Keeping ants at bay with boric acid

As an Australian, I count myself as pretty familiar with a bug or two creeping into my house unannounced - it's just what seems to happen back home as a result of the climate and the creepy-crawlies wanting some respite from the weather!

The same thing tends to happen at a certain time of year in Japan, too. Once the snow had melted here, it seemed to be ant central for a while. They were somehow getting in from our sunroom area where we dry all our clothes - and I'd had enough. I didn't know what to use though here in Japan to get rid of bugs...back home I would have just waltzed into the nearest hardware store or even supermarket, and checked out what products were labeled as being good for keeping ants at bay. This isn't always as easy for me in Japan though!

One thing I love about being a part of City-Cost is that any time I have a question about living in Japan, someone helps me out! Both @helloalissa and @edthethe suggested that the solution to my ant issues was sprinkling some boric acid at the entry points that they were getting in from. Best of all, it was super simple to obtain via Amazon Japan - and cheap to boot at under 500 yen.

The box looks like this (you can snag it on Amazon over here). 

When you open up the box, you'll notice it's literally just a bag with the powder in it. Boric acid is said to be low in toxicity to humans even if it touches your skin - but always use common sense. I popped on a trendy face mask and gloves to make sure I didn't get any on my hands or breathe any in, just for safety's sake.

Application was relatively easy - I just used the bag in the box like a spout and tapped it along the edge of where the sunroom connects to the house. I'm happy to report that since I applied it there, I haven't seen any rogue ants wandering around (THANK GOODNESS!) and I'm very appreciative to the ladies that helped me out!

Our outdoor "sun room" which is really just an add on to the house that has unfinished floor boards, lots of gaps, and allows every weather condition possible to permeate our living space.