If ants have invaded your home here's how to get rid of them quickly with the best natural homemade ant killer recipe.
When you see one ant in your home, especially in your kitchen, you're sure to see more soon. In fact, by the time you discover them there may already be hundreds of them lurking about.
One time I saw a line of ants walking across my windowsill, down and then across my counter, then down in single file line to the floor, and followed them all the way to the pantry. A bottle of honey had leaked and it was like a siren's call to them. They were everywhere. Uggghh.
Your first instinct when you see this may be to call the exterminators, but try this natural remedy first. It works quickly and effectively to kill ants naturally with items you most likely already have in your home, or can easily purchase at the store.
Natural Ant Killer Ingredients
Here's the ingredients necessary for this DIY remedy:
- 2 tablespoons borax (active ingredient)
- 2 tablespoons jelly, jam or honey
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Container to hold the paste these other ingredients make
The amounts in this recipe don't need to be exact, just eyeball it.
Directions For Use & How It Works
What makes this recipe work is borax, which is a naturally occurring mineral also known as sodium borate.
There are lots of household uses for borax powder, such as for your laundry, cleaning and stain removal. (You can click the link to read my article with more information.)
It is also the active ingredient in lots of ant killers. The ants ingest it, attracted to the sugary bait in the jelly or jam, and also take it back to the rest of their colony, and then they die.
So to make this recipe for getting rid of ants, mix the borax, jam or jelly, and the sugar to make a paste.
Then, place it in a container to place near where the ants are already passing in their line so they'll come investigate it and discover this new "food source."
You can use all types of containers, such as empty jar lids, the lid of a plastic food storage container (obviously don't then reuse for food storage), or even just place it on sturdy paper, such as index cards.
You want the ants to be able to get to it, but whatever container you choose, also think of safety, because while you want the ants to get the bait you don't want inquisitive children or pets to ingest this.
Borax Cleaning Powder {Referral Links}
Once the ants discover the new food source containing the borax, which may take a little while, let those ants leave. They'll tell their friends and soon you'll see even more ants.
Don't be disheartened, this is what is supposed to happen. Don't disrupt their feeding, but instead, let them eat and gather this stuff all they want. Soon they won't be back.
You'll still need to clean up what the ants were initially attracted to in your home, taking away other food sources from them.
Depending on how many ants you had you may also need to refill these containers a couple of times to distribute enough of this natural homemade ant killer amongst all of the colony.
This Really Works: Stories From Other Readers!
The photo above is from a reader, Kelli, who obviously used this recipe to great effect. She said:
This is borax, jelly and a little sugar. They take it back to their nest and DIE! Did this last year and again this morning!
Rebecca from Vancouver, WA, wrote in to tell me about this recipe, and said:
We stayed at a vacation home on a water estuary. By the 2nd day it was apparent that they were infested with sugar ants and it was driving me nuts.
They insistant that only natural products were used because they lived on a protected wetland, so I researched a solution that included mixing jam or honey (I used jam) with borax.
The ants would then eat or bring back the mixture to their home, where it would kill them.
We have since received a letter from the owners that the ants hadn't returned.
I've since learned that there are different types of little ants. Some prefer protein instead of sugar, but you can get the same result if you mix peanut butter and borax.
As always, keep out of pet and children's reach.
Similarly, another reader, Li, also the recipe successfully. She didn't even use jelly or jam, just the sugar, borax and water. She said:
I used borax to kill ants and it worked. Just mix a little with sugar and a few drops of water, enough for it to be moist. I used soda bottle lids or water bottle lids and placed on the back of my back splash over my faucet. It worked, no more ants!
Safety Precautions
As mentioned above, but worth saying yet again, borax is a naturally occurring substance, but it is toxic if ingested.
So you need to make sure that these ant killer bait traps are not within the reach of pets and children wherever you place them!
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