@CathyCat have you
asked the hosts what they usually do ?
They may have a supply of whatever it is that they usually use .
1 Like
Ugh, sorry to hear @CathyCat. We have had great success stopping the ants at or near their source with a product recommended here called Advion Ant Bait Gel. We put it at the base if the house where we see a trail. We’ve used it inside too, in a window. It’s amazing if you can get it. Otherwise traps or gel like Terro might work well enough to get you through the sit. And diatomaceous earth under the baseboards can help if that’s where they get in (but be careful breathing it). Good luck!
1 Like
I would rather not disturb them while they are away. It’s simple enough to buy something if I need to, although I’m hoping the vinegar works, I would rather use something natural, that’s why I asked @Shafofo , I was hoping for a ‘natural’ solution. I’m out now so it will be interesting to see if it has helped when I get back.
I’ve used diatomaceous earth before but I found ant traps were better. I can always order the ant traps from Amazon, they would arrive tomorrow.
1 Like
@Shafofo thanks for your reply. I was hoping for some ideas for natural/organic solutions but if the vinegar doesn’t help I’ll order ant traps later. I’m out now so when I go back I’ll see what is happening. I know I can get the traps on Amazon with next day delivery, I’ll check if I can get the Advion gel. They are just very annoying, every time I open a cupboard I see 
1 Like
I came home from a recent sit to find an infestation of ants in my living room. I methodically vacuumed them up and they haven’t returned. I don’t like harming any animals but there were so many I didn’t have much choice.
Yes, they can take over very quickly. I’m on my way back to the house now so I’ll report back on the success or failure of the vinegar.
1 Like
@Shafofo and @Alicatorze I’m amazed! I got home and one cupboard was completely ant free and the other one had a couple in it. The windowsill was also clear but the wall between the two cupboards did still have a few which I have squished. So, it looks like vinegar does work but how long for is what I do not know. Will I need to put it on every day or will that have deterred there little friends from following in their footsteps? 
It will be interesting to see what’s happens tomorrow. Apparently the purpose of using vinegar is to mask the scent of the track that they follow to get here. So it may be that I will still need to get ant traps to actually kill off the nest but if they don’t bother me again I leave well enough alone.
3 Likes
Hi CathyCat! You’ve always been so supportive and kind, I’ll give you the trick I learned here in my Hawaii sit in return! Unfortunately, it entails cleaning…everyone in the island uses the scorched earth technique: leave no crumbs behind! So, even with this generally grimy house I’m in, there are zero crumbs or spill leftovers…and if I happen to leave a single little spot of the cat food on the counter, etc, I will find the ants plowing in quickly. So, after I wash the cat tins out, I check everywhere and make sure it’s spotless. Last thing I do is empty any stray scraps which may ne in the drain screens into a plastic bag, which then goes into the freezer! Who woulda thought? The freezer bag is emptied into the trash can outside on trash day. Good luck and happy trails. ( ha! )
1 Like
We’ve found Raid ant traps work great, we’ve had 3 sits now where we’ve bought some, we didn’t bother the owners about it, we just sorted it. In 2 out of the 3 places the ants came in after heavy rain and brought all their buddies with them.
With ant traps, the majority of the ants vanish to certain degree overnight, just put them in the room where it’s worse, and close the door, but there’s still the odd straggler a few days later.
1 Like
That’s good to know, I have only ever used them in my garden before so it was hard to tell how fast they worked. On Amazon I noticed that some I looked at were saying it took about a week to ten days.
1 Like
@sandydandy thanks. I do actually know that about getting all the crumbs and foodstuffs cleaned up but I am not even going to attempt that. Most of the kitchen cupboards here were opened once and I slammed them shut rather quickly 
. They are staying shut!
If they reappear tomorrow I’m buying the traps.
1 Like
I think they’re covering their own backs, we saw a huge effect overnight each time, not totally gone-gone, but where we could relax, knowing it would sort itself out.
1 Like
Dry weather seems to bring ants indoors here in the Pacific Northwest. I have used both powdered cinnamon and peppermint oil (in spray form) to discourage them. And to keep ants out of cat and dog food bowls, I use the moat method: Place the food bowl in a larger bowl of water. There needs to be about an inch of space between the rims of the bowls.
2 Likes
@Brindle they haven’t discovered the food bowls yet. They are mainly along one of the kitchen walls. I think they are coming in from under the house and climbing up the electric cables. They seem to the worst under the cupboards, where all the electric sockets are.
Anyway the vinegar has definitely done a great job although I think I will have to keep re-spraying so I have ordered two ant traps.
1 Like
There are some liquid ant bait traps you can get on Amazon, the brand is called Terro. We briefly had an ant problem at our old place and used those, and they work within a couple of days. They continue to find dead ants here and there after you’re gone though.
@wendy_chicago thanks, I have ordered a couple of traps, they will come tomorrow but the vinegar has really kept them away so far.
1 Like