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Akbar
Nov 22, 2004

Hubba-
Hubba.
My girlfriend and I hung up a clothesline between two trees in our backyard. Things were going fine for a few months but now the clothesline is overrun by ants (little black ones) and they crawl all over the clothes we hang up. I tried spraying/soaking the line with a vinegar solution but they came back, happy as ever. How can we reclaim our clothesline?

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Akbar
Nov 22, 2004

Hubba-
Hubba.

Goons Are Great posted:

Difficult one, as they probably don't go there for a reason other than exploring. Technically maybe the washing powder you use might be attractive for them, changing could theoretically help, but that's a wild guess, as they might just like the humidity and temperature the clothes have. You could try to stop them from climbing up in the first place, depending on where you put the clothesline on. A small pool of water can already stop them from climbing up, a lot of vinegar especially around that spot they climb up on just when you put the clothes there might also work, something like that. Any chance you can try to stop them there already? Might be easier than trying to repel them on such a large surface.


It might be hard keeping them from getting up there since they seem pretty established on the two trees anchoring the clothesline, but maybe some diatomaceous earth around the bases of the trees could work? I'm not really sure why they crawl on it since it's not a huge distance between the trees and I don't really see them ferrying food across it, but I'd appreciate insight into why they're behaving this way. It's a cloth line if that helps.

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