Getting Rid Of Ants In Your Laundromat

“Summertime and the living is easy, the fish are jumping and the cotton is high. . . “  You have to pretend you can hear me singing this classic ballad. I have to admit, the only cotton I’ve ever seen is in my boyfriend’s Fruit of the Loom jockey shorts.  But summer does bring something else besides jumping fish and tall cotton. Ants, yes ants, are living right here in River City, and ants can be irritating. 

Tia Estefana, the natural blonde and ant expert

Now let me digress, which I hardly ever do, but in English the word aunt refers to the sister of your mother.  The word ant refers to unwelcome little bugs that march around in your Laundromat in long lines.  Both words are pronounced, by most, in exactly the same way.  In Spanish, we’ve fixed the confusion, because sisters of your mother are “Tia” and the little bugs are referred to as “get the broom, oh my God, we’ve got ants again…”

I have a (sort of) relative who is older than I am, but is really a friend of my mother’s, and when we were growing up, we called her Aunt Estefana (Tia Estefana).  Now, Tia taught me how to bleach my hair until it turned pure white, put on a comical amount of makeup, and get men to give me extremely expensive sunglasses with the little crystal diamonds that always fall out . . . well you get the point.

Recently, Tia decided to tell me how she gets rid of ants.  She had read an article by Brie Dyas somewhere and I guess she’s combined Brie’s wisdom with her own and thought it would be useful on my Laundromat blog.

Tia Estefana is allergic to bug spray (but apparently not hairspray) and believes you can use household items to rid yourself of household pests.

- Cayenne pepper. The capsaicin in cayenne pepper is an irritant to ants, making them stay away. So sprinkle cayenne pepper where the ants are marching and this helps chase them away.  Also the red liquid in the small bottle from Louisiana also works the same way.

 - Baby powder. The cornstarch in baby powder (the kind without talc) is another irritant to ants.  Like the cayenne pepper, sprinkle it around where the ants are and wait. 

 - Vodka. A 3-to-1 ratio of vodka to water, poured into a spray bottle.   Spray it all over the Laundromat and behind the bulkheads. While it will kill ants, your Laundromat will also smell of vodka and it’s easy to “test” the mixture on yourself and eventually you won’t care if you have ants in your Laundromat.  I think Tia Estefana tested out her mixture and ended up naming the ants and talking to them like you would to a new born baby.

 - Dish liquid and water mix.  This is the most effective way to get rid of ants.  Use about two tablespoons' worth and mix into a pint of water.   Put the mixture into a spray bottle and start spraying near windows, doors and cracks, behind the bulkheads and don't wipe it away. This destroys the scent trail that brings more ants.   You can also spray any roaming ants with this solution and it will kill them surprisingly fast.   Please don't spray it where people walk, because then you'll have a slip and fall accident caused by the soapy water on your floor.  :) 

Hope this helps.  Thanks to Brie and Tia for these tips.      

               -   The Latina Laundromat Advisor