be left out for several hours for effectiveness!! So thanks to any how can help me out here!!
I am unsure if this would be a good option. It can take days for it to be completely effective as well.
I use this concoction all the time and it works great. Yes, I have used it successfully outside on a colony that was in the ground near the side of our house. It took about 7-10 days for them to completely disappear and I checked and put new solution in the boat daily during that time period. I was skeptical because it was taking so long but in the end we finally had success. I live in Florida and it was during our dry season. Don’t know how it would have worked as well during the rainy season.
That’s fantastic!
I wonder if you put it in a container with a lid and poked holes in the sides so ants can crawl in but rain won’t dilute it? That*might* work?
It really works! I poured the mixture in a little plastic cap from a bottle in a cotton ball. The big black ants surrounded it, but I didn’t start smashing the ants. I let them take it back to their home and the next day I could not believe it, they were gone!
Yes! I was thrilled when I first tried it and it worked as well!
I had ghost ant so bad they were in my electrical conduits and behind all of my cabinets. My ant bait is much simpler than yours and works just as well. One dessert spoon of borax in one cup of water. Add two tsp of white sugar and mix. I use plastic bottle caps with a pinch of cotton in the cap and add the bait and put where I see the ants. I have now used this formula on five different species of ant and it always works. Took months to kill of the Ghost ant but that infestation was huge. If the cotton dries up add only tap water as too high of a concentration of borax kill the ant before it can share the food with all the rest of the ants and when it finally kills the queen the problem is solved. BTW borax kills microbes so you don’t have to refrigerate the solution.
Bill Graves: retired biologist from the U of Florida. Homestead, fl
Thank you for sharing!
I only have icing sugar, would that still work ?
It should! Any kind of sweetener should work.
Will this work outdoors in a garden? Thanks for the response.
I have never tried it but others have commented that they used it outside and it worked!
I’ve used this and it works. I put it in a Ziploc plastic container, add cotton balls to soak up the liquid. I cut a square of foil or a jar lid and put a cotton ball on it. Works splendidly.
That’s amazing!
Does this mixture work for carpenter ants? Big black ones.
I don’t see why it wouldn’t, however I have only tried it on household ants so I can’t say for sure.
I cut the bottoms off of some soda cans to make little bowls and also used some plastic bottle lids to hold the solution. Both worked great and we’re easily disposable.
That is a great idea!
I have used this recipe for years. I do it both dry and liquid. I use small Tupperware containers and heat a nail and make a hole in each side slightly off the bottom. It’s safe for other animals and can put outside under stuff.
What a great idea to keep it safe for other animals!
Instead of the “boat” I soak the solution with cotton balls & put them on the silver foil.
That’s a great idea!
I had gnats in my kitchen that I think came in on some bananas. In order to get rid of them, I used apple cider vinegar and dish soap in little bowls to attract the gnats. When I put the ACV away, however, some of it apparently dripped down the side of the bottle onto my pantry shelf and next thing I knew, I had ants!
I first tried ant bait from the hardware store, but it didn’t do much after two days, so I decided to give this a try. And yes, the ants got worse, but after about two more days, they were gone!
I am glad I found this solution and while I hope not to need it again, at least I know something that is safe and effective.
Yes that was my experience as well! It does get worse before better, but it actually works and is safe! Glad you had the same experience!