How to Use Baby Powder to Get Rid of Ants
This summer in New York it was quite humid, we had a few extra hot days, and quite a few days of ongoing rain. I was recently surprised to find random little ants scattering all over my bathroom. It’s like they came out of nowhere. I worried I would have a full blown infestation if I didn’t get rid of them right away. I have lived in my apartment for 4 years and I have never had the misfortune of seeing too many uninvited guests. I don’t have roaches, have never seen a spider, and mice stay far away from my area due to the large number of cats everywhere. I searched everywhere for a solution, I used every kind of spray but I didn’t get any results. I saw the ants died when sprayed with Windex but it wasn’t killing the source. Even my exterminator couldn’t give me an answer as to where they were nesting. He only put down baits that just made the ant problem worse. Then I found a solution that worked. People online had mentioned using baby powder but when I tried spritzing baby powder on the ants I saw no reaction and they didn’t die. But I found the right way to make them react to the baby powder, keep reading to find out.
I have a very clean bathroom, nothing the ants could or would find attractive. I have laundry soap, baking soda, and an opened pack of Orthene bug repellent underneath my bathroom sink, so I knew they weren’t coming for food. So they must be coming for water. I started putting baby powder all around the sink and especially in the drains at night time. I did this because I noticed that the ants don’t care if you throw baby powder on top of them but they won’t cross baby powder if you surround them with in. I figured this must because their tracks become covered and they can’t smell where they were going. I also took the liberty of spraying bug spray as well. Day by day, I started noticing less and less ants.
It’s important to keep your sinks as dry as possible and sprinkle baby powder on the drain just in case they’re attracted to skin cells or hair inside the drains, or even water around your sink. I also like to put a line across the bathroom entry so they don’t take the liberty of invading other rooms. In my case I never found out where the ants were coming from but I was able to get rid of them in 2 days. I suspect they were coming through the drains for water. If you are seeing random little ants like I did you need to start preventive measures right away because they can multiply within days and become a full blown infestation. The baby powder works well because they don’t like talc and won’t cross a line of it. So the proper use of baby powder CAN rid you of ants, but you have to start right away.
