Friday, September 7, 2012
Spray'n'Wipe - kills ants dead
I like using natural products, it’s no secret, but when the ants started invading my kitchen in force I resorted to the chemicals. It didn’t matter if I left crumbs out or not, they were there… everywhere… the place could be spotless and still they’d come in.
The NO ANTS option worked for a while… then I swear they became immune to it.
Last summer I had the ceiling sprayed by a pest controller for flies and while he was there he also threw down a barrier around the house - barely a dent.
Then I tried Trina’s option… ant sand… but because the chickens still get out and we have a dog and cats and ducks, I didn’t want to throw too much of it around outside. So I put it on the holes in the grout… I swear my walls are full of ant sand. Go figure, I don’t want the animals to eat it but I put it on my bench for us to slowly ingest. Sadly, the only thing that achieved was for the ants to find a new entrance, just a little ways down. Grrr.
Now, I’ve been using a vinegar, water, essential oil combination for some time, but that never kept the ants at bay. Recently though, I was given a concentrate recipe for a spray and wipe by an old friend Johanna. Her parents have been using it to kill the little blighters – on contact.
At first I thought, well it’s the same ingredients roughly that I’m using plus a few other things, we’ll see… at least I’d get satisfaction from frying their little arses, I thought.
So without further ado, here ‘tis (I made up a double batch)
Ant-Killing Spray ‘n Wipe
40ml eucalyptus oil
200ml water
2 dessert spoons washing soda (use a funnel - I learned the hard way)
dissolve in water
add 200 ml white vinegar
200ml Ecostore dishwashing liquid (gonna try a sugar soap solution next)
This is concentrated so dilute according to requirements. Roughly 1 part solution to 2 parts water for general use.
Use neat for ants. contact only spray. use a bait like raid ant killer for the nest.
Can be used on all surfaces, and given all the vinegar and eucalyptus oil would work well on the toilet to boot.
The recipe states it is a contact spray only – as in spray them dead. However I have since learned that ants not only are repelled by vinegar (which wasn’t working) but also eucalyptus – and lets face it the washing soda probably doesn’t help them much either.
So although the vinegar didn’t seem to be doing the job, the combination is successful.
Now, I’m not saying that my problem is gone completely. I still need to attack the nest, but I can see a lot more of my bench now when they do come out. And I hear a sugar/water/borax solution works well for the nest that’s obviously still lurking in my wall... best get googling ;)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
there were paragraph spaces, but now they don't want to show no matter how much I edit this
ReplyDeleteIt's now may 3013, I've used the spray for spring and did not have an ant problem over summer. I'm about to make my second batch to see me over autumn/winter.
ReplyDeleteIt's now may 3013, I've used the spray for spring and did not have an ant problem over summer. I'm about to make my second batch to see me over autumn/winter.
ReplyDeleteI am happy to find this post Very useful for me, as it contains lot of information. I Always prefer to read The Quality and glad I found this thing in you post. Thanks how to kill ants
ReplyDelete