HELP My Moms Car Has Ants Crawling Inside and Out

Hi J.,
What works best for me is TERRO Liquid Ant Baits. I had ants in my kitchen and used one on the counter and one on the floor and the ants were gone in two days. If it's safe enough for kitchen use it should be safe enough in the car.
Good luck.
W. Q

i there: There are no effective homopathic ant killers. The best that Bayer etc. has to offer is a new spectraside that .destroys the nest and it safe for kids When you go to Hkome Depot ect. maybe they have it The pestcide comes in a blue bag and promises a yard free of inscts that is safe for pets.for 3 months.

Maybe she should take her car to be detailed. There is something in her car that is attracting the ants. They also have ant traps. Small white discs. That might help.

baby powder is great at keeping ants away. we sprinkle it around our doors when they try to come in the house. if you see an ant hill, you could even dump some in/around it.

We had a car that we did not drive very often because it was to small for our large family. One day I went to go to the store and it was covered in side and out with ants. My mom told me sweep what I could out of the car and put a thin layer of vaseline along all the door frame ans the windows it worked great. You can also do this in your home around your doors and windows. My neighbors have complained of ants but I don't have any. Good Luck

try YELLOW Cornmeal... it is safe, non toxic, natural and it DOES work. We use it now in our yard as we have a little one. before we used all the stuff that was supposedly non toxic to pets but with a baby we wanted even more security. i can tell you it works. we spread it in areas they are as well as pour a scoop on any ant piles. do this often and watch the ants relocate.
-mb

corn meal has the same effect. You are going to have to do something to your home, yard and cars at the same time. If you eleminate their hiding place you will finally beat them.

I'm not really sure how well it works, but my grandmother swears by red pepper. She just sprinkles it where the ants are and supposedly it gets rid of them. It's worth a try, I guess.

We used to have this problem at an apartment complex we lived at. We'd go out to the car and it would look like the console was moving. Lots of places say use peppermint b/c the ants don't like the smell. We also used cayenne pepper, just sprinkle a small amount where they're coming in at. That seems to work pretty fast. Also make sure there's nothing in the car they're coming after. Good luck.

Well i read on one of my emails if you sprinkle corn meal all over the area and their mounds they'll try to eat it and/or carry it back to the nest and ants can't digest it so they die.
We had lots of ants in our back yard and we got 5 bags it costs us around $10 but it helped. It is safe for you animals and kids as well.
Ants are extremely bad this year. Fleas too.
Godd luck jan
ALSO BOUNCE SHEETS THROUGH OUT OF CAR HELPS. IT MAKES CAR SMELL FRESH AND ANTS HATE IT.

I had the same problem not long ago. Spray down the inside of the car with vinegar. Your car will smell like salad for a week, but my ants were gone the next day.

Baby powder - with some cayenne pepper mixed in just to give it some extra kick. You might want to consider investing in a lot of baby powder and spreading it all over the yard with the cayenne pepper, on a day when no rain is forecast for a spell.

I'd recommend diatomaceous earth, but I've heard (spurious) reports that it might be carcinogenic. My guess is that, because, as tiny fossilized animals, it acts like microscopic shards of glass, then if you inhale it, although it only feels like a sore throat, it creates more exposure to whatever carcinogens might be in your environment. If you breathe it in deeply enough, I guess it can get into your lungs and have the same effect - which, if this is the case, lasts only as long as the tiny cuts take to heal. I just use a damp handkerchief tied around my mouth (and I wear sunglasses to protect my eyes - must be quite a sight!) when applying it. Once the diatomaceous earth is applied and settled, it should not be a problem, unless wind or AC or whatever will kick it up into the air.

But I haven't taken the time yet to research whether or why diatomaceous earth is actually carcinogenic. Again, it's only fossils, so I don't have any idea why it would be.

But just in case, if you don't find out, yourself, stick with the baby powder!! You can always vacuum it up later.

Put some petroleum jelly under the crack of the door frame, and they shouldn't be able to get in after this :)

L.

Hi J.,

I have a home business that has a product that is totally non-toxic and safe for children and pets. We spray it on the ants and it kills them dead, yet won't harm your mom or the fabric/carpeting in her car. If you'd like more information, you can contact me and I'll be glad to share the information on the product.

I know that the bleach works, but please don't use it. It is so toxic and harmful to you and the environment. And is not an option for in the car for obvious reasons, LOL it'll bleach the carpet and any fabric.

We do use the dry grits on ant mounds in the yard, it works. They take the grits into the mound and when they eat it, it swells up and kills them.

We had fire ants in our home a couple of years ago. It was really hot that summer and we were going through a drought, so they were coming in looking for water. I just sprayed those I saw with our non-toxic product, and around the doors and windows and no more ants!

They are probly looking for higher ground - they tend to do that if they sense a weather change is imminent. We use to live in central Florida where the fire ants were atrocious. We kept them under control with tobacco - (unsmoked) they supposedly cant stand the smell (use to be able to buy a big bag of sweepings for cheap, but here, you could buy a can of tobacco from a local shop for pretty cheap. YOu could put it in a container with small holes in the lid in the trunk. Otherwise, I'd advise using a pet bedding spray made from Permethrin. Just spray around and under seats and in trunk, and leave the doors open for about 30 min to allow it to dry completely. After that, there's no fumes so its not toxic. You could also try putting a small cup of ant bait where you see the "line". They'll take the bait back to the nest and do all your work for you. It leaves no residue and you could vacuum up anything lying around. You should definitely bait any mounds that you see under or near the car, and that will control future problems. Hope this helps, if you need any more help, my hub works at Edmond Lowe's and would be glad to give you a hand - just ask for Kris :}

Ant B Gone is a product that you sprinkle along the foundation of your home. It takes a week or so but it will eliminate the ants. They pick this stuff up and take it back to their nest and it eventually kills them. This isn't homeopathic but it works and it is safe for pets and you do not have to spray or do anything to the interior of your home. As for the car, I would call a pest control company. There are non toxic sprays that they can use to get rid of them and since it's such a small space the cost would surely be minimal.

Cream of wheat, the hot breakfast cereal uncooked will take care of the ones in the car. What you should try to find is their ant pile. The one thing that i know works for sure to get rid of ants is boiling several pots of water and poring it on the mound. as they can go several feet down you have to be sure to saturate very well. it leaves a dead spot in the grass for a bit but kills all ants.
good luck

A friend of mine told me about this...not sure if it works but I thought I would pass it on.

Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed! We use DAWN and Hot soapy water to get rid of ants.

If you get good answers, please post them for the rest of us who have the same problem & no good solutions. They're now in my mailbox! I've sprayed there though, just hope my granddaughter's photo studio pictures don't come this week.
Good luck!
D.

I had this question several months ago b/c of ants in our home. Many many people said to use cinnamon if you can find where they are coming in sprinkle cinnamon there-it worked in my pantry! However, we didn't know where else they were coming in and have been using poison outside the house and the poison in the cartrides inside. They are mostly out of the house! We found a cartdridge that has liquid poison in it that worked great, (wont spill unless you turn them upside down) you may put one or two of them in the car, you just have to sweep up the dead ones. They are supposed to carry the poison back to the rest of the ants, but I think they died before they had the chance! As for the yard...I don't know if its even possible to get rid of them all-we've tried lots of stuff and have less than we did-but they are still pretty thick. I talked to the pest company-they said it's expensive to get treated for ants and isn't any more effective than doing it yourself. Good Luck!

first wash away the ants with a hose.
second - take some amonia and throw it around.

then - clean the car with windex or other non toxic compound
then to make sure you can take some regular grits and throw some in in the car, if you have any ants leftover they will eat the grits, the grits will swell up with the moisture and
explode the ant's body.

for others who read this and have red ants and want to cut dow on cost - mix 50% poision with 50% grits, and throw around the yard.

God Bless

I have heard sprinkling dry grits on them works, although I have never tried it. Apparently, they ingest it and it swells do to the moisture in thier bodies and they well, explode! it's worth a try. Good luck.

Here's a website I found that has all sorts of suggestions for getting rid of ants. http://www.thefrugallife.com/ants.html When we get ants in the house, I sprinkle cinnamon everywhere, and that keeps them out for several weeks or more (until the cinnamon gets damp or blows away). I don't know how well it'd work in a car, but it does very well in my home! (I have two cats and a toddler.)