Community Forums

Purplefans & Harvey · 06-08-2011, 09:10 PM

I've tried, I swear, but the darned ants must have made a home and as much raid as I've sprayed, I find lots of ants who made it past the raid into the cabin and died. What has anybody done to caulk the areas with the ants, but also kill the ones that aren't seen? They have come in through cable opening on the slide which wasn't caulked. They walk out to the cabin just in back of the drivers chair, but somehow also come out via the bathtub? Ican't figure that one out.

Is there a special solution that anybody uses? Bombs? Sprays? Preying Mantis's?

Shore2Shore · 06-08-2011, 09:18 PM

Ants are a pain in the rear for sure! But have been reliably informed that they hate regular dish soap around the perimeter of the coach and surfaces wiped down with vinegar!

So as ants can be a problem for us at times, will be going round the perimeter of the site pad with the dish soap.Although will wait to see if that works before wanting to wipe down anything with vinegar!!!

burmashave · 06-08-2011, 09:19 PM

I'm thinking you need to make sure you don't have a nest in the coach somewhere. I had a wasp nest in a vent pipe on the roof, and that was under the cap.

If you don't have pets, I recommend the white powder that they take back to the nest and poison themselves. It works because ants are cannibalistic and eat their poisoned dead, then they in turn die. I've seen them carry their dead back to the nest for the rest to eat.

AZgl1500 · 06-08-2011, 11:50 PM

Plain dish washing soap (like Joy, not a detergent) mixture with water in a spray bottle is good for stopping little critters. Darn good for making spiders want to go elsewhere. Spiders can't make their web stick to surfaces that have soap on them.

Vinegar just plain is an annoyance to critters, I use it heavily, straight, not diluted.

Boric Acid powder is a wonderful stuff.
Boric Acid for Ants - How To Information | eHow.com

I spread it everywhere, under the appliances, into wall crevices, around all openings. I put in on the kitchen cabinet shelves, in the cracks and corners in my clothes closets. All along the walls and under the door jambs in the garage and house. it is harmless to pets and humans. Spill it everywhere it can be put and mostly be out of sight.

Tiny little feet pick that stuff up, then wash it off their feet and ingest it into their digestive system. There it will coagulate in their intestines and end of critter. Can't poop? You die.

Outside, take water and mix in the boric acid and sugar. maybe a 5-10 percent solution? Spray that on all of the trails you see around your house. They slurp that stuff up and feed it to the Queen Ant. She dies, they die, no more ants.

It takes a while, this is not an instant panacea. But it will make all the little critters go live somewhere else. I have not had spiders, or roaches, or bed bugs, or millers in my house or garage in years.

Purplefans & Harvey · 06-09-2011, 06:31 AM

The joy detergent and boric acid route sound the best, as I have the dogs in the RV. Thank you for the information.

Do I have to worry about a nest, or do you think the boric acid will do it all?

NITEHAWK · 06-09-2011, 06:39 AM

Unadulterated ground cinnamon--no sugar. Ants hate the stuff.

jeepfreak · 06-09-2011, 07:00 AM

We use Terro . It comes in it's own little clear plastic container and you just snipe the shaded end so they can get in and they carry it back to the nest. The first time We used it, it was a little disturbing to see many came to the stuff and was temped to move it , but after awhile they dissapeared so I guess it worked.

wa8yxm · 06-09-2011, 10:35 AM

If you try to bomb them (Bug Bombs) be aware that you need to do 2 or 3 treatments at intervals which they usually fail to tell you on the can.. Or visit a VET and get some professional strength stuff.

But alas, due to the subject I just can not resist:

Oh when the ants, Come marching in
Oh when the ants come marching in.
Oh how I wish that they woudl go elsewhere
When the Ants come marching in.

Oh I just hope, Yes I just hope
That they are not car-pen-ter ants
Yes I hope they are not Car-pen-ter ants
When the ants come marching in

And when the floor, Starts to fall way
When the floor falls away
Then I know I'm in for a repair job
Cause those ants came marching in.

Hopefully you now have 1: A smile and 2: No big repair bills.

dagray · 06-09-2011, 02:15 PM

We were in a campground with a lot of ants. I used the vinegar but it didn't work that well. I forgot to put it on the electrical and sewer hoses so they got in that way. At the little store where we checked in they said the best way to keep them out is to make a barrier with Ajax. As we walked around the campground lots of motorhomes had white lines of Ajax around all the tires, jacks and hoses. If they walk in the Ajax it dehydrates them and they die. It appeared to work.

I read somewhere to put out oatmeal where they can get it. When they take it back to their nest and eat it, it will expand so much they burst open and die.

okmunky · 06-09-2011, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burmashave

I'm thinking you need to make sure you don't have a nest in the coach somewhere. I had a wasp nest in a vent pipe on the roof, and that was under the cap.

If you don't have pets, I recommend the white powder that they take back to the nest and poison themselves. It works because ants are cannibalistic and eat their poisoned dead, then they in turn die. I've seen them carry their dead back to the nest for the rest to eat.

If you are taking about Boric Acid powder, which also kills roaches, you really don't need to be overly concerned about using it around pets. I checked and it is only slighly more toxic than common table salt.

If you sprinkle Boric Acid Powder where the ants enter and exit they will take it back to the nest, should that be in your coach, and eventually all will die. It's not the fastest cure, but it is one of the safest.

okmunky · 06-09-2011, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dagray

I read somewhere to put out oatmeal where they can get it. When they take it back to their nest and eat it, it will expand so much they burst open and die.

I've heard the same about Cream of Wheat

Clay L · 06-09-2011, 03:25 PM

There are two different types of ants - grease eaters and sugar eaters. I can't tell the difference so I bought two different ant bait can sets and put out six of each type. The ants carry this back to nest and it gets all of them. It only took a few days and the little suckers were gone.

Purplefans & Harvey · 06-10-2011, 07:27 PM

I can only hope. This weekend I'll be opening up all the under storage areas, and checking, along with where I put ant traps. Believe it or not, my local hardware store didn't carry boric acid. So I got some other stuff (including a bomb, which I don't really want to use because I'll have to clean so much again!) (lazy me!) Definately buying AJAX and using it every campground!!

w6pea · 06-10-2011, 07:32 PM

We use '409' cleaner works well and keeps the ants away. The stuff also works on bee's we had a beehive on our balcony and they went away after spraying the area.