Posts Tagged ‘ant poison’

Recipes from previous blogs gathered here for quick and easy reference.

After Shower Spray

white vinegar in a spray bottle with 15 drops of essential oil

Litter Box Odor Control

baking soda with a few drops of essential oil

Air Freshener

spray bottle with equal parts water and white vinegar with 15 drops of essential oil

Sponge Cleaner

soak sponges in white vinegar and a few drops of tea tree oil then boil or microwave

Ant Genocide

• 1 tsp of boric acid
• 4 tsp of sugar
• 1/2 cup of hot water
• several cotton balls

Mix the boric acid, sugar and water. Soak the cotton balls in the mixture and place them near the entrance the ants are using.

Produce Cleaner

You will need two spray bottles, white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide (the 3% kind you find in the drugstore). Spray the produce with the hydrogen peroxide first and the vinegar second. Finally, rinse with water. (Do not combine the vinegar and hydrogen peroxide in the same bottle!)

Tough Shower Stains

I use 3 tbsps of baking soda and 1/4 cup of liquid castile soap. Mix these together with a fork to work out the clumps. Then spread it over the stained tub and scrub with a natural bristle brush. For extra abrasion, sprinkle kosher salt on the stain as well. (The salt mixed with water gives you an added anti-bacterial agent.)

Roach Control

• a hose end sprayer
• 1 cup of liquid soap (you may substitute baby shampoo and Murphy’s oil soap)
• 1 cup of tobacco tea (made by putting a finger of chewing tobacco in a nylon stocking and soaking it in a quart of hot water until the water is dark brown)
• 1 cup of antiseptic mouthwash
• 1/4 cup of Tabasco sauce

Place this mixture in your hose end sprayer and treat the outside of your house.

Meanwhile, you need to kill any roaches that are already in the house. This is a fun one! Mix equal parts granulated sugar and baking soda. Spread the mixture in out of the way areas in your home. The roaches will be attracted to the sugar and eat the mixture. This will kill the roach because the roach has an acid based stomach and the baking soda is a base. This is even more fun because roaches eat their dead so the solution cascades through the colony!

Strip and Clean Linoleum

• white vinegar
• cream of tartar (found in the baking or spice aisle at the grocery)
• water
• a few rags or soft cloths

First, mix 1 oz of cream of tartar with 8 oz of vinegar (1 cup to 1 gallon). Apply this mixture to the floor and buff the wax off with a cloth.

Next, clean any remaining dirt with equal parts vinegar and warm water using a damp cloth.

Clean Stone Counters

a mixture of ¼ cup of hydrogen peroxide and a few drops of liquid soap

Clean Mold, Mildew, and Fungus

1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide, 3 tbsps of vinegar and a few drops of tea tree oil

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Why am I revisiting the ant invasion of my kitchen from a few blogs back? Because everyone loves a good sequel! Why do we love them? Sometimes it is because they surpass the original. The Godfather Part II, for instance, with its beautiful symphony of assassinations culminating in Fredo’s death, is critically considered to overshadow the original. But a sequel that good is very unusual. More often a sequel has the challenge of relevancy since the characters and story have already been introduced. And because the sequel has to prove its relevancy, it must be over the top and action-packed – which is why we love them!

My first ant invasion solution merely kept the ants at bay as long as I was vigilant about keeping dirty dishes out of the sink. I have a new solution that, in perfect sequel fashion, has killed every last one of those mother@*%^#s! It’s the difference between Rambo destroying a small town in First Blood and destroying the Viet Cong in the oddly named Rambo II. And to reference my other personal Hero, it is the difference between knowing in our hearts that Rocky defeated Apollo Creed and Rocky actually winning the Heavy Weight Championship belt.

So here’s my sequel, which is guaranteed to kill every ant, their kids and their mamas!

• 1 tsp of boric acid
• 4 tsp of sugar
• 1/2 cup of hot water
• several cotton balls

Mix the boric acid, sugar and water. Soak the cotton balls in the mixture and place them near the entrance the ants are using. As I mentioned in the first blog, my ants are coming from a corner in my kitchen with my coffee pot. So, I put my cotton balls behind the coffee pot and behind a dusty bottle of Scotch that sits near the coffee pot. While boric acid is way safer than any pesticide, you would not want it mingling with your food. This way, it is contained to the cotton ball and in an out of the way spot. The ants are drawn to the sugar, then they carry the liquid back to their unsuspecting families.

This REALLY, REALLY works! You will not see any more ants. This sequel will not turn Epic on you with Mr. T and the Bride of Chucky showing up. This series is now complete. Promise. <insert Jason Voorhees popping up out of Crystal Lake here>

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