i have an ant problem. But have been told by friends to use Nipon ant powder.

I have little black ants. Someone told us to try Combat Gel. It seems to really attract them, and they were all over it within hours. We used inside like we were told. The next day we found hundreds of dead and half dead ants!

They were covered in the poison gel, leaving greasy marks everywhere! Nobody told me that. The package says the ants will take it home and then die, but mine didn't!

We found them in every cabinet, shelf, and along the baseboards for weeks! And of course we still have ants!

From what I am reading many of you have different types of ants and that is why the same ant repellents aren't working for everyone.

Somebody (18) said they had ants eating sawdust. Those are probably carpenter ants, and they can ruin the wooden structures in your home!

Another person said they were on her and her son's computer stands (19.) Those may be ants that are attracted to electrical currents, either "crazy ants" or "iomported fire ants." They can and will get inside your computer and other electrical equipment, and can short is out.

Someone said they had larger black ants around their carport (10). Those are probably "pavement ants" and they live under concrete.

For best results, look up repellents and poisons specific to the type of ant infesting your home.

I have been finding ants everywhere: in my bathroom, counters, bathtub, on top of toilet, tv, my clothes, blankets, and even in my bed! :( They are tiny ants! But I'll find a lot dead (i've been spraying so much bug spray its ridiculous) and some still alive just crawling around.

Now that I've found them in my bed, it's bothering me even more! I've tried all kinds of bug spray but they just keep appearing dead or alive. I have no idea where they are coming from. I tried to look. I rent a trailer so I don't really know much about the home except it is pretty old. But help! I have no idea how to get rid of them and most importantly, sleep in peace knowing I'm not going to have so many ants crawling on me in my bed! -Lexi

I tried a bunch of home remedies to no avail, then used liquid ant baits which worked like a charm!

If you're finding dead ants, you might have a friendly spider nearby eating breakfast, lunch and dinner. I've noticed this trend and have found a spider as the cause.

I pour bleach or vinegar down my drains of my sink and tub every month. That helps a lot because they love to come through the pipes, and watch for every little hole in the kitchen and bathroom because ants will come through. Plug it up and keep all stuff off the counters.

To effectively eradicate meat ants, black ants and sugar ants I used the following methods;

Meat ants:

I threw a dead rabbit on top of the nest, then while the ants were busy stripping the carcass I poured a diluted solution of "home brand" bleach (1 part bleach: 10 parts water) down the access holes in the nest. The entire nest was inactive within two hours, and remained inactive for the next two and a half years.

Black ants:

I located the entry point into the house (rear sliding door), and sprinkled a generous amount of ground black pepper along the door track (approx 5g per metre). I did this before turning in for the night, and by the following morning there was no further sign of the black ants.

Sugar ants:

I sprayed their line with a fine mist of a generic brand ant spray purchased from the local supermarket (just two squirts) and watched a vast majority of them drop dead before my eyes. Those that didn't die instantly made their way back to the nest. Within 48 hours the entire nest was inactive.

Sometimes when you see flying ants in your house, they're coming in through the bathroom. Apparently during heavy rains, they will seek the highest points on your house to get away, and sometimes that means vent pipes, i.e.. your bathroom exhaust fan. I had them do that to me once, but they'll go away within a week or so -- it has nothing to do with a food supply. I guess they just fall in the bathroom when they do that.

Spread Borax around the perimeter of the house and along any ant paths you see. I also spread it underneath the house for good measure. Inside, put it under counters and sinks, anywhere ants have been known to hide. This will help get rid of roaches as well.

i have ants in my pantry. the little pests are climbing the walls. i used home defense and in one hour they were back. i read about vinegar and i tried it full strength and they have been gone for 3 days now. Now they are on my counter top. i sprayed with the vinegar again. hope this works.

I am going to put near empty sugary drink bottles in places to see if I can get the same results as the person above. Drowning ants is fun anyway. LOL

I will not use chemicals in the house because it's harmful to the environment and it makes me sick. As such I've tried every eco-solution I could find and must concur that these new ants are a mutant species. The way I understood it is they used smell to find whatever; well, modern ants must not have the ability to smell because nothing - *nothing* - is keeping them out. We've used chili, peppermint, cloves, cinnamon, orange oil, vinegar, peroxide, baking soda, pepper, toothpaste, etc. They simply mock our attempts and walk over said repellents. The only thing that has worked (albeit temporarily) is mineral oil or liquid soaps like dish soaps. Mineral oil (baby oil) smells horrible (and isn't healthy to breathe in, believe it or not, so I cover it with baking soda. But like I said this is merely a temporary fix. I also hesitate using any kind of pellet poisoning or bait outside because I don't want to kill the spiders (who, unlike the ants, are basically harmless). Plus we have a family of tiny lizards and we would not think of putting them at risk. The only plan we have it to cover every single crack or opening we can find in the walls. It has been a summer-long endeavor and we have been manic at times. Cannot even tell you how many late nights we've had getting ready for bed only to kept up by a new ambush. I love wildlife, but I sincerely *hate* ants. It's terrible to say, but there you have it. --Mar

You need to spray outside the home. hopefully you can find the "source" outside. You may find a large ant hill close to the door and spray it with something like Home Defense. You can do what ever you want inside, but they will always find a way to get back inside. If you can get to the "source" outside, they will be gone.

*Easy solution!* put a starburst where they are coming in at. they stay right there, eat it and disappear within two days!

I had a horrible ant infestation in my last place. Traditional natural remedies were useless so I used cleaner with orange oil in it (Orange glow?). After cleaning the kitchen and pantry with it, we never saw the ants again. Perhaps if you just sprayed an orange extract it would be just as effective.

Help, we have ants in the clothes closets. Last week I found an army in the baby's closet. Sprayed and gave away any items not being used in closet. Now no sign in the nursery but in my bathroom and closet. What? What type of ant just wants to live around clothes, no food, water? I give up. I will try the home remedy cinnamon, vinegar, and vaseline. I hope people at work will not think I moonlight as a short order cook.

*Solution*! I have ants everywhere in my brand new house, so bad they are even in the dishwasher, inside the toilet bowl, hundreds all over the vanity in bathroom, etc. After two days i gave up spraying. I accidently left a two liter coke bottle with about 3 tablespoons of coke left lying sideways on the vanity. after a day and a half every single ant was gone and has been gone out of the house.

here's what happened. i noticed there were hundreds of ants inside the coke bottle that died from drowning, so i picked up the bottle to look and laugh at all the dead ants and shake up the live ones. well apparantly ants carry away their dead and mourn over them so since so many ants had died, apparently they never came back. it's been two weeks and no trace of an ant anywhere and I've experimented with this in every room!

I just poured boiling water down every ant spot I saw. Sprayed vinegar around, and cinnamon. I drew a line of cayenne pepper at every doorway. I usually clean with vinegar. Maybe they are mutant here too! Will update with what works.

If you have some advice on what to use to get rid of ants, for crying out loud, tell us the name of the product!

I have recently seen ants on my computer stand, There are ants on my son's stand and my daughter saw them on the counter in the bathroom. I have never had a problem with them and don't understand why I am getting them all of a sudden. Last night I went to have a cinnamon roll and the bag they were in was filled with ants, so if cinnamon is supposed to kill them, than why do I have at least two dozen in my bag of cinnamon rolls? I need to do something. I don't want them all through my house and really don't want to spray and have my house smell like chemicals. So got any ideas? I would love to hear them.

I have ants coming in my house since 2 years. It started with bathroom and now they are in my basement sealing eating saw dust. I removed the panel and sprayed on it and in my bathroom as well. I dont see them now. Its just about a week but I am sure they will come back. I have no idea where they are coming from.

I have small sugar ants. Tried everything. Just got through spraying vinegar on counters, in cracks and outside. They were covering the cats dish. washed it out and sprinkled baby powder areound the bowl and sprayed some vinegar. and all over my deck. Came back inside and there were three ants crawling in the vinegar. what the heck?? I think they are mutant.

I did the pepper thing and there they were carrying the pepper. they are just out of control.

i have the same thing about ants in my basement. they have been coming in for the past couple of years and dying on a ledge around a back wall. we have to clean them up about once a week. the only thing i can think of, is a previous owner sprayed something??? we have them in our kitchen this year for the first time and i'm looking for a good solution. there aren't a ton, they are smaller ants, and about a dozen to 20 each time. i will try the cinnamon and vaseline, if not quite a few people mentioned the homedefense.

Yeah, that's exactly what I want all over my house; cinnamon, Vaseline, and vinegar. I'd rather have the ants!

For weeks we have had occasional random ants crawling around, always seeming to center in our kitchen. We found a hole in the wall by our fridge and found out (1) they were coming in through a hole where caulk was missing and (2) probably because the refrigerator dripped water for them and (3) were probably the colony we had just uprooted by removing a concrete slab just a few feet from our house and (4) were probably motivated to find shelter from a severe rainstorm. We tried putting out artificial sweetener, but we found that did *not* help anything but to create a mess on the floor. After shooting a load of generic Raid into the hole, I am sure I won't see them for the rest of the day, allowing me to caulk the hole when it dries.

The person who found a bunch of live ants and dead ants...are you sure they are not termites? Sounds like termites...

I too had a terrible ant problem that just would not go away no matter what I did or what I bought at the store. I finally searched the internet. This company explained exactly what I needed to do and exactly what I needed to use to get rid of the problem. I ended up purchasing an ant bait gel called Maxforce and an ant bait granule called Advance. Apparently ants have nutritional needs that need to be met and one product worked for sweet feeding ants and the other for protein feeding ants. By providing both types of bait I was able to attract the ants to the bait and they were gone in just a couple of days!

I found the posts regarding ants very helpful and interesting. When I first moved into my mobile home three years ago, there were big black ants everywhere outside in my carport and yard, but not in my home. I use salt on dandelions all over my yard and I spray around my front door area to ward off bugs. The next year that I lived in my mobile home, the big ants were gone, but the small sugar ants moved in. One day there they were on my kitchen and bathroom counters. My neighbors had worse problems with the ants being into everything. My neighbor bought a bunch of ant bait, placed all around his mobile and cured his problem. This year more sugar ants were coming in so I bought the ant bait too and put it where I saw ants congregating or wondering. It has been several months now and all clear of ants in my home.

Man-o-man the sneaky ants! The best solution I have had with keeping them out of my house is getting ant poison and sprinkling it around my house (never inside cause I have a child), then I take the vinegar mixed w/ water and spray around my counter tops and any cracks I might have..like that hole from the dryer that leads outside all around the bathroom walls and etc. I also spray around the area cause I live in a trailer where the hood over the oven goes outside my home to blow the smoke out and I spray there. This seems to have worked for me..but If you do have the ants in the house I found out it's easier to try to get as many out as possible before doing anything outside your home. That's what makes it easier for me..hope it helps :)

I used to be able to buy a special chalk that I referred to as Chinese chalk because it was sold in small Chinese shops. I think California has banned the sale of this chalk because it had some kind of poison in it.

It worked very well. I would make a line in their path, and the ants would touch, but not cross it. But also they would carry the poison on their legs into the nest and it would kill them.

Now what I do is buy small pellets in one of the big home improvement stores. They work outdoors only. You sprinkle some around the perimeter of the house, and wherever you see ants outdoors. You have to be watchful, and keep it up, to keep the ants under control, and not let them enter your home.

UPDATE: It's been almost 3 weeks since I sprayed the kitchen counter and along the baseline in the kitchen with HomeDefense. Unfortunately, little by little today I'm seeing ants on the counter again. I sprayed the area again, but I just don't understand why they keep coming back and where they're coming from. I would think that the spray barrier would kill them and/or scare them off for at least months at a time.

Also, I saw a special chalk meant to get rid of ants in a home and garden magazine. Sounds like it should work, especially if the previous poster was able to use regular kid's chalk to keep them away.

Hi, my ant problem started about 3-4 years ago. I couldn't understand where the ants were coming from in my kitchen. I made the mistake of putting out some syrup to see. I saw where they were coming from, plugged up the hole and about 4 days later the ants came back through another hole.

I used the cinnamon line, vinegar spray and caulked along the baseline of the kitchen and living room. Still those ants kept coming back. After plugging up 9 holes, at this point the ants were out of control, so I called Orkin. The guy put down drops of ant kill gel baits. He said the ants will take the bait to the colony and kill it. He also told us not to spray the ants because it'll just scatter them and they'll form new colonies.

Orkin got the ant problem under control, but after 2-3 weeks they came back (just not as bad.) We stayed with this company for 2 years, but canceled them because their gel bait system wasn't getting rid of the ants for good.

Last summer I went to the local exterminator, he gave me a spray to use and it help A LOT--those ants stayed away for months. The only thing about it is it had a terribly strong smell and it was greasy. We did experience ants in the kitchen this year but they came out later than usual after rains.

My brother recommended HomeDefense spray, you can use it inside and there's no smell and it's not greasy. It worked for us so far. Ants were all over our kitchen sink counter, I sprayed HomeDefense and the ants have been gone for about 2 weeks. Hope this helps.

If it makes you feel any better, this time of year usually has ants coming inside to look for water. They may have found a leaky pipe somewhere, or some other source of liquid.

Im not sure what is going on?..this also happened last yr around this time with the bigger black ants, now its the small brown ones, 2 days ago i notices ants right around my wall on the floor going around the two walls, cleaned them up, & i seen i have a crack lil tiny hole that my husband will have to fix/seal, ASAP!, in the glass door & the wooden door, we just moved in last yr to the house, so we've been doing lil here lil there, at 1st i stuck a rag in between the crack cuz i seen thats were they were coming from, & it worked, my son knocked the rag out, so i noticed them back in again, So i started taping around the lil spaces till tomorrow my husband can get something to seal the doors, because its the prob/ w the rubber strip not being there, thats why in the winter last yr i noticed a draft there, Now these damn ants. Ive been going crazy w/ this these 2 days, I just cannot figure out why they are coming in? my house is spotless, I constantly clean every lil scrap that my kids get on the floor, So that cant be drawing them in, Driving me nuts, I was just on the computer earlier, & came across the chalk thing, & looks like it might work, I right away went to get chalk, because we have plenty of that, from kids, i tested it on an ant at my back door outside, TRYING to get in i drew a thick powdery line, & the ant did not cross, went around, I thought hmmm,,

so i drew a circle around it, & it was going around in circles like it was stuck, I thought whoa!, it works? didn't see how long would work for i blew the ant away, since it was outside, & colored my whole step right by door then went all the way around outside door. So now when i go up stairs when im done on com, I'll see if i see anymore.

hope this chalk things works...

tomorrow definitely getting the powder ant killer that u sprinkle around the house, & my husband sealing the doors.

There are flying ants everywhere, in the pool, etc, now they are getting in the house. How do they get in at night, lots of them?

I have ants coming in my house and then dying? Why are they coming in and dying. I had a bunch of them in my laundry room in the corner floor. 30 dead and about 40 alive. We cleaned it up, later there was aobut 15 more dead ones. What is this about?

We just found a ton of ants ON the mouthwash bottel in the bathroom....Now what?