Borax is a common household product and is relatively safe to use. It is an effective way of killing ants. Find DIY recipes for borax ant bait here, as well as commercially available ant baits that use borax as the main ingredient.
In this article:
Understanding How Borax Kills Ants
The key to effectively rid your house of ants is to get the worker ants to carry the pesticide back to the nest where the queen and other ants in the colony will also get exposed. Borax, although it is a naturally occurring substance, is one of those natural pesticides that is effective on ants. It works by messing with their digestive system. You and I could theoretically consume small amounts of borax and still live to tell about it, although we absolutely do not recommend you try it. Ants, on the other hand, croak slowly after they consume a small amount. The reason Borax is so effective is because the killing mechanism is slow enough to allow the worker ant to carry some of the borax back to the nest before it keels over. If it killed the ant faster, the worker ant would die before it had a chance to pass the borax on to the rest of the colony. Instead, it passes that grain of borax around like shots of whisky in an old west tavern, and boom! You’ve exposed a bunch of other ants in the colony. Those ants eventually swing some borax over to the queen, who subsequently dies, and soon your nasty ant problem begins to fade into history. And now you feel victorious, and you didn’t even need to use any harmful synthetic chemicals. Way to go!
Why Borax?
Borax is a naturally occurring compound from the mineral Boron. Its not a synthetic chemical cooked up in some lab. It has been used for decades in a number of ways. It usually comes in a white powder form and dissolves into water. One of the most popular uses is a laundry detergent booster to help those tough stains out. Its also been used widely in household cleaners and other toiletries, but that’s all beside the point. Lets get down to business… ant killing business to be exact. So in addition to it being natural, it is also effective at getting rid of those pesky ants, and yes, pretty much all types of ants. It’s also widely available at your local grocery store or, even closer, at your finger tips online, shipped to your door. Its relatively inexpensive, and it has a low toxicity to humans and pets, unless ingested in high quantities, kinda like those sketchy microwave tacos. Still not ok with “low toxicity” options? See less toxic ways to kill ants here.(hyperlink)
Borax, especially in liquid form, is actually the primary ingredient in several commercial ant baits. While nasty chemicals are often used in bug sprays, traps, and baits, there are some commercially available options that still keep it real with natural pesticides, including ant killers. So if you really aren’t in the mood to mix up your own natural ant killer recipe, you can still feel good about using a commercial product get rid of ants when borax is the main ingredient.
If you are ready to whip up your own borax recipe for those pesky ants, follow the step by step instructions here. If you want to just buy a commercial borax-based ant killer product that doesn’t included chemicals that are harmful to the environment, check out these options:
What About Using Borax to Prevent Ants?
Ant colonies work as a team and assign each member to specialized tasks. The scouts are sent out to find food. Once they do, they let the rest of the worker ants know and from there, you’ve got an ant party in your house, and none of them were invited! Preventing ants through natural and organic means is an art unto itself. Check out our page on natural ways to prevent ants to learn more. Borax, it turns out, is really meant as a solution to effectively wipe out the whole colony. Borax recipes act more like ant baits than prevention tools. So if you want to permanently crash the ant party, reach for the borax. But if you want to prevent the party from ever starting, its probably best to look elsewhere.
Why Are Some Borax Recipes in Solid Form While Others Are Liquid?
One of the annoying things about ant baits and killers is the fact that you can seen them. With liquid recipes, you can somewhat hide it because the liquid is often clear or at least translucent, thereby not catching the eye, like a pile of white stuff in the corner would. Aside from aesthetics, liquid and solid borax recipes have other differences. Primarily, the solid variety allows the ant to carry the borax back to the colony where the other ants can digest it. The liquid variety is more easily absorbed in the worker ant’s system, thus more likely to kill the worker ant before he has a chance to share much of the borax with his buddies.
Effective Borax Recipes for Killing Ants
Liquid Sugar Bait
You’ll need:
½ cup of sugar
1 ½ Tablespoons of Borax
1 ½ Cups of warm water
1 Package of cotton balls
Directions:
- Mix sugar, Borax, and water in a bowl.
- Dip cotton balls in the mixture.
- Place the dipped cotton balls in an area where ants are likely to be.
Solid Sugar Bait
You’ll need:
¾ Cup of powdered sugar
¼ Cup of borax
Directions:
- Thoroughly mix powdered sugar and borax in a bowl.
- Set the mixture in containers that are easily accessible to ants.
- Place the containers in areas where ants are likely to be.
Protein Bait
You’ll need:
¼ Cup of peanut butter
¼ Cup of honey
½ Cup of borax
Directions:
- Thoroughly mix peanut butter, honey, and Borax in a bowl.
- Place the mixture into containers that are easily accessible to ants.
- Place the containers in areas where the ants are likely to be.