How to Get Rid of Ants

[AtlanteanTroll]

... On a college budget. Roommate's yucked up the place, and they're starting to mingle around my desk.

[Yora]

Standard pest control: Remove their food source.

Clean the place and make sure the ants can't get at the food you have around. And do it quickly, before they build an ant highway through your room. If it gets too bad, call the landlord or manage of the building, because most probably the ants have found a way through some tiny hole in the walls. Or even worse, a nest somewhere in the walls or below the floor.

[Mauve Shirt]

Poison in all the corners, wash your dishes immediately instead of leaving them in the sink or dishwasher, if you have a dish drainer put poison under it (take a tupperware lid, poison the corners and underside, put the dish drainer on top) put food in air-tight containers and post Archer pictures above the sink.

https://40.media.tumblr.com/8a4593ed6a2b047b5243fe4df2ecfd6b/tumblr_mqmjmwZ7kc1qhbsplo1_500.png

[Haruki-kun]

I had that problem in college, too. Go to the grocery store and get some of those little poison pods, put one in every room of the house where there's trouble. Two if the room is really big, like the living room or the kitchen. Should clear it up.

[AtlanteanTroll]

I think the, err, amenities in my dorm room have been over imagined. We each have a bed, and we each have a desk. There're two closets built into the wall with sliding doors. There is no kitchen in our room.

Poison pods seem solid, probably going to have to go to the hardware store for those, though. (Which isn't a big deal, per se, it's just a rather long walk in this small town.)

[Bulldog Psion]

I remember that when I was a kid, we killed off an ant colony with sugar. Nothing else; just plain sugar. We put it out and they sent huge numbers to collect it. Within a week or two, if memory serves, they were gone.

If I recall correctly, we read somewhere that the surplus sugar causes fatal bacterial growth in the colony, and wipes them out.

Of course, the poison traps pretty much achieve the same thing, in a more direct and certain fashion.

[AtlanteanTroll]

Ideas so far, sugar, poison, and rubbing alcohol. Combine them? :smallbiggrin:

EDIT: There's actually only a month left of school, so I'll probably just go with poison, in all seriousness.

[Archonic Energy]

I hear zombie fungus works wonders.
failing that some sort of poison that's slow acting so they take it to the hive.

[Peccavi]

If you want something more natural (and possibly less expensive) than poisons, you can try peppermint oil. I heard it interferes with the way they navigate, I don't know if that's true but they do tend to stay off surfaces I've wiped with it. And there's the whole minty freshness thing!

I've this weird ant problem for a while, hundreds of them kept coming in. Not in the kitchen for the food, but into the shower. I don't know what they were coming for as both the wife and I are a bit anal about cleanliness. In the end only the peppermint oil worked...

[Bhu]

Ground cinnamon is pepper spray for ants. Track down where they're getting in at, and sprinkle it with ground cinammon


http://www.ehow.com/how_2310653_get-rid-ants-cinnamon.html

[Winter_Wolf]

Based entirely on hearsay and having been forbidden to try it myself, used coffee grounds. Strangely enough, the other household members aren't keen on the idea of sprinkling it around in the corners of the interior floor. Poison's probably better since you don't have little human hands trying to stick every disgusting thing on the floor into little human mouths.

Raid spray might work, but it's potent enough that the humans in the room might want to evacuate, too. I'd reserve it for major cracks in cement and spraying directly onto ants. Then again locally there was a guy who dumped a LOT of cement into an ant-infested area; apparently they had made quite the network of colony tunnels.

[AtlanteanTroll]

Yeah, I'm not sure how good an idea Raid would be ... I'd probably have to spray it under my desk and then evacuate for a bit? I don't really know much about Raid.

Poison and vinegar seem like good bets. There's only a month left in school anyway. "Long term" solutions are kind of outside my scope.

[Tvtyrant]

Look for the ant food poison. I had two different species of ants infest my bedroom last fall, and I found that they carry the food back to their hive and it kills the rest. The type I used was a white sap like substance which they swarm over, dragging it back to the hive in their mouths and on their feet.

[Kalmageddon]

Ant traps/baits work wonders in my experience. A couple of those igloo-like things filled with poisoned food and placed around the room will get rid of the whole colony in a few days.
Just for reference, I'm talking about these things:
http://blog.onespotallergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/raid_ant_baits.jpg

[Archonic Energy]

locally there was a guy who dumped a LOT of cement into an ant-infested area; apparently they had made quite the network of colony tunnels.

people do that with molten Aluminium too, then dig it up and hose off the dirt. it's called ant art.

inserting obilitory Aliens Reference:
"Nuke the site from orbit. it's the only way to be sure."

[SVamp]

I love the idea of molten aluminum. Of course, I would also love any idea involving high explosives, or radioactive solutions, so perhaps I'm not the best judge. :smalltongue:

[SarahV]

The little ant traps worked well in my old apartment when I had ants in the kitchen. That was just ants coming in from outside, not an established nest or anything really major.

The first dorm room I ever lived in, I had the same problem. Ant infestation due to gross roommate (we discovered she'd left wet half-eaten lollipops and similar sugary stuff sitting around in her bedroom). By the time I noticed them in my room, which shared a wall with hers, they had established a nest under a piece of furniture. It was pretty horrifying. If you think there is a fairly serious problem you can report it to whoever is in charge of the dorms, they are essentially your landlord and could hopefully pay for things like pest control.

Back then I was not so wise, and there were no internet forums to ask, so I sprayed Raid on the floor around the legs of my bed in the hopes of not getting swarmed in my sleep. I'm sure that was not healthy for me. There were dozens of dead ants in the morning under the bed...

[TheThan]

A can of diesel and a match….
Oh you mean inside ant control.

Try household cleaners. I’ve had good luck with 409.

[Bulldog Psion]

Back then I was not so wise, and there were no internet forums to ask, so I sprayed Raid on the floor around the legs of my bed in the hopes of not getting swarmed in my sleep. I'm sure that was not healthy for me. There were dozens of dead ants in the morning under the bed...

One solution is to put the legs of the bed in small saucers of water; as long as the bed has legs, and the covers aren't touching the floor, that will prevent ant incursion pretty well. Unless they climb up on the ceiling and drop on you... :smallwink:

[Icewraith]

Remove the food source and Raid around the edge of each floor, ceiling, door, window, electrical outlet, light switch, sink, and bathtub.

It's not just that you don't want them around. Now that they've laid scent trails into your apartment they'll send scouts occasionally to see if you've laid out some more food for them, or they'll use them as an escape route if it starts raining too hard or some guy starts pouring concrete or molten aluminum down their tunnels. Once the raid dries it will cover the scent and kill any ants that come wandering along the trail to refresh it. Eventually the pheromones will burn off completely, and the ants will "forget" those routes unless you leave more food out.

You probably will have to evacuate the area for a few hours at least, make sure you open windows for ventilation.

[OracleofWuffing]

Are you on an on-campus dorm room? If so, you should probably speak with your Resident Assistant or other administrative personnel, the college probably has their own maintenance crew and supplies to deal with ants if you're still having problems. I could see them levying a fee, maybe, but you're probably not the room in history to have an ant-attracting mess, and it is also possible that they're holed up in another room.

[WarKitty]

I have an ant-eating cat you might be able to borrow?

[Vizzerdrix]

A 50/50 mix of Borax and sugar. Dump a bowl of it right on the ant hill when you find it and they'll be dead in a few hours. Borax can be found in the laundry isle.

[RandomNPC]

Move out of the dorm, when someone asks why go into detail about said roommates habits, especially to people in charge of the dorms.

[LaZodiac]

Take a day off. Let the ants come. Follow the ant to it's ant hill.

Destroy it utterly. I don't particularly care how, a friend would suggest bombs but for me I'd just flood it with water and then electrify it somehow.

[Vizzerdrix]

Take a day off. Let the ants come. Follow the ant to it's ant hill.

Destroy it utterly. I don't particularly care how, a friend would suggest bombs but for me I'd just flood it with water and then electrify it somehow.

Oooh! Or he could do an aluminum casting of it. Those are cool.

[Mr.Moron]

With a knife! I can guarantee you those ants aren't tough enough to stand up to steel. Cut 'em in half,not all of them just most of them. You need some to escape and tell the others what happened.

[Oddman80]

http://cdn.spectrumbrands.com/~/media/Hot%20Shot/Images/Product%20Images/Baits/071121020406.ashx

This product that goes a step further than just ant poison - It provides a poisony food stuff for the ants to bring back to the colony - and it then kills the whole colony (including the queen).
It has worked well every time we've needed to deal with ants

[Errata]

I found ant traps to be completely ineffective when I had ants. It may depend on the species of ant. I tried different brands that supposedly targeted different ants, but none seemed helpful. I never observed any ant go into any traps; even when it was right near one of their paths, they'd go around it. Using raid or similar spray products around corners, edges, cracks, and any other gaps that they might get through was effective however. I would imagine it's going to be less effective if your room has wall to wall carpeting rather than harder surfaces though.

Normally the best thing would be to spray outside all around the foundation of the home to seal off any possible entry points. I have to spray around my house about once a year, when it wears off and the ants gradually start scouting around inside again. However, in an apartment or dorm situation that's not within your control. Still, if you look around outside your window it's possible you'll find a trail of them going in and out and follow it back to their nest. In that case you might want to spray outside a little bit anyway. When I lived in an apartment I once killed off an ant colony causing problems with a little targeted outdoor spraying to supplement my indoor spraying.

A messy roommate leaving food out will definitely make the problem way worse and it will escalate much quicker, but even excellent hygiene isn't always a 100% defense. They'll eventually find something to interest them, even in rooms that are spotless and never have (human) food in them. Ants have a very diverse diet that extends beyond just stuff that we would keep as food.

[Icewraith]

Also note that ants are important scavengers, sometimes pollinators, and food sources for a large variety of invertebrates (and some vertebrates). You don't need the nest to die, you just need the ants that scout your apartment to never return.

[Errata]

You don't need the nest to die, you just need the ants that scout your apartment to never return.

They should have thought of that before breaking and entering.

[Scarlet Knight]

With a knife! I can guarantee you those ants aren't tough enough to stand up to steel. Cut 'em in half,not all of them just most of them. You need some to escape and tell the others what happened.

Roy Spim lost his left arm battling with an ant !

[Bard1cKnowledge]

http://i.imgur.com/bqqtqjC.png

[Temotei]

If you want something more natural (and possibly less expensive) than poisons, you can try peppermint oil. I heard it interferes with the way they navigate, I don't know if that's true but they do tend to stay off surfaces I've wiped with it. And there's the whole minty freshness thing!

I've this weird ant problem for a while, hundreds of them kept coming in. Not in the kitchen for the food, but into the shower. I don't know what they were coming for as both the wife and I are a bit anal about cleanliness. In the end only the peppermint oil worked...

I can vouch for it. Mum's into this oils business and she gave me a bunch. I just put some on tissue paper and set them next to the cracks in the walls and floor. They stopped coming after a day or two.

[Adam75]

Clean the place properly and don’t keep food at that place. You can also poison the corners to get rid of ants. Last month I had pest control done at my home from a reputed Pest control Port Macquarie (http://www.midnorthcoastpestcontrol.com.au/) firm. They told me all these methods.

[007_ctrl_room]

... On a college budget. Roommate's yucked up the place, and they're starting to mingle around my desk.

"Borrow" friend's / roomates cleaning supplies and start spraying and praying

[Fragenstein]

Ants, huh? We had quite a severe ant problem at the Vineyard this year. I had Art Garfunkle come by with his compressor and we created a total vacuum outside the house and we blew the ants out the front door. But I'm sure you high-tech Internet people could care less about our resort-town ways.

http://images.mic.com/owwj9g9nb9kkfdpyuygtls13gqzgv73z3j1wbv1grefnr6twkx 6xojipzu0hmbza.jpg