A while back I shared DIY ant killer recipe. It’s a great recipe for making a bunch and storing. For really quick use – mere seconds to prepare – I’m also using this! Two ingredients and no boiling!
The day after we moved into this house last June there were ants in the kitchen. Ugh. I hyperventilated a bit because we were about to start unpacking and I wasn’t sure whether the ants were just the tip of the iceberg, you know? How big a problem did I actually have? I hadn’t seen them when we’d been house hunting but maybe the owners had hidden it well? Because I didn’t have pots and pans available, I mixed Borax with strawberry jam. It worked perfectly. And the problem was gone in a day! They’ve just made their springtime reappearance, so this is my go-to unless there’s a major attack. If I need lots I’ll do the boiling recipe since that can be stored for a long time without refrigeration whereas the jam recipe is more of a mix-it-as-you-need-it. I don’t worry much with proportion. Kinda halfsy-halfsy?
I spoon this out into shallow dishes or jar lids and put ’em wherever the ants are. They all come out to congregate and feast, and then they all run away to curl up and die – in places where I can’t see them. I am SO down with not cleaning up ant carcasses. Or carcasses of any sort really.
If you want to read a million comments about ants and types of ants and the worldwide availability of Borax (or lack thereof) and other uses for Borax once you have a huge box of it and have only used a tiny bit, I suggest going back to the original post! Who knew ant killer could be both versatile and controversial? My feelings on it are summed up pretty easily.
1) Ants are okay outside. Not inside.
2) To get rid of ants inside, you kinda just have to kill them.
3) Borax seems a whole lot safer than the scary neurotoxin stuff in the “ant killer” you’d buy conventionally.
So. If you’re with me in the “sudden seasonal reappearance of ants club”, try this! And if you have helpful ant or Borax things to share, share them in the comments!
This is totally well-timed! Thank you! I hope my ants like raspberry jam :)
Jen
You should put a sprig of mint on it for a garnish. It looks too pretty to be deadly!
Funny, we just had ants appear in our kitchen two days ago. Off to mix borax and jam….PS I also use borax in my laundry. :-)
I used the same recipe as your original recipe last year and didn’t boil it (it didn’t say too?). Worked great and I still have some left :)
another easy one is to you can also mix the borax with any liquid sweetener (honey, molasses, etc). my mother in law says that the ants will learn it’s poisonous after a while and the mixture will be less effective, so she switches up the mix in to keep them guessing!
if you have left over borax, you can make a great laundry detergent with it.
1 cup borax, 1 cup washing soda (washing, not baking), 1 bar (grated) fels naptha soap
all three can be found in the laundry soap aisle and you only need to put 2 tablespoons into your clothes washer. i’ve been using it for months and LOVE it! I bought a cheap grater to use on the soap (to not contaminate my one for food) and an empty ice cream bucket works great for containing it.