How To Get Rid Of Ants: What Really Works & What Doesn't

If you have been following me on Instagram, you know that I almost packed up ALLLLLL my shit and hit the road this weekend.

Why you ask?

Because my apartment had been invaded by ants *cries* and if there is anything I don't do...its bugs.

Not My Ants

But once I thought about the cost of relocation, cooler heads prevailed I decided to fight the good fight and use Google University to help me solve my ant problem.

Only issue with that was 90% of that shit i found on the internet didn't work. So I'm here to save you the time and money on all the ish that won't get those thing out of your house and let you in on the thing that will!

So, whats the scoop? Lets get into it.

What Really Works & What Doesn't 

1) Raid Spray

The Claim: 

Raid spray claims to rid your home of a host of creepy crawlies. Between tv commercials, cult followings and it being the number one product in the insect aisle it has to be the bomb right? 

What Happened

I went out and got the Raid that's specifically for ants hoping that it work wonders. What wound up going down was that the visible ants in my kitchen were...uh...drowned in Raid and I was damn near suffocating. I continued to spray down the base boards, countertops and doors.

A day or so later...the bitches were back.

Why I Don't Like It

Well, for one it does not work. Don't get me wrong it kills the ants you can see but das it. Secondly the smell, even one or two sprays will leave you unable to stand the smell. Then there is the whole having toxic residue over all your shit (bad if you have dogs or kids) and lastly it creates no protective barrier around entry points.

Rating 

5/10 and thats only because it actually kills the ants you can see.

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3) Apple Cider Vinegar and Water 

The Claim

1 part apple cider vinegar to 1 part water in a spray bottle and all you ant issues will be gone. Eh, debatable. Apple Cider Vinegar or even regular Vinegar is supposed to repeal ants due to its smell and mess up their pheromone trail. Without this trail the ants have nothing to follow. So I did as I was told, sprayed the baseboards sprayed the ants hell I even cleaned my floor with the mixture.

What Happened

Generally speaking, my kitchen wound up smelling like ACV and for an hour or so I saw no ants, but  them hoes popped back up like brother man from the fit (4th) floor. My thoughts are leave your vinegar to kill weeds, clean your counters naturally and keep your insides healthy. These ants aint having it.

Rating 

3/10

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3) Peppermint Oil and Water

The Claim

Like the ACV peppermint essential oil is supposed to deter ants and screw with their pheromone trail.    The directions state to mix 10 drops of peppermint essential oil to a bottle of water (I used 20 cuz I'm extra) and to spray window seals, baseboards and the trail of ants.

Let me just stop here...YOU KNOW WHAT PISSES ME OFF...all these damn instruction say to spray the trail of ants...OF COURSE SPRAYING THE TRAIL OF ANTS KILLS THE ANTS. They drow-...nope nvm.

So spray the ants wipe up the mess and your good.

What Happened

It aint work bruh...the ants drowned, were gone for a min then they were back with the jump off.

Rating 

3/10 only because I hate giving things 1's and it did make my kitchen smell nice.

4) Salt

The Claim

For those of you who have watched my insta stories through the ant attack, y'all got a laugh out of this one. Salt is supposed to be used as a barrier for ants. 

It is said that they will not walk across a line of salt.

What Happened

They walked across the line of salt. 

I will say that the ants were gone for a little while but it may have more to do with the fact that I had just cleaned with ACV.

Rating 

0/10

5) Chalk

The Claim

*insert side eye*

It is said that like the line of salt ants won't walk across it...however after the salt fiasco I wasting going to buy chalk to sprinkle about my apartment. 

What Happened

I didn't do it so nothing, but lets just imagine it wouldn't work.

Rating 

N/A

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6) Terro Ant Trap

The Claim

Terro, by far was recommended the most by my followers, along with the droves of ppl saying all these natural solutions above. Terro is a liquid mix that the ants are to feed on, take back to their nest, feed to others and die.

I purchased the Terro liquid which you are instructed to drop into a dish for the ants to come and feed on as well as the Terro that that is pre packaged in a trap for the ants to walk in and feed on. I of course decided to use the one that they would walk into...because, clean =D

What Happened

THEM SUCKERS CAME OUT OF THE WOODWORK LIKE FREE BEFORE 11 AT THE CLUB!

Which of course creeped me the fuck out. I actually had to stay out of my kitchen for the rest of the night. However the silver lining was the ants went only to the bait, straight line they had a one track mind.  As of today, the flow has slowed down and I see less ants. Ill be setting up more traps just to ensure I get them all and the colony is destroyed.

In 24 hours the ant problem...

*Olivia Pope Voice* Its handled

Rating 

10/10 just try not to freak out when you see all the ants come to the bait.

What Have I Learned

The internet lies...dont trust none of these natural solutions. While some may be good for cleaning, real poison is needed to kill ants, however that poison does not have to be one that almost suffocates you or puts your animals in children in danger. It can be small, compartmentalized and easy.

Until Next Time,

XO Deanna