 Barked: Tue Feb 26, '08 8:29pm PST |
 | |  | | Mom just got some books on green cleaning and stuff like that in the mail yesterday. Why she wants to do 500 things with vinegar or baking soda is bee-yond me.
Anyhowls, one of the green cleaning book suggests a couple of things fur ants. One is to "bait" them into moving away from your house so they won't come inside.
The one that might work fur you would be simple soap and water. Mix 16 oz of water with 3 tbsp liquid soap (like castille soap or natural soap) OR 1 tbsp liquid detergent (like dish soap) in a spray bottle. They suggest a peppermint or eucalyptus scent soap. Spray the ants that you see with the mixture. The soap dries them out and then you just wipe them up. Ants are gone, surface is clean! If you're having to spray in an area you walk on, you could try vinegar instead of soap water. It will take longer to kill the ants, but the floor won't bee as slippery. You'll need to follow up looking fur and spraying the ants for 3-4 days (if they decide to send in some more scouts to find our where the troops went).
They also say to clean up what they are trying to eat (like your food). If they're getting the big bag, find something airtight to store it in. If it's in your bowl, clean the area around really good and wash your bowl often. Don't leave the food down all day.
If you can find where they're coming in, you could put some vaseline jelly on the opening. That will temporarily keep them out until the wet weather stops. When the weather clears up, you can recaulk or whatever to block their entrance permanently.Two reasons ants will come inside....if it's really wet outside or if it's really dry outside. When it's wet, they want to bee dry. If it's dry, they want to find water.
To heyelp keep them away once you they suggest 2 tsp peppermint oil in 16 oz of water. Spray baseboards, window sills, doorways, around any pipes or places that stuff goes through walls. I guess they don't like the smell or it messes up their "smell trail" they follow.
I think the peppermint thing works with all kinds of bugs. Great Grandma used to keep flour and sugar in regular cabinet drawers in the farm house. There would be 5 lbs of flour in the drawer and she'd throw in a couple sticks of Doublemint Gum (in the wrapper) in with the flour. Never had a bug of any kind. I don't think people store stuff like that these days.
Smoke, Cleaning house the green way |  |  | |  |
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