Two - Step Ant Killer

Let me just go ahead and tell you how to kill all the ants in and around your house. 

It will only take you two steps.

First step: buy this stuff.

Second step: spray the ants.

That's it!! This stuff is magic! It's EcoSmart Organic Home Pest Control for Indoor and Outdoor Use...and it kills and repels over 100 types of crawling insects!

It is safe to use around children and pets.

I first noticed ants in my house this season after dry mopping our dining room, which is the same room in which our dog has his food and water bowl. After dry mopping the floor, I (mistakenly) left the debris I had swept up on the floor in a little pile by the patio door. The next morning, I found that ants had come in through the threshold of the patio door and were feasting on a piece of dog food that was in that pile.

The subsequent times I have found ants in our house, they have come in through the garbage disposal switch and were enjoying a small pool of watermelon juice on a cutting board. 

And other times I have seen them just milling about, and I can't really determine where they're coming from or where they've been.

Over the years of renting, I have tried many ant baits, sprays, and various home remedy tricks to eradicate them. We've always seemed to get them in the kitchen every spring, no matter where we've lived. So I KNOW I can't be the only one who deals with them annually and is sick of it!

I found this particular spray at Walmart, and was drawn in by the fact that it was labeled as organic. We have some fur babies in the house that do not need to be near insecticides. I read the label, and saw that it was mostly different oils:

I thought, "Ok, what's another $3 and change for another useless spray..." 

Little did I know, this would be the last ant remedy I would ever buy!

The peppermint oil is definitely the predominant smell - it's pretty strong when used inside. I sprayed away at the ants on the floor, but I was a little hesitant for the ants on the counter. My instinct was to not spray an insecticide on a food prep surface, but then I remembered that it's organic. And I'd used it enough to know that it works and it keeps them away. 

So I sprayed the counter!

And the sink!

It kills the ants on contact!

And then I let it sit for awhile and then wiped everything down with hot, soapy water.

It was wonderful.

I'm not a huge fan of the smell it leaves behind, simply because it is so strong. But, it's all organic and is much better than toxic fumes from chemicals.

And who has ever had luck with those ant bait trap thingies?!

Tonight I found more ants coming into the kitchen where the cupboards meet the ceiling. I decided to check the outside of the house to see where they were coming in. We have this weird, textured stucco type stuff on the outside of our house (mixed with brick and weird vertical wood shingle-looking siding...sooooo attractive) and there are seams here and there, kind of like seams in a cement driveway. Ants were coming in through the window and then going up into the wall to get inside. I stood outside, staring at the wall for a little bit, trying to pick up on the trail.

I must have looked mentally unstable to the neighbors!

The ants were using the seam as their path get around.

I started spraying them. 

I walked around to the living room windows, still spraying. They would come down the corners of the walls to another path at the bottom of the wall, too. 

I kept spraying and following the trail.

Well, that trail led me all the way around the side of the house, and the fence cut me off. So I had to go back into the house and out the front door to catch up with them.

As it turns out, the ants were making a nest in a sidewalk seam.

Right under our doormat.

They were everywhere! I couldn't spray fast enough.

I didn't waste my time spraying the whole length of the wall - I think we are going to pick up this same spray, but in a bottle you can hook up with a garden hose to treat the yard. That is $10 and change. Definitely worth it to treat large areas (and to prevent my hand from cramping).

Is it weird that I can't wait to go pick some up?!

(This same brand also comes in a weed and grass killer that I use for our rock beds and sidewalk cracks in the backyard. Works like a charm!)