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Lauri B
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 4:50pm | IP Logged
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Can anyone recommend something child and pet safe to use indoors against ants? We're in PA, so these are common little picnic ants getting into our kitchen trash bin.
I'm hoping there's something like white vinegar with clove oil or something like that. Eric found an organic cleaner at the store, but the active ingredient is soybean oil ,and I'm so sensitive to soy that spraying it about the kitchen would make my skin itch. 
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kingvozzo
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 5:09pm | IP Logged
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My book Clean House, Clean Planet makes several suggestions...I've only tried one, and it seemed to work.
Dip cotton balls in peppermint oil and rub where you don't want the ants to come in, or where you see them trailing. They don't like the smell, and it confuses them to have their trail wiped with it.
She also suggested diluting about 2 tsp. of peppermint oil in 8 oz. of water and spraying it fairly liberally where ants come in. You'll probably have to reapply several times a day for several days to keep the scent strong.
Hope that helps....I really don't like ants!
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Noreen
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SaraP
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 6:34pm | IP Logged
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Mix some borax into something like corn syrup and set out a small dish near where the ants seem to be coming from. Borax is not toxic to people or pets, but (like essential oils) it's not good to eat and the syrup does make a sticky mess if someone plays in it so it's probably best to keep it at least somewhat hidden or out of reach.
I usually only have to keep the stuff out for a few days before the ants are pretty well gone.
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lilac hill
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 6:58pm | IP Logged
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I will keep looking for my ant bait recipe. It was a solution I put on a few cotton balls and put in a plastic container with a lid with a few holes punched in the top. The solution did include boric acid which I purchased at the pharmacy.
For the big outside ants that march in through the back door once a year, I place branches of tansy to turn them aside.
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Viv
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KackyK
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 9:22pm | IP Logged
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I've used black pepper, but that was outdoors. I'm so obsessed, if they are even 1 ft from the house, I'm dousing them with the black pepper. Seems to work out there at least. 
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KackyK
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mavmama
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| Posted: April 23 2009 at 9:29pm | IP Logged
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A friend told me to sprinkle cinnamon where I see them coming in and they would not cross the line of cinnamon. It worked! Only one note of caution: the cinnamon stained the grout on my tile floor a little bit.
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Liz
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ALmom
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| Posted: April 24 2009 at 12:39am | IP Logged
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My children used Cayenne pepper - on fire ants outdoors. It works wonders - the ants disappeared. However, it can burn eyes if rubbed in - or, in our case, blown in by the wind. Nothing that some water rinsing cannot handle but unpleasant nevertheless. They also used an awful lot of it - but the cheaper spices work just as well as the more expensive ones  .
Janet
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kingvozzo
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| Posted: April 24 2009 at 7:00am | IP Logged
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If I can find the mound right outside the house, I'll pour boiling water over it.
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Noreen
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Lauri B
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| Posted: April 24 2009 at 7:27am | IP Logged
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Thank you for the suggestions! As this is indoors, around our kitchen trash bin, I think I need something that pets (two young cats and a toy dog) and children can't get into. The peppermint oil sounds very promising. I'll try to locate some today, as it's supposed to be very warm here this weekend. :)
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dawn2006
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| Posted: April 24 2009 at 4:18pm | IP Logged
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Depending on the location where they are coming in at, and whether or not you can find it, you can apply caulking to seal it. I use caulking that dries clear.
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Dawn Farias | wife to Ariel | mom to Gabriel 9, Daniel 7, Elizabeth 5, and Michael 3 | blogger at Be Absorbed | native Texan but currently living near Seattle
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Ants! Natural remedy?
