Spring and summer time are a welcome change for just about everyone. The weather starts getting warmer and everything starts turning green again. The one major downside to this wonderful time of the year is that it brings the bugs back out creating new pest problems. One of the more troublesome and annoying common household pests are ants. During the late spring and early summer, these insects begin building their mounds and start searching for food, and if households are not careful they may start taking up residence in homes.
To put an end to ants coming into her home, one woman took to the Mrs Hinch Cleaning and Tips to ask for advice on how to get rid of them.
Lizzie Duff wrote: “Hi, I have ants coming into my house and even climbing onto the worktops.
“I’ve sprayed vinegar and put down pepper but they are still coming in. Has anyone had this experience and got rid of them effectively? Thanks.”
The post received over 200 recommendations, with the most popular response being to use talcum powder.
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Jenny Day said: “Talcum powder will guarantee ants won’t get into your home.”
Anne Bronsnan commented: “Baby powder, they hate it and it works.” In response to Anne, Caroline Coghlan agreed: “Definitely talcum powder put it all round the outside of your house.”
Yvette Cordier wrote: “I used to put down talcum powder wherever they were getting in. Worked a treat.”
Ruth Wood suggested: “Follow the trail to the entry point then put talcum powder down to stop them coming into the house.”
Jodie Howard said: “I’m a cleaner and a lot of my clients struggle with ants in their home at this time of the year. I always suggest using talcum powder inside and outside at the point they are coming in through and ants will never enter your home as they despise it.
“I’ve stopped them in my home and been ant-free for two years now. It’s so cheap, around £1 from most stores.”
Di Barry commented: “I always use talcum powder on doorsteps and window sills, never get ants.”
Tiffan Ruscoe instructed: “Lay talcum powder round the edges of rooms and doorways. They won’t like the powder. Trust me I used to have an entire colony before I used talc.”
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They said: “A substance we love but ants hate is talcum powder. Put a bit of it here and there in the trouble spots and it will really mess with the critters’ pheromone trail and clog up their airways.”
Experts at Pest Week also suggested using this method. They said: “Baby powder can kill ants because it absorbs moisture from their exoskeleton thus leading to severe hydration.
“Ants need to retain moisture to survive. Baby powder is a drying agent which drains ants by absorbing water and moisture from them.
“If you want to kill ants, pour baby powder on them and ensure they are well covered in it.”