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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I used the peanut butter recipe for the "microscopic" ants and they loved it They turned the PB into peanut powder!!
Put the cotton balls in childproof pill bottles with 1/8 inch holes drilled into the lid. Still keep them out of reach of our toddler and dogs.
Day 1 - frenzy of ants.
Day 2 - 3 or 4 moving slow
Day 3 - tons of ants again?!
Day 4 - half a dozen slow moving.
Day 5 - Lots and lots of ants!
Day 6 - 2 or 3 slow ants.
This pattern continued for almost 2 full weeks. Then they were all gone. My best guess is these waves of ants were separate colonies. 3 months and they haven't been back!
I made the mixture and left it out in a cup with holes. Didn’t really see anything the first day. I came home, and they have swarmed it. But seems they are sucking on it and not really moving. They are in the counter, I wouldnt even know where they would be entering, but must be going down the crack between stove and counter. I just want them gone.
I used a recipe that called for 3 cups of water, 4 tablespoons of borax 1 cup of sugar. Dip a piece of bread in it and put it on the counter. The ants are all over it, I was hoping they would just keel over upon eating it, but I guess it takes times because it's been a few hours and I see no corpses yet.
Ants are everywhere except for the bait. Hello hoax.
What kind of ants do you have? What did you use to make the bait?
It's definitely not a hoax. It worked for me. It stills works when I need to set more traps when the ants come back a couple of times a year. What is the motivation for this post being a hoax? I just don't get it.
So grateful to have found this! Have seen a couple of ants here and there but, of course, knew there was a problem. Well, this morning, the cat had barfed near the dishwasher I don't use and all those little black specks turned out to be tiny pantry ants. UGH! So, I mixed up the solution, as directed, did the cotton balls and put a couple down there and one under the bottom drawer adjacent. Well, they're loving it. THE hardest part is not killing them where they are but I'm holding firm, only squished a couple of stragglers. Fortunately, the cats are old and asleep in the living room. Will take it all up and clean it when they come looking for their food, then re-deploy after they snooze off again. Thank you so much, this really does seem to be working! Read every comment and really appreciate them, even copied and pasted one really long one into an email for future reference. 🙂
Oh yes this really works, I had a few stragglers and after putting out the soaked cotton balls I think the whole colony appeared to feast, as of this morning most of them have returned to the colony and hope the queen has welcomed them back home😋. Thanks so much for this recipe.
Yes it works instead of using Crystal sugar I mix The Borax with powdered sugar I gave them the water paste and the dry ingredients they were attracted had a party only found 13 dead ants in one pile that was liquid went into the kitchen the next morning there was not one live ant walking around on my counter I was excited
Thank you so much for this! It really worked for me!
Here we go again.