Note: This post is a blast from the pretty far past — originally published in 2013, but relevant & updated in 2016 — because these darn ants, they are back every year.
When I ran a Borax giveaway a while back, several of you asked if the Borax really did get rid of the ants. Yes! I haven’t seen one in my kitchen since putting out this Borax recipe a couple of times. It works at least as well as, if not better than, the little ant bait things — plus, it’s easy to do and a better long term investment since you can also use your Borax for other purposes.
How does this work?
Do you get these every spring too? I get a bunch of little ants coming into my kitchen under one of the cabinets that backs up against an outside wall. I read online about people sprinkling a line of Borax and sugar along where the ants are coming in, but didn’t want to leave that out because of our cats. So instead I used this recipe from The Happy Housewife:
- Mix 1/2 C sugar, 1 1/2 Tbsp Borax, and 1.5 C warm water.
- Soak cotton balls in the mixture, and put them out near the mess of ants.
- The sugar attracts the ants, and they’ll take the Borax with it back to their home.
If you have small children or pets, be sure that you keep them away from the Borax, and always wash your hands after using. Note: Thanks to several commenters who add that: If your ants don’t seem to be attracted to sugar, try mixing in some peanut butter instead. They may have a savory tooth rather than a sweet tooth! Just like people, insects are all different… 🙂
These particular ants love sugar…
BOY do these ants like this. In the initial Boraxian experiment, I locked the cats in the bedroom for a few hours and set several soaked cotton balls in a line along the edge of the cabinet where the ants were coming in. I let the ants go to town, picked up the cotton balls, wiped up the floor, and let the cats out. Then, I repeated the experiment for a second round of about an hour later in the evening (with MUCH fewer ants). By morning? No new ants in sight.
Update — The Borax Effect lasts for some time. When the ants inevitably return, though, it’s super easy to whip up another little batch.
Have you tried Borax to get rid of ants in your home? Comment here and let us know how it worked for you!
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Julie says
I have used cornmeal and have been successful in getting rid of ants that way too!! Just put a line out, sometimes even dumping a bit right near where the ants seemed to be coming from. And within a day–no ants!!
bamminer says
Cornmeal is conditional. 1. You can’t get it wet before they ingest it. This may include not putting it in a refrigerator, dew(if using outside), or near an area whether you’ve had a moist room. Plus, you’ll have to add a waterless second food item that is more attractive to them than the cornmeal(and that easily merges with it) or they might not eat it too quickly. Some eat raw CM quickly and some don’t. 2. It only seems to work on certain ants. I found that it didn’t work on the tiny black ants at all, but had mixed results with fire ants: it killed off one huge colony of fire ants. It took a long time; it seemed like it took at least 3 months(was a big colony). Bait was changed out only once. However, the next time we tried it, they didn’t take the honey+CM bait that had worked so well on the other FA colony. Neither did subbing in peanut butter for honey and/or baking soda for cornmeal help, as they loved it and it did not seem to rid our home of them. Raid got rid of them that time.
Deterrent: I found that cayenne pepper works for the tiny black ants. It doesn’t seem to work on fire ants, though. Put it where they come in and throughout their trafficked areas. It takes about 2-3 days if you already have an infestation. They’ll walk right through as if it doesn’t bother them, but it will! Eventually, you won’t see them again there. My guess is that it has the same effect as it does on people that are not used to eating hot stuff–maybe to the extreme! It does not kill them, but they’ll definitely have to try and find another way in. Since this is the case, go around your home and seal up openings; add cayenne pepper powder to openings; and/or add wind and rain proof poison to your openings on the outside. Or you could find out where they are on the outside–if it can be seen. I suspect sometimes they come from underneath or have a nest inside your home.
I have heard that Borax and Boric acid really works well on ants, roaches, etc. Some say use it as a food bait and some say use it as a powder that they’ll cross for their own demise. My guess is that you can do both. Plus, it is said it is only slightly toxic and also said that the gov’t labels it as if it were as toxic as table salt.
chrisP says
I’ve been using borax and sugar on the little black ants for a couple years and it works really well for me. They are attracted to our humming bird feeders so I already knew they liked sugar water.
Fire ants on the other hand are little murder machines so they prefer protein to carbs (sugar). I used a 5 to 1 ratio of peanut butter to borax to wipe out a couple fire ant colonies in my yard.
It took couple of weeks though. Typically i can kill off the black ones in a matter of days.
Kendra says
This is great news. I have tiny brown ants in the bathroom coming in though concrete plus at least 10 colonies outside along foundation and fire ants in a couple of spots in the garden. I have all 3 ingredients and will be using this for sure. I have cats so it occurred to me to use a containing from recycling with tiny holes cut for the ants to crawl under for the cotton ball soaked in borax and sugar and or peanut butter etc. This way the cats do not get to the cotton ball. I have one cat that I would actually have to wonder if she’d go for it lol. She’s old and odd but from what I hear some cats really enjoy human food.
susan says
Killing them in the house is good but they are a benefit in the garden. If they are away from the house let them be.
Ginger Cofer says
depends on the garden. a food garden full of ants means you have aphids and that can be a disaster for your food and plants.
Tammy Oehm says
I saw a thing on TV today about this. I didn’t get the exact recipe but it was using Karo corn syrup and some water. This was added to the Borax and they used small plastic lids (Pringles can) to pour the slurry into. From there you could place them anywhere and use even smaller lids, like soda or water bottles, for the close knit corners you’d be able to access with the smaller versions.
I’VE NOT YET TRIED THIS but 100% going to!
JD says
Yes, Loren Nancarrow, a TV announcer in the 90’s, aired the recipe of mixing Karo Syrup and Boric Acid. The ants love the syrup and the boric acid gets on the “feet” and that messes up their trail so they can’t find their way back. Don’t forget to refresh the supply every few months so another crop doesn’t come back.
Sally says
Have you tried boric acid and sweetened condensed milk. Make a paste and spread it where needed. This was what I was taught when I moved to Texas
Bill Lynn says
Anything sweet will do. Sugar, honey, etc. I use sugar because it’s always available in my house and because it’s cheap.
Nina says
👍🏻
Sharon Lewis says
I have tree ants bad in my house does this work on all ants
Linda says
They may be carpenter ants. Have your home inspected.
Nonnie says
What is a tree ant?
Joyce says
How do I get rid of ant hills in my yard. My yard is covered in ant hills. Help me.
Joyce says
Help me fast pleas. My yard looks awful. Joyce
chrisP says
If you have ant “hills” they could be fire ants and they have a painful sting. 5 to 1 ratio of borax to peanut butter make a good bait but you have to mix it up really well. Putting the borax in with some water and making a paste then warming in the microwave before mixing helps. It can take a couple of weeks to completely destroy the colony and you will have to resupply the bait every other day or so because fire ants like to bury their food.
OK, that said I hate fire ants and if you have several mounds I suggest you resort to chemical warfare. Pour a liquid killer with Acephate directly onto each mound to wipe them out instantly then use a granular poison that will settle into the soil to keep them out of your yard longer term.
For more info Google “How to do the fire ant two-step” and watch the YouTube video. It’s only a minute and seven seconds long.
Or you could call an exterminator. Good luck.
.
Spencer says
I have animals so I am not able to use the chemical stuff. I boil big huge pots of water and we dump it on our ant piles near the porch edges and sidewalks … you will find little ant bodies everywhere the next morning but it really works. I then leave out borax bait or diatomaceous earth sprinkled on old mound and they don’t come back.
Bonnie says
You can add Dawn dish soap to the water..
Kim C says
My parents live outside of town in the desert, and they pour a tiny bit of gas down fire ant hills and light them on fire. They make sure there is no dry grass or anything nearby before doing this. My mom says it works! Though boiling water seems safer 😉 I will try this sugar/borax solution as I’m currently fightin with tiny black ants in our kitchen! GROSS!
JD says
Try a pot of boiling water on the ant pile. That’s how my uncle used to get rid of termites.
JD says
Found my notes from 1994: Newscaster, Loren Nancarrow, can help you with your ant problem
with his special ant bait.
You’ll find it effective, but be patient —
it may take a week to 10 days to be fully effective.
In the meantime kill ants
in the house with Windex or another ammonia-based cleaner.
Clean and kill, all in one motion.
Loren Nancarrow’s Ant Killer Recipe:
1 part 20 Mule Team Borax or Boric acid
9 parts of a sweet sticky liquid like maple syrup,
honey or Karo syrup
Mix the ingredients (Skipping this part works fine..too messy)
Heating in a double boiler may speed the process.
Take an empty margarine tub and poke 4 holes
around the bottom edge (entry holes for ants to walk in).
Place a dollop the size of a quarter in the middle
of the tub, then put the top back on.
This mixture is not non-toxic,
however it is less toxic,
and that’s the key to its success.
The ants carry it back to the nest
where they feed it to the entire colony
and wipe out the nest.
Jim the Tinkerer says:
I do similar..but more watery.
I mix 2 grams Borax into
6 oz apple juice, and fill bottle caps,
tuck behind the washer, behind the fridge
and couch, etc. And I take care to keep
sinks dry of droplets for a week.
They go nuts for the cider, they all die.
Tink says
Hi there Joyce ? try using Borax
1 tablespoon to 6 tablespoons of sugar dissolved in a very small amount of warm water, making sure that the mix looks like sugar crystals….
Place in the area where the ants are and make sure no children or pets/animals can come into contact with this as it is POISON ☠️ WASH YIUR HANDS AFTER USE
PLEAE USE NASK AS TO NOT BREATH IN VAPOURS
Good luck Tink
Janet says
I save Parmesan cheese containers, mix up the borax recipe & cotton balls , put it in the containers & open the sprinkle side so the ants can go in. Then I put them around the house where ants are coming in
Wade says
Borax powder (sodium tetraborate) is not particularly toxic… the LD50 (median lethal dose) is 3 g/kg in rats, not far off from table salt and grain alcohol. It’s a mild irritant but only because it’s rather alkaline, similar to baking soda. It’s nice not to get a bunch on your skin, in your eyes, or in your lungs. But no great care’s required. You can rest easy; borax is a pretty safe way to eliminate ants if you need to.
Laura says
Don’t be silly. Borax is less toxic than salt. Do your research. Think more: it’ s free.
Trudy says
Borax is not poison at all. I have eaten it with no problem. It supplies boron to the body, which is needed. You can buy boron at the health food store or eat the borax mixed in water. Not sure where these old wives tails started about borax.
Sue says
Trudy is correct. I have eaten Borax as well, but prefer to use it in a food soak. My cats also eat Borax. Boron helps strengthen our teeth and bones.
Anyway it does kill ants. Thanks for the information as I will also try cayenne pepper. I have several types of ants getting into things this summer.
Melissa Monroe says
Dry grits gets rid of fire ants just sprinkle some on each mound
Janice L Wyn says
I’m having some major issues with the tiny ants in my kitchen as well as in bedrooms at times. I have tried peppermint extract and realized it should have been oil instead. I previously used the ant baits from the store and they didn’t work too well. I’ve had to throw away cereal because of ants being in it. Any recommendations for any and all homemade ant baits would greatly be appreciated.
Heather says
The liquid Terro is relatively cheap (a couple dollars) and highly effective with those small sugar ants. Sometimes you’ll hear sugars ants also referred to as ‘odorous ants’ because if you go and squish a bunch of them like we’re all tempted to when we see tons on our counters, there’s this weird odor that will waft thru the air out of their crushed corpses. But don’t squish them because Terro is much more efficient and effective.
They’ll gobble up the Terro and bring it back to the nest to share with their brethren. Terro is a sugar syrup and borax combo that is made at the perfect consistency to make sure they’ll find it appetizing but have enough borax hidden within to wipe out their colony. Sugar ants only take a couple a days to eliminated with this method.
3/4″ circle are usually big enough for the little ants to get their fill. I’ve fought 2 small ant infestations with just a quarter of a small bottle of Terro. Now I have carpenter ants (cry T.T) in my kitchen and they are finishing off the bottle and seem eager to eat the Terro too. They are getting larger circles because they consume much more with their big-ass bodies being probably 10xs the size of sugar ants. They are currently eating away at it in my cabinet; I’ll need to wait and see how many days it takes for us to claim complete victory.
One other point… we seem to get ant problems right after a few good rains in spring. They’ll come up into houses in search of higher ground. Once the hotter summer comes, they’ll usually retreat back into the wilderness where it is cooler to build nests. So we usually just need to deal with them once per year around April or May in NE USA.
Stacy Deaton says
Thank you, Heather! Your comment was as hysterical as it was helpful. Thank you so much for the laughs! 🙂 Glad to know about the liquid Terro!
Jennifer Nunley says
I just tried this borax sugar water mix. Oh my gosh, so far so good! So many came out to the cotton ball I decided to leave it overnight. Not one ant left or coming to cotton ball! Hoping the colony was wiped out!!
Laurie says
I need to try that! We have a crack in our slab & a few make their way thru the ceramic & laminate in the hallway. I’ve been using baby powder & while it works, it is very messy!
Renee says
Great tip! Going to have to remember it in the spring. Since you already have the Borax, a half cup in the wash is great at getting that mildewy smell out of towels.
letsshop says
Only time I ever get ants is when the Peony season comes around . And they climb into anything in my cabinet that they can get into .Try to keep most package foods in plastic containers .maybe I should try Borax (O:
JenniF says
OMG! Thanks! I can’t wait to try this next summer. Every year we have a ton and I spray and spray and nothing helps. I have to be careful what I use because of my cat too. I’m going to put the cotton balls out side too!
Steve F. says
Thank you Rachel!!!I will be trying this down here,,,,as soon as I get some Borax.
I was wondering how it went. Feel better…..better yet, come to Florida to shake that flu!!! LOL
rachel says
LOL Steve — I’d be that annoying coughing person on the plane that everyone hates! 🙂
Jill says
I actually just used straight Borax last year – I put a line of it on the top of my backsplash and it did the trick. In college I pul a line of borax up next to all the exterior walls of my apt. and got rid of cockroaches that way. Borax is the best!
Kay says
do they take it back to the ‘ant house’ and it kills them? I get some coming in every year near a door but I also think some drop off a tree and come thru a skylight (really annoying having ants drop on your bed – especially when you’re in it!) I am not going on the roof to put cotton balls up there, but if they take it ‘home’ I can try it on the floor.
rachel says
Yes, I think that’s what it is supposed to do. Worth a try! 🙂
Nikki says
ok, just made your mixture and put it under the sink, pantry, and bathtub. They seem to be coming up from under our house, Husband wants to “bomb” under the house but I told him to give this a try first!
ok, an hour later, ants are all over it, I’ll post over the weekend to see if it has gotten rid of our little friends!
Kate K says
So did it work? Inquiring minds want to know… plus I just found teeny ants all over my art desk. 😛
MAC says
Came home from dinner out to find that small ants had invaded our kitchen. Initially, I blamed my husband for not cleaning up remnants of snacks that were left where they fell. Then I sprinkled Borax on the ants and around the floor, especially near the walls, corners and in front of the sliding glass that leads to outside deck. Am I supposed to just leave the Borax there on the floor? If so, for how long? I just poured the Borax dry onto the floor. Is that correct? The ants seem to be walking on top of it with no effect. I did this 2 hours ago. Should I leave it there overnight? I did not add sugar, as I was afraid to make the problem worse. I did not wet the Borax. Is that still effective? Shopuld I clean up and reapply tomorrow?
Joyce Coo says
I had a problem along the baseboards of my kitchen and an occasional spider, sprayed Ortho Home Defense I purchased from Home Depot, haven’t spotted them in over a year.. The ants I mean, when I look up and see spider webs you know their infiltrating my space, it’s time to spray again. Today as I was placing silverware in the drawer I noticed crumbs and decided to pull out my silverware tray and lifted lining and saw a couple. I would never think of spraying the Ortho inside my kitchen drawers, so I googled the topic. I’m reading this site now and glad I already have the Borax at home. I’m going to wipe them out with Lysol or Pine sol but adding the sugar worries me. I’m going too try it with the cotton balls and see what happens,
L. JACOBSEN says
What does 1.5 c water in the borax recipe stand for along with 1-1/2 tbsp sugar and warm water and cotton ball?
rachel says
One and a half cups of water.
Warren Dunn says
Mac, My best approach. Do the sugar, water, borax combo, Soak a few little makeup remover rounds because they can be shaped to fit just about anywhere. Stand back and watch the stampede. The sugar and water are the bait and the borax is taken back to the hive and shared. I read that the borax mangles their insides. My ant problem is usually gone in hours or over night.. .
Gail I Conner says
I used old medicine bottle tops. The ones I’ve had lately have a little hole on the sides so they are perfect. Last year I used the ones without holes and they worked great as well. I just put some out in the traffic areas today!!
Joanne griffin says
Did this last night, sat and watched the ants going back anc forth. Hundreds of them. This morning about 30 will clean up with soap and water and her pads were, then in a couple of days put out again in case I had some lazy ones. I hate bugs. Problem was in bathroom
Donna Daiber says
I did this today. I also watched hundreds of them move back and forth. But, they were carrying their eggs. They piled them up then thru all worked to take them away.
I have gotten rid of ants 5 other times using the Borax sugar solution. I have never seen them do this though. I let them carry on so they would carry it to the new nest.