7 Clever Ways of Getting Rid of Ants with Borax (2024)

You walk into the kitchen to grab a snack and discover a trail of tiny ants marching along the counter. Ants are a problem in many homes, especially in the springtime. Learn how to kill ants with Borax in combination with other additives to eliminate them from your home for good.

An infestation of ants in the home is almost as bad as co*ckroaches. These social insects work together, so if you see one, there are undoubtedly more following behind. Their sense of smell helps them to locate food while leaving a pheromone trail behind them.

As with all other living creatures, ants seek food sources not only for themselves but for their entire colony. Your home is an excellent place for them to search for their next meal. They are attracted to the simple things in life, such as a garbage can full of food scraps and dirty dishes in the sink.

Once you discover that you have an ant problem in your home, it’s necessary to take care of the issue right away to prevent an ant infestation. We’ll show you how to make bait using Borax to eliminate ants in and around your home.

If you only need to keep ants out of pet food, indoors or outside, put the food dish in a container of water. Ants drown when they attempt to reach the food. Picking up the food bowl immediately after your pet finishes eating is also a wise idea.

How Does Borax Kill Ants?

How does Borax kill ants? Borax, or sodium borate, is a mineral salt that interferes with an ant’s digestive system and kills them after consuming it, but not before they head back to ant colony nest and share the Borax bait with fellow ants.

Borax powder is also a natural roach killer. Unlike food grade diatomaceous earth, which compromises the exoskeleton of insects, Borax internally poisons ants and their colony.

Ant Trails

Before using Borax to eliminate ants, establish where they are coming into your home and how big your ant problem is. The easiest way to do this is to follow the trail of ants.

While hunting for food, ants leave behind a pheromone scent trail so that they find their way back to the ant colony. Other ants also follow this trail, making this an ideal place to set up ant traps.

How to Kill Ants with Borax

To use this ant killing recipe, begin by locating the ant trail. It may lead to a window, doorway, or small crack in the baseboard. Once you find the ant trail, it’s easy to get rid of ants in the bathroom or other areas in the house with Borax.

To start your ant-eliminating efforts, combine the Borax powder and sugar in a disposable container, and use a plastic fork to mix them. Use disposable utensils for this recipe and throw them away when you finish.

Sprinkle a layer of the powder along the ant trail. The ants gather up the bait and carry it back to their colony for the larvae to eat.

Making a Liquid Borax Bait

Adult ants are only able to digest a liquid diet, so it’s essential to set up both liquid and solid Borax ant bait traps. Killing ants with Borax made in both states is vital to eliminating the entire colony.

Soak cotton balls in the liquid bait to absorb the sugar water and place them strategically across the areas of the ant trail. If you don’t want to get the surface areas sticky, place the cotton balls in bottle caps, or shallow plastic containers.

Using a Solid Borax Ant Bait Trap Outside

Will Borax kill ants? The answer is yes, but it depends on whether you use a liquid or solid Borax bait. While adults only digest liquids, ant larvae digest solids. The larvae turn the solids into a liquid for the queen, so using a combination of both liquid and solid bait is the best way to get rid of ants outside.

For killing carpenter ants and other ants you may find outside the house, mix sugar and Borax in a disposable container, and put on the lid. Alter the amount for larger or smaller infestations by mixing three parts sugar and one part Borax. Shake the powder together to distribute the two ingredients evenly.

To prevent ants from coming into your house, sprinkle the powder along potential entryways like windowsills and doorways. Follow the ant trail to their nest. Sprinkle the powdered sugar and Borax along the trail and up onto the ant mound or ant hills.

Killing Large Ants with Peanut Butter and Borax

How does boric acid kill ants, and is it the same thing as Borax? Both ingredients contain boron and are effective for all types of ants. This Borax solution works well to eliminate pavement ants, big-headed ants, and black ants.

Combine the hot water, sugar, and Borax in a bowl and mix until it dissolves. Break off small pieces of bread and dip them into the solution. Add a small smear of peanut butter to the bread pieces and drop them into the jar.

Set the jar in an area where there is a suspected ant infestation. Ants carry the food back to the rest of the colony, and the combination of liquid and solid bait kills both ants and larvae.

Use this same technique as one of the best home remedies for roaches, too. Roaches can’t resist this delicious bait either and share it with others, soon eliminating a roach infestation.

Kitchen Counter Borax Ant Killer

If you notice very few ants coming into your kitchen searching for food scraps, use a small amount of sweet bait to kill ants quickly. This DIY ant poison is ideal for minor infestations of ants in the home.

Combine the peanut butter, honey, and Borax in a small shallow container. Place blobs of the peanut butter bait on the counter or place the whole container in an area where ants are spotted.

Using Borax Ant Traps in a Home with Pets

Even though Borax has low toxicity for animals and humans, you don’t want your pets lapping up all of that sweet bait. Make a liquid ant bait trap that is similar to Terro ant traps that is safe to keep in your home around pets.

As one of the best home remedies for sugar ants, this recipe is both simple to make and use. Use it indoors or out to eliminate ant colonies.

To get rid of sugar ants effectively, pour sugar and Mule Team Borax into a container that is large enough to hold the ant bait yet short enough to enable ants easy access. Mix the two ingredients and add just enough warm water to form a pasty consistency.

Add a small amount of honey and stir the solution until everything dissolves. Poke holes that are large enough for ants to enter and exit into the lid and then place it on the container. Set the trap on the ant trail and let it do its job.

Borax powder is the perfect solution for eliminating any type of ant because of it’s low toxicity to animals and people in the home. Using a Borax mixture as ant bait is the easiest way to get rid of ants without calling in an exterminator, whether you are dealing with fire ants, carpenter ants, sugar ants, or worker ants.

Now that you’ve learned how to kill ants with Borax in combination with sweet bait, why not share our ant killing tips and recipes with your family and friends on Pinterest and Facebook?