Yes -- Borax got rid of the ants!

Here's how to use Borax to get rid of ants when those little tiny ones get into your home! It's so easy, and so much more affordable in the long run than buying commercial ant baits.

Note: This post is a blast from the pretty far past. Originally published in 2013, using Borax to kill ants is still relevant today -- because these darn ants, they are back every year.

When I ran a Borax giveaway a while back, several of you asked if using Borax really did get rid of the ants. Survey says: Yes! I haven't seen one in my kitchen since putting out this homemade ant-killing Borax recipe a couple of times. It works at least as well as, if not better than, the little ant bait things -- and is so much more affordable in the long run than investing in baits over and over again.

It's easy to use Borax to get rid of ants, and picking up Borax is a better long term investment, since you can also use it for other purposes.

Use Borax to get rid of ants

Is it just me, or do you see a new annoying batch of tiny ants in your house every spring, too? I always get a bunch of little ants coming into my kitchen under one of the cabinets that backs up against an outside wall. I originally saw a suggestion online to sprinkle 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 effective ant-killing Borax recipe from The Happy Housewife:

Mix ½ C sugar, 1 ½ tablespoon Borax, and 1.5 C warm water.
Soak some 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.
Eating the Borax kills the ants!

If you have small children or pets, be sure to keep them away from 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... 🙂

Some ants do love sugar...

BOY do these particular ants like this mixture. 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, then let the cats out. Then, I repeated the experiment for a second round of about an hour later in the evening (seeing many fewer ants on this second go-round). By morning? No new ants in sight.

Tip: Try mixing in peanut butter for a more savory ant-attracting formula, if your batch of ants doesn't seem to care for the sugar.

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!

More Frugal Homemade Ideas!

And if you’re looking for more “frugal homemade” ideas & homemade recipes, read more here:

Frugal Homemade: Frugal homemade recipes, homemaking tips, and ideas
Food Hacks: Stretch leftovers, try new ideas, more!
Food Chat: One thing a day, kitchen tips, more!
Make It or Buy It? Is it cheaper or better to make it, or to buy it?

Anything else you’d like to see covered in one of these categories? Comment here and let me know!

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218 Comments

This is a lovely informative post. I can't believe people commented negativity. Thank you for sharing.

Our ants are crazy about honey, I’ll try mix it with borax. Also in my childhood people used egg yolk ( boiled) and borax, it was very effective. Maybe you should try that for protein lovers ants.

I treated the massive amount of bathroom ants with a mix of 3/4 cup maple syrup and 1/4 cup borax heated in microwave to blend the 2 ingredients. Then I poured it into a plastic ant tray I had. (A plastic lid would work).
The ants only appeared at night and there’ were hundreds! The next night I refreshed the Mixture since no ants were eating the bait but did not attract any. So, will keep checking nightly. Hope it worked? Any advice helps.

Is this recipe supposed to be like a water constancy? I made it and it looks like water not paste? I soaked cotton balls and placed them on small paper plates in the area of the tiny ants
Hope this works 😊
Thanks

I had a left over biscuit, so I mixed just borax and water, then I let the biscuit crumbs soak in the solution, let them dry off a little bit then I placed the borax where ants had been coming in. They fell for it. No more ants c:

Does teh Borax and sugar work on carpenter ants? I have never seen them around my property before but they are now galloping on my deck. We will inspect it underneath, tomorrow. In the meantime, I would like to know if these recipes work for carpenter ants.

Will ants continue to eat the sugar-borax mixture after it hardens?

I used a little less water. The mixture was a little thicker than syrup. I poured the syrup on strips of cardboard and placed them near the ants. It worked great. I had to repeat every year. This year, however, I had no ants at all. Maybe I finally wore them down to extinction!

Have tried the borax and sugar recipe. They walked around it. Then tried sugar, honey and borax. Same thing. Left it for several days. These are regular small brown ants. Being overrun. Any ideas?

How long will this mixture last? I made some and didn’t use all of it. I put it in he fridge since it had sugar. How long will the rest of it last?