Exploring The Benefits Of Hiring Pest Control Experts

Pet & Child Friendly Substances to Help You Kill Ants

21 April 2017

Evan Patterson

If you notice ants in your home and want to get rid of them, then you may want to find a safe pest control method due to the pets and children living in your home. However, you also want to use pest control that actually works. Unfortunately, many natural pest control methods simply do not work. Most natural substances, like essential oils, repel ants for some time, but they do not kill the insects. Instead try the pet and child safe methods listed here.

Borax

If you have ever purchased a laundry detergent booster to help you get rid of stains on your clothing or to remove foul mold odors, then you have probably looked at the box of borax at your local supermarket. Borax is a fungicide, herbicide, and a household cleaner. The material usually comes in a white powdery form and it is made from a natural mineral called sodium borate.

Borax is also an insecticide because it works as a desiccant. This means that it pulls water out of the air or out of a substance it comes into direct contact with. When it comes to ants, the insects ingest it and fluids are pulled out of the body. This causes severe dehydration and the death of the insects.

Borax is best used when mixed with a sugary or carbohydrate rich food. The ants will then become attracted to the sugars and the borax will be brought back to the ant colony and the other ants will eat it. This means that hundreds of ants can be killed in the process.

To help with this, mix about one-eighth of a cup of the borax with about one-half a cup of jam or jelly. Spread the mixture on five paper plates and set them around various areas of your home where you have seen the ants. Do not kill any of the insects that you see of you may stop the insects from bringing the poison back to their nests.

Diatomaceous Earth

You may have heard that diatomaceous earth is a powerful killer when it comes to getting rid of cockroaches and fleas. The sedimentary rock material can also be used successfully to kill ants. However, you do not want to sprinkle it across the floors of your home like you normally would for other types of insects. You should instead create a perimeter around your home with the diatomaceous earth.

Instead of sprinkling the material everywhere, look for the path where the ants have been moving to gain access to your house. This will be where the insects have placed a chemical trail that other ants from the colony follow to find their wood source. With the diatomaceous earth placed along the path, the ants will come across it. The sediment will then scrape the ant's body and puncture it. This will cause the ant to die soon afterward.

For more eco-friendly or safe ant control, contact services like Tri-County Termite & Pest Control, Inc.

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About Me

Hi there, my name is Taylor Stone. Ant problems do not just go away on their own. I thought that keeping my home clean would eliminate ants from the premises after they stopped finding food lying about. Boy was I wrong about that. The ants kept streaming inside the home in tiny lines that caused me great distress. The ants went into my pantry and even tried to go into the fridge. I eventually had to call in pest control experts to remove these critters from the vicinity. I was astonished at how quickly and efficiently the pest control experts worked to resolve this trying problem. They got more done in a few weeks than I could accomplish in a year's time. I hope to share the benefits of hiring a pest control expert immediately upon noticing a problem. Thank you.