In the next few days (or weeks, depending on when I can finish writing it), I will post another entry to this blog, with a solution to yet another universal problem: how to get rid of ants from your home for good without using poison.

My criteria for getting rid of ants means not having to worry about them ever again after the initial effort to get rid of them. I have seen lots of solutions, ranging from poison to various non-toxic deterrents, all of which require continued monitoring of the ants and possibly further measures. With virtually all of these measures, the ants return all too soon. For families with small children, poisons are often not an option.

I actually figured this solution out for myself about twenty years ago. In the time since, I have found the solution to work reliably in different homes, different geographic regions, and with different kinds of ants. This solution was based on a particular understanding of ant behavior; everything I have observed since has been consistent. Fortunately, the effort to get rid of ants from a home is considerably easier than getting rid of eczema per solveeczema.

I have cautiously shared this solution with a limited number of people over the years. My caution comes not from any down sides as there might be with a medical condition, but for fear that the product I found to implement the solution would become unavailable.

Years ago, I found a natural shower cleaner that worked really well – so much better than any other cleaner I had ever tried – and gushed about it to everyone I knew. Within weeks, the shower cleaner disappeared from the market. I called the manufacturer to find out what had happened, only to discover that the product line had just been sold to a company that made competing cleaning products and killed. That company, it turned out, had its international headquarters in my home town!

Who knows whether it was me or another enthusiastic user who gave the company wind of a potential rival for their objectively more toxic products. But ever since then, I have been a lot more cynical about sharing what I have learned in situations where I am unlikely to change much except my own access to the solution. I knew I would never be able to reach a large number of people by sharing publicly what I knew about getting rid of ants – as with eczema, I have no credentials in any relevant field – and I did not want the product I needed to implement the ant solution to be pulled from the market the way the shower cleaner had been.

Well, it appears the product may be disappearing now anyway. It remains available for sale in limited places, maybe only as long as stock remains, so I thought I would share what I know about getting rid of ant invasions with people who have benefited from the problem solving I did for eczema. I personally have bought enough of the above-mentioned product to last me the rest of my life, without having to experiment to find another product that works the same.

Stay tuned… [link to Part 2 of 3]