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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Here we go again..
I’ve had a lot of success with this recipe in the past. I recommend putting the soaked cotton balls in a little jar lid & rehydrating the cotton ball periodically. Awesome to watch the ants swarm the cotton balls and even better yet when you no longer see any more ants around 😊
I had medium sized ants all around the house. Tried the borax solution on one section of the yard and after 2 weeks I've noticed that all the ants are now gone. I can't find any in my yard anywhere. I can only assume that the one treatment got the queen.
Did ABSOLUTELY nothing!!!! I think they actually THRIVED off of it. Now I have MORE ants than before
I used a mixture of 44ml of pancake syrup with about 10 ml of borax. The ants on the outside of my car went to 3 baits I put out. They really liked the syrup and the next day I didn't see any more ants. The next day no ants as well. I think honey or syrup is better than sugar and water because they have a strong odor. I recomend 3 parts syrup to a little less than 1 part borax. I had ants for almost 2 years until I did this. So far, so good.
Borax is the best thing to get rid of ants, it truly kills an entire colony and so quickly too! I either mix it with sugar or with honey, whatever I have on hand, but both ways work amazingly!
i have a question I have tiny black little ants on my kitchen counter top. and there mainly like behind my kitchen sink and they run along the back of the counter top and wall. I cant see where there coming from at all. I have even looked along the floor by the wall .and nothing. so would this borax stuff work to kill the ants. please let me now thanks.
This works! Thank goodness! I followed the sugar/borax/water recipe above and it did take a day and a half, but there are no ants today! I will say you should let it sit even though it's so gross to watch all the ants feeding, but they need to bring it back to the nest. With Covid 19, my bug service will not come inside for a month so I am so thankful for this home remedy. Worked great, thank you!!
So yeah, I posted a comment a few days ago that the ants were gone, but now they're back with a vengeance. They must have told every ant colony in my neighborhood to come and check out the sweets. I have moved onto Terro with the same results. Vinegar is not deterring them at all and I am now going to try Raid. This is terrible!!
You need to keep feeding them so they take the food back to the colony, which kills the rest of the ants. The action will slow down and soon disappear. Keep putting out more poison until they don't show up anymore.
Yeah I did that for a week. It really didn't slow down and I haven't seen any since I sprayed Raid, but thanks!
What do you do with the leftover concoction? Am I able to store it?