Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Singing the Praises of Vinegar

I really dislike the smell of vinegar. It ranks very high on my list of unpleasant smells. However, I also really dislike ants in my kitchen, and that ranks even higher on my general list of dislikes. We have had to deal with ant issues every year that we've lived in the house (3 years), and to date we've had three different varieties of ants attempt to take over our kitchen. The previous two were easily controlled by buying some of those ant bait traps that take care of the whole colony. I usually buy the double-sided ones with two different types of bait. This time around, those snazzy little traps have been useless! These ants wouldn't even go in there! Not only do I still have the ants, but I wasted my money!

So, after trying many things (including keeping things clean around the kitchen and even using a little spray poison), I finally decided to try out a natural remedy I read about online- vinegar. Sunday night, I cleaned the entire kitchen and sprayed everything down with vinegar- counter tops, cabinet fronts, sink, side of the refrigerator. As of today, I have only seen one or two stray ants over the last couple of days. Best of all, I have gobs of vinegar and didn't have to pay a thing. I really didn't even mind the smell...much. I'm thinking I might start making more use of the cost effective solution!

And that, folks, is what works for me!

Be sure to visit Shannon's site for more tips!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh boy!! I have a four litre container (Canadian, eh!) under my sink just waiting to be used. Thanks for the tip!

Wife of a Soldier said...

thanks for the tip - we are currently dealing with an ant infestation right now!

Anonymous said...

This is great. There is nothing grosser then an ant breakout in the kitchen so I appreciate the tip.

Michelle@Life with Three said...

We had such horrible problems with ants due to drought last spring. I tried the vinegar and it worked pretty well. I also found that cinnamon was a good repellent. I sprinkled it around the perimeter of the countertops and it kept the ants at bay. Apparently, ants don't like the smell of cinnamon and won't cross over the line.

Unknown said...

I love vinegar.. not the smell, but the use.

You can find my tip at:

Laane on the World

Have a great week and an amazing spring!!!

Erin said...

I just read that cornmeal will work too. I've never used it but apparently ants will take the cornmeal back to their little homes and share it. Ants can't digest cornmeal though so they die.

avasmommy05 from xanga. :)

Sherry said...

Thanks for the tip! Our annual parade of ants has not arrived yet, but I have plenty of vinegar so I will be prepared.

Jthemilker said...

There is definitely like a million uses for vinegar. I'm just beginning to learn. Excellent idea... I am making note of this. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Avon's Skin so Soft works great.