Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Soapy water kill ants instantly

I used up my enviro friendly biodegradable acidic mixture pretty fast. So I just add my cheapest liquid soap and dilute it. It kills instantly just the same. I wash my hands many times everyday with it undiluted, so it can't be toxic.

Just don't spray on smooth footpath - it's slippery. When the sprinkler turned on, it re-energized the dried soapy solution. Ants can't walk on it without dying. In contrast, they just cross solid piles of ant barriers as if nothing.

It's so wonderful that if ants get into anything in the house, there's a soapy solution for that. For example, carpet shampoo! Hardwood floor cleaner! Liquid detergent even for vegetables! In the past I use wide cellulose tape.

If you do need to plant anything that ants will attack: Keep all your areas at least lightly irrigated and ants will not live. Ants will only come from outside.

Ants always walk on dry hard flat surface if they can, rather than soil and turf. I'm not sure if they will cross a trench of water. But if you add a little liquid soap, they will die crossing. And soap will stay when water evaporates.

Forget about ant repelling plants. My lavender doesn't work. The ants are happy to climb the thick branches. Those dense ground hugging covers may work, as ants are forced to crawl over it.

I would cut cheap black waste pipes in half, which is pretty easy with a jigsaw with any metal blade. They will surround a fruit garden or a fruit tree. You just to top up with water from time to time. Soap will stay a log longer. Soap may or may not repell mosquito eggs. You can add an 1" block of chlorine bleach for swimming pools.

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