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!
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Worked like a charm!
Over 2 weeks now no ants in sight, this after months of constant nighttime raids by our shared enemy.
To those that come here for help, it works and works well....take time to read the whole article and comments, you will be happy with the results.
We placed our cotton balls by the stove and the surrounding counter space, overnight we had well over 100 ants going to town on them in the morning. Left them out till just afternoon, cleaned up the mess and let the stragglers go. We followed up by placing them on the outside wall behind the stove and by our trashcan in our driveway......this is where we hit pay dirt. I went to check them before nightfall and found 4 lines of ants 10' long pouring from a crack in our driveway, I moved the balls close to the source and laid out a few more....mid day next day......no more ants.
Rachel, Thank you so very much for sharing your knowledge and taking the time to get this out. 🙂
Don S
PS....helping our next door neighbor as I type, she is well on way to being ant free!
I've used poisons. I will not buy them anymore. There is no reason to. For ants More borax is Not better. Put a dab of sugar near the ants, put a dab of peanut butter near the ants, whatever they go for, use. It works & works Xlnt! If they avoid it, use less borax. Search for ants around your property. Put out baits. In a few days put out more. They will take it to nest & kill colony. Note this old house was treated for termites, before sale, a few mths later, I found termites. I treated the house with yes, borax. Why would anyone in their right mind pump 100 gals or more Of a Toxic poison in & around their home, when borax Does the job & Does it well. New Zealand has treated their lumber since 1953, and they don't have issues with termites. Save your $ for something that works & look up natural ways to kill termites. P.s. remove outlet & switch covers, dust inside the outlet with " Food Grade" Diatemaceous earth, replace covers & you'll never have to deal with it again.after that have a spoonful yourself & or feed it to your canine. These ways are as old as man, yet the so called modern world has the con built into the game. You can also use salt in the crawl space under a home for termites. The poisons not only hurt you and your wallet, they don't work as good. So do what you will, eat drugs to lower your cholesterol or simply enjoy some garlic in your meals. I prefer salt and garlic to poison. Bon a Petit"
I tracked the ants to where they were coming into the house and baited the area with peanut butter and maple syrup both mixed with Borax. The results are amazing!! I woke up today with no ants inside at all, even though i set a bait inside. When i checked to traps outside there was only 5.....literally 5 ants on the outside baits. Yesterday there had to be millions on the peanut butter baits but only 5 are there today!!! For 4.39$ this was the best money I've spent on pest removal ever.
We must have crazy ants - they are avoiding the cotton balls!
we have ants that look just like the ones pictured. we have had them year after year. i actually used an ant killer liquid meant for outdoor use one year because they were actually squeezing themselves through the gaskets and into the dishwasher even though it was closed tight and had no gaps. they were so numerous i had to run the rinse cycle to keep the numbers down when we didn't dirty enough dishes for a full load regularly. our ants are not attracted to sugar though and the bait in the ant traps also do not appeal. these seem to like animal fats & proteins, any tiny bit of juice or grease from cooked meats attracts them. i'm going to try mixing borax with a little chicken fat or tallow drained from ground beef and see if that does the trick.
I'm trying some 50-50 borax and peanut butter mix bait on those hard-to-kill-with-anything-practical tiny ants. They are really, really hardy(bleach did not stop them for long), as many of the things that work on fire ants do not against them.
This does work, though, as a strong deterrent: Cayenne pepper powder. Just put it wherever you see them and where they are coming in in that area. They'll walk right through it for about 2-3 days, then they'll gone from the area just as long as the opening has cayenne powder on it. It will not kill them, so they might find another way in.
Hopefully, the 50-50 PB to Borax bait works. If it does, then I'll save the page so I know how to get back(sometimes, baits take a while and it might no longer be in history).
Try mixing boraxo with peanut butter..works good for protien seeking ants.
OK folks I've gone through this a few times now in my kitchen, here is what worked for me...
Found out that there are many different kinds of ants that eat different things. I used a mason jar lid to put the mixture on.
Almost a year ago I had ants that liked cornmeal. Take a jar and mix it 50/50 Cornmeal and Borax with water. Put some on a mason jar lid. They can easily climb it, replace the mixture on the lid every morning and evening with the paste. When it dries smash it so it’s not stuck together and small enough so the ants can carry it away. Put the lid on the jar and keep using the same mixture.
Almost a year later ants again. I figured no problem I'll give them cornmeal. They didn't want cornmeal at all! I tried all kinds of combinations with sugar. First my borax, sugar and water was too strong and they wouldn't eat it. Then it was too weak they loved it but weren't dying. Here it the combo that killed the whole colony them in 2 1/2 days. Again I used a mason jar lid to put the mixture on.
2 teaspoons Sugar, ½ teaspoon Borax (mix well), ½ teaspoon Water and mix until it looks like syrup consistency. They love it. It's actually a 4:1 mixture of sugar to borax with water.
I replaced it with new mixture every 6-8 hours and picked up the old lids with the ants on them eating, put them in a bag and threw it away. Yes you let them eat and take it back to the colony but there were so many there was plenty ants left to take it back. If they line up all the way around your mixture put out two lids. The second day you will only need one lid.
I though I'd share because this was a nightmare until I finally got it right. Bottom line you have to find out what they want to eat. If you make it too strong it does no good if they won't eat it. I tried all of the Ant Gel on the market and they didn't want any of it. They loved my mixture though and it killed them.
Very thorough post Nancy, much appreciated. I'm in Western Australia, so this advice may not be relevant to the US. You are on the money - different ants like different tuck, and it takes patient experimentation before you find a combination that works. I use the sugar mix, but add a beef stock cube for the protein seekers. Seems to work well. Cheers from Margaret River
Ok I tried the borax and sugar 50/50 weeks ago and they are not going for it. Now I think it's because there isn't water mixed up too? I don't know and I just put it on a butter lid under the sink stove and fridge? They are swarming in the dishwasher still so I will try water too...but what am I doing wrong? I have a cat so I can't have it in the open...
Yes, you need to mix water up with it too. I soaked this mixture with a cotton ball and put some Nutella on top for good measure and the ants loved it. This attracted the fire ants and some other species of tiny brown ant, although I'm not sure what kind of ants you have.
I tried this method at my parent's house and my girlfriend's parent's house this holiday break, both of whom were having fire ant problems. It worked both times within 8 hours. I've only seen 1 or 2 forager ants since the ants swarmed the cotton balls and were killed off.
My parents have cats, so I tried to keep the door closed in the rooms where I placed them. I also put paper plates over some of the cotton balls to keep the cats from being interested in what was underneath. Some were left out in the open, but the cats did not seem interested whatsoever. Your cats may be more curious, however. Someone mentioned putting in it a plastic Tuppeware container and cutting holes in it for the ants to get in, but not so large that pets could get in contact with the borax. I hope this helps. Good luck to you!
My cat doesn't mess with mine, i have friend with a dog i hope her dog leaves it alone. Im sure the PNB would a track the dog.
thanks Im going to try this
Since the borax is toxic to pets I put the cotton balls in a small plastic container with a lid. Poke holes in the side of the container so the ants can get inside. It works and you don't need to worry about your pets
Thank You was trying to figure out how to do this with pets. I have cats and my mom has a dog.
My dog would eat the cup...perhaps a small glass jar & put holes in the lid.
Worked like a charm! Thanks for sharing
Thank you! I just found ants in the cat food this morning.