Page Contents
Causes of Ants in the House
Ants are indeed irritating to several of us when they invade our households. In fact, they can make you stay awake the whole night, particularly if they invade your bedroom. Their invasion is thus a serious problem that needs to be addressed by none other than yourself.
But, interestingly, you cannot deal with the issue of ants’ infestation in your building if you lack an adequate understanding of what attracts them to your structures. Here are some of the common factors that result into an increasing number of ants in your premises.
The first reason is food spills. If you are that kind of a person who does not clean his or her house frequently to remove food messes, then be ready to deal with large numbers of ants in your building. Ants are generally attracted to an area that has food spills, which they can convert into their food.
In fact, if the food is sugary and contain grease in it, then the number of ants that will be attracted will be extremely many. The ants have a strong sense of smell for grease and sugar. Be aware that if a single ant finds its way into your home, others are likely to come, because ants usually leave a trail pheromone that will guide others to the target food source.
Also, note that the food might be in a container, but if it is not sealed or closed well, then the smell from it will definitely attract ants.
The second reason that brings ants into our buildings is to search for shelter. This is usually possible, if your house has holes or cracks on the walls that can enable them to penetrate into your premises. Equally, if you leave the windows and doors open for long these creatures will easily find their way in.
The third factor that brings the ants into our homes is water. In case you have an excess moisture around your house, especially in the bathrooms, then the ants will camp there. These creatures prefer areas that are wet, where they will have an easy access to water.
For example, if you will find them constructing their nests under your bathroom tiles or skinks, where there is a lot of water dripping, particularly if there is a leak.
Killing Ants Indoors – Why is it Important?
Indeed, there are two primary benefits of exterminating ants from your home. Firstly, the ants are irritating a lot, hence eliminating means you will have a peace of mind. No one likes to be disturbed by these little creatures, particularly when they are in huge numbers.
Imagine, having several ants in your kitchen or bathroom, how will you feel? You will be stressed and always be wondering on how to get rid of them. Eradicating them completely from your home will therefore, give you a peace of mind and you always be ready and happy to visit your bathroom and kitchen.
The second main importance of exterminating the ants from you building is that you will have less damages. Where the ants have constructed their nests, they usually tend to dig holes. If, for example, the holes are under your bathroom tiles or sinks, it means after some time, they might crack. The cost of repairing such damages is high and thus, it is beneficial to kill these little creatures before the damage is done.
Tiny Ants in Kitchen Around Sink
Getting rid of tiny ants that have already constructed their nests around your kitchen skinks might be extremely difficult. And even if you manage to do, the likelihood that they will come back are so high. In such a case, you may want to find out the reason why they chose that location and not any other part of your house.
Well, one reason could be that there is a leak around the sink, making the area wet and therefore, increasing moisture around that area. Believe it, locations with high moisture are the best areas for the ants to construct their nests. They like regions where they will be guaranteed of constant water supply.
Another possible reason could be that you are not cleaning your sink very well. It is always recommended that you wash your sink using a strong scented shop that will eliminate the smell of grease and sugar that may remain if you only use water. Sugar and grease are strong attractants of these creatures.
Additionally, your sink could be holding food remains, which usually are washed down by water. Such food remains will attract and keep these small creatures around your sink for a long time.
How to get rid of ants in the Kitchen
There are several approaches you can apply to eliminate the tiny ants from accessing your kitchen. Here are the best three approaches you can try them if you are a victim of ants’ attack.
- Taking preventive measures.
Indeed, we always told that prevention is better than cure and that is quite true in this particular aspect of ants’ infestation. Given their tiny nature, the ants can access your kitchen using any small entry available. You are required to try as much as possible to block any way that the ants may use to gain access into your kitchen.
- Application of vinegar.
Prepare a mixture of vinegar and water in equal proportion and use it to wash your kitchen surfaces. The odor from this compound is quite irritating to the ants and actively aids in destroying any trails these creatures may use to enter into your place.
- Use of essential oils
Oils like lemon and peppermint contain a strong smell that ants do not like. After doing the general cleanliness of your kitchenette you can spray these oils to deter the ants.
How to get rid of ants in the Bedroom
The first action you should take to eliminate ants from your bedroom is to ensure that it is always clean. In essence, you should eliminate any form of sugary food spills, which might attract them. Secondly, check for cracks on the walls and make sure that they are repaired well.
Thirdly, you can spray any form of essential oil in your bedroom to keep the ants away. In particular, these tiny creatures will always run away from areas that have a high concentration of highly aromatic oils such as peppermint.
How to get rid of ants Outside the house – permanently
Do the following to keep the ants away permanently.
- Use granular pesticides. You will be required to spray these granules across your compound. The ants will take them into their nests and the poison will kill them all. When doing this, ensure that the pets and children are indoors for at least 30 minutes.
- Use a non-repellent pesticide to kill the ants at their nests. With such a pesticide, the ants will remain inside their nests and will be killed. Do this after every 5 moths for optimal results.
- Spray a non-repellent insecticide around your house and yard to ensure that the ants are completely killed and hindered from running away.
Natural ways to remove ants Permanently
Whilst artificial approaches of eliminating ants may be faster, they are poisonous to our environment, hence we should always try to embrace natural means of annihilating ants. Some of the commonly known natural approaches of killed these creatures include:
- Use of soap-water solution into the nests. This process is easier because all you will need to do is mix dish soap with water to make a solution, which you will then pour into the anthill. Do this every morning and evening when several ants are inside their nests.
- Use of essential oils. Here you are required to spray any kind of oil that is aromatic in nature in all the entry points or you can make cotton balls that have been soaked in the oils. If that is done twice every week, all the ants will be permanently eliminated from your homestead.
FAQs on Killing Ants Indoors
The following are some of the questions I believe are bothering you. Take a keen look at them.
Does salt kill ants?
Yes, it does kill them, but mainly if you mix with hot water. Alternatively, you can create a paste of sugar, bran, salt and water, afterwards spread around your house and you will like the outcome-most ants if not all will be dead!
What will keep ants away?
Mainly, the use of essential oils like lemon, peppermint and eucalyptus will deter the ants from entering into your premises. Just spray the oils across your house and you are good and well protected from these disturbing creatures.
Does vinegar kill ants?
Yes, it kills them, but when preparing the mixture ensure that it has equal parts of water and vinegar. In other words, the final mixture should contain 50 per cent water and 50 per cent vinegar for it to effectively work.
After you have prepared the solution, put it in a spray container and spray at the ants directly to exterminate them.
References
- https://www.care2.com/causes/10-ways-to-keep-those-pesky-ants-out-of-your-kitchen.html
- https://chem-wise.com/ants-go-marching-3-ways-youre-attracting-ants-home/
- https://www.fightbuags.com/does-salt-kill-ants/
- https://m.wikihow.com/Kill-Ants-Outside
- Where Can I Purchase Bed Bug Bombs? - January 30, 2023
- Where Can I Buy Something to Kill Bed Bugs? - January 30, 2023
- Where Can I Buy Bed Bug Spray? - January 30, 2023
English 
Deutsch