Here is something kind of random but I was dealing with this the other day and thought some of you might be interested as well.
If you have any of those pesky little ants wandering around the house or yard you might try this little trick to get rid of them.
My Dad taught me this a few years ago when we had a trail of ants marching across the front stoop of the house. Call me a terrible person, but any sort of rodent, bug, snake comes along and I am ready to put the house up for sale.
In California, ants can really be a problem and I absolutely can not stand them for even a second and this tip has worked like magic for me many times.
Even better you don’t need to buy expensive products, dump all sorts of chemicals around the house or mix up complicated DIY recipes.
Just grab a standard box of corn starch- my box was $1.00 at Walmart so you can certainly be generous in applying this.
And dump it all over the ants. You want to be sure the corn starch is in the path they walk because you want them picking it up and carrying it back home with them.
I just went out side two days ago and found a bunch of ants crawling around the garbage can (BLECH!).
Now I wasn’t that interested in becoming close friend with these things so it is hard to see but we had a bunch of them climbing all over in the trash and just under the trash.
So I followed the crack in the pavement and dumped the cornstarch generously over the path they made, where they came from and the spot on the ground under the trash.
If this is in your home you can just put the cornstarch in a measuring cup and pour it right over the path they are marching in.
I had a pretty good size patch so I just used about 1/3 of the box and dumped it everywhere.
I spread this on Monday and we were actually not home yesterday. I did check it out this morning (Wednesday) and we still have a little pile of corn starch to be rinsed away but not an ant in sight!
So this is worth a shot- just note they will still slug around in the corn starch for awhile but they should be gone within a day or two.
Check out my DIY Pinterest board for more easy tips and tricks.
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
My friend told me about this and it worked for me!
Now if it would just get rid of Japanense Beetles
How does it kill the ants? They eat it and it kills them? Or is it just like a barrier thing?
I’ll stick that away for the future. We just battled ants for 2 weeks….ugh! There was much screaming on my part.
We bought the liquid Terro traps and those worked like magic. I was so ready to get rid of those little guys – I would have paid anything!
Julie,
I haven’t researched this but what my Dad said is that they take it back to the nest and all the ants are exposed to it. If there is any contact with moisture or water the corn starch makes them explode.
I am sure you could Google around and get more details if you are interested.
I had heard this same tip with corn *meal* and was wondering if the huge canister of cornstarch I have would help… gonna try it today! Thank you!!
just heard literine in a spray bottle will kill and deter insects. i think 3 parts literine and one part water and spray.
that would be listerine, can’t type today.
I have tried everything else – I think I’ll try this. Our house is on a concrete slab foundation, and I am CONVINCED we’re sitting on top of Ant Metropolis.
Sarah,
I have used corn meal too. I found better results with starch but you could try either one.
If you have ants in your cabinets or counters, put plain cornmeal in a small container ( my husband used plastic soda lids) and place them in a corner of the cabinet. We no longer have ants. My problem now is weavils I must have brought in with something. I have put everything in plastic containers or bags but I opened a box of anchovies and there were weavils inside the box. Of course the container is metal so the anchovies were ok. ick, ick, ick
Great tip Donna! I bet corn starch would work too.
Not quite as cheap, but cinnamon will keep ants away too. They don’t walk through it, so if there’s a crack or place where they’re coming inside, just sprinkle some in front and they won’t cross. Also smells nice
)
I feel y’all’s pain.
When dealing with an ant hill, I sprinkle plenty of the ‘pink’ artificial sweetener on the mound. Followed by a bit of spritzing with plain water. Give it a day os two….works every time for me! This was in the Canyon Lake area of Texas.
I like the Terro traps too. All they contain is corn syrup with boric acid mixed in, genius ! Probably invented by a woman! Lol!
I’ve heard that the cornstarch (as well as baby powder) sticks to their feet/bodies and interferes with the chemicals they track around that give them all an idea of where to go. Sounds plausible to me.
THANKS for this, my MIL said baking soda, does not work! Maybe she meant corn starch just told me wrong. I will try these, I am near Roseville and our ants bite!!!
We’ve had sugar ant problems in the past. One of the things that we found fought them off pretty well is Borax. You can get it pretty cheap at Amazon.
I haven’t tried Borax but just wanted to mention to be careful with it if you have pets or small children
Is Cornstarch safe for dogs? Just want to be sure I have a small dog and don’t want to make her sick trying to get rid fo the ants.
Renita,
I would use caution. If you are going to dump this in a spot where a dog would be unattended and possibly consume a lot of it, I would call your vet first and check.
I did find this recipe for dog treats and it uses cornstarch:
http://www.dogtreatkitchen.com/dog-treat-icing.html
This article says you can use it as a dry bath for dogs:
http://voices.yahoo.com/how-give-dog-dry-bath-corn-starch-5520615.html?cat=53
So I don’t think it is toxic but again I would just determine how much of this the dog will be exposed too and give your vet a call to see for sure.
I wish y’all would tell my ants about this.. nothing will get rid of them.. sigh.. little sugar ants.. I’ve tried everything but the pink packet stuff.. I guess thats next.
Kim,
I believe sugar ants mostly come around to find sweeter foods- so I assume you have everything tightly sealed up? I have heard you can mix sugar or powdered sugar with this to make it most appealing to sugar ants specifically. The sugar won’t do anything except draw them in and the most important thing is they have to carry it back to the nest. So if you only sprinkle a little in a straight line that they cane just walk around it won’t work.
Good luck,
WD 40 works ants will not cross it…also diatomaceous earth will dry them up and probably any other insects that crawl through it. Its available at almost any garden center.