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wikiHow to Get Rid of Ants

Four Methods:Killing the antsGoing for the nest or anthillKeeping your home cleanDeterring ants from wanting to enter the homeCommunity Q&A

Most ants are beneficial, because they kill real pests such as fleas and bedbugs. That's no consolation when they start invading your kitchen cabinets, however. Luckily, there are lots of ways you can get rid of them, such as spraying them with lemon or peppermint-flavored water. If these lightweight measures don't do the trick, you might have to declare war by using bait traps and chemical insecticides.

Killing the ants

Killing ants is sometimes a necessity when you have an infestation and there is no end in sight. It's the least desirable option but it must be considered when you have them in the home constantly.

  1. 1
    Consider going from least harmful to most harmful approach first. Not only is this better for your health but it's also kinder for the environment.
  2. 2
    Kill off the ant trail. A line of ants can be dealt with effectively and quickly so as to kill those in the line and deter any others from continuing to follow the trail. It is recommended to begin with locating the entry point first and creating a barrier straight away, such as a line of petroleum jelly, upturned duct tape or talc, so that the ants outside stop using the entryway. Then, try one of the following methods to deal with the ant trail:
    • Dip a sponge into soapy water. Simply wipe the sponge down the trail, collecting ants. Rinse them down the drain. Rinse and repeat as often as required until all ants in the trail have been removed.
    • Spray the trail with all-purpose cleaner or a bleach solution. Wipe it up with a wet paper towel. Spraying the nest can be effective, but you really want to make sure you get them all, otherwise killing part of the colony can simply encourage certain species to establish new colonies, which is counter-productive to you.
  3. 3
    Squish the scouts. Colonies regularly send out lone ants to check for food sources. If you see an individual ant strolling across your coffee table, don't let it make it back to the nest alive. It'll tell the colony where you spilled the apple juice. If the scout made it back to the nest and brought back some friends, they'll be following a scent trail, single file. Unless you're ready to bait them, kill them all quickly.
  4. 4
    Root out the ants already well entrenched in your pantry or other cupboard space. You'll need to use an attractive poison bait to get the ants scurrying home with new "treats" from their food hunting missions. Mixing boric acid powder or borax with water and sugar is the most common bait.[1] Boric acid affects ants both externally (when in powder form; similar to diatomaceous earth) and internally (when ingested).[2] Make a mixture of 1 cup water, 2 cups sugar, 2 tablespoons boric acid.[3]
    • Wait for the ants to show up. Don't lure new ants with the bait because you could attract new colonies. Once there's a trail, place the bait next to it (not on it, or else you'll interrupt their march home). You can also place it in a safe part of the pantry where ants appear to be congregating.
    • If you have pets and/or children around (see Warnings below) use the bait in a jam jar where ants can go to seek "food". Screw the lid tightly and seal with adhesive tape. Pierce the lid with two or three small holes large enough for ants, and smear the outside with a little bit of non-poisoned bait to advertise the contents for ants. If you're concerned about the jar getting knocked over and the poisoned bait spilling out, loosely pack the inside above the bait with cotton balls.[4]
    • You can mix peanut butter as well. Ants' cravings vary depending on the needs of the colony (sometimes they want sweets, sometimes they want something oily), [5] so providing both will increase the likelihood that they'll take the bait. Once they've had their fill, remove all bait which may lose its poison when weathered, but still attract ants. You don't want to attract a neighboring colony.
  5. 5
    Consider using a borax bait made at home. Use 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons of borax, 1 teaspoon of water. Mix well. Place a small amount on little pieces of cardboard where the ants are active. Watch them swarm it and carry back to nest.
    • If it kills them too quickly, try 1 1/2 teaspoons of borax. You want them to carry it back and kill the colony and the queen.
  6. 6
    Vacuum up the ants. Sprinkle and vacuum a little talcum powder or diatomaceous earth to finish them off in the vac and in the trash where you dispose of it. This second step is important to make sure that you don't provide the ants a new home inside your vacuum cleaner.
  7. 7
    Make a mixture of rubbing alcohol, dish soap and water. Get a spray bottle, making sure to wash it out very well, and place about a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol and about a teaspoon and a half of dish soap. Then fill the spray bottle with water about an inch (2.5cm) away from the top and close it up tight. Shake the solution until bubbles start to appear and then you're ready to spray! Because of the alcohol in the solution, the ants will stay clear away from it.
  8. 8
    Get a "Deep Reach" fumigator (aka "fogger"). These are reported to kill ants for 6 to 8 months, with the downside being that you may have to stay out of the place you fumigate for anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Search online for product reviews and inquire at local home improvement stores. Make sure you know the volume of the place you need to fumigate. If you're concerned about the use of potentially harmful chemicals in the home environment, this is not the approach for you and should not be used, if you have children, whose immune systems are still developing.

Going for the nest or anthill

This is the least recommended option––ants have an important place in the ecology of your garden and general ecological health––they destroy a good many garden pests. Removing all ants completely can disturb the delicate balance, let alone deranging the "live and let live" stewardship human beings would do well to live by. However, should ants seek food or take up residence in play areas of your yard or inside your home, you'll need to remove them. Here are some suggested methods.

  1. 1
    Locate the nest. If you can find the source, carefully dig/puncture the soil and dump several gallons of boiling water into the nest. That should take care of the entire colony.
  2. 2
    Try a homemade solution. Mix one part camphor oil with 9 parts denatured alcohol (ethyl alcohol that has a chemical added to stop humans from enjoying it), may be methylated spirits containing poison non-drinking alcohol. Pour over the anthill.[1]
  3. 3
    Kill the queen. The best way to get rid of ants is to destroy their source: the ant queen. She produces a large number of ants and killing her will exterminate them; if you can, find and kill the queen inside the ant nest. She's rather shy and will hide in the bottom. This method is not recommended, if the ants are aggressive and/or sting.

Keeping your home clean

Do your bit to discourage ant re-entry by keeping the house free of ant attractants. Cleaning up food and other attractive residues is an important part of getting rid of ants from the home and keeping them out.

  1. 1
    Put food in airtight containers. This also has the added bonus of keeping your food fresher. Also, should bugs that come in egg form in the foodstuffs hatch, they're caught inside the container, making their disposal easy and preventing their spread through the entire pantry. It's definitely worth the initial outlay on good storage containers.
  2. 2
    Wipe down all surfaces. Tables and countertops should be regularly sprayed and cleaned with a mild bleach or vinegar solution.
  3. 3
    Keep on top of your regular cleaning regimen. Sweep, mop, and vacuum regularly.
  4. 4
    Keep the sink clean. Avoid leaving dirty dishes and standing water for ants to drink and do not put food in the drain. Remove all in-sink disposal scraps as soon as added.
  5. 5
    Put pet food bowls in a slightly larger bowl. Add some water to the larger bowl, creating a moat around the pet food that the ants can't easily cross. Refill regularly.

Deterring ants from wanting to enter the home

The best way to get rid of a house pest is to prevent it from even considering your home an easy target. Hence, deterrence is a prime focus for every homeowner potentially susceptible to an ant invasion.

  1. 1
    Barricade your home. Since ants are tiny, they can find thousands of tiny doorways into your residence. Some of these are easy to identify, while others will only be discovered when there's a parade of ants marching through the chosen ant doorway.
  2. 2
    Use caulk. Seal windows, doors and any cracks the ants crawl through with caulk. An additional benefit of doing this is better temperature control and lower energy bills. Plus, it's one of the least risky methods when kids or pets are involved.
  3. 3
    Line suspected entryways with deterrent substances. Salt, chalk, baby powder and talc can be spread under doors, near windows and walls.
    • Keep in mind that there are concerns about the potential carcinogenicity of talc.[6]
  4. 4
    Apply scents and substances that ants don't like. Vinegar, peppermint oil, cinnamon, black pepper, cayenne pepper, whole cloves, and bay leaves are all examples that have varying claims of success.[1] However, some of these might be harmful to pets and irritants to curious children.
  5. 5
    Create a landscape buffer. Ants often enter homes through nearby shrubs, vegetation, or overhanging trees. To eliminate this problem, create a dry, plant-free border by trimming or getting rid of overhanging trees, cutting back vegetation that is touching your home, and laying down a perimeter of gravel or rock.[7]

Community Q&A

Add New Question
  • Ants run over my bed. What should I do to keep them away?
    wikiHow Contributor
    Try to see where they are coming from. Make sure your bed sheets are washed weekly, that your bed is pulled away from the wall, and that you don't have any bedding touching the floor. Make sure none of the pillows are touching the wall either. You can also spray some lavender oil scented water around your bed base as an extra precaution.
  • I have ants coming into my house through a tiny hole. I sprayed Orca through the hole, but they are still coming in. What else can I do to stop them?
    wikiHow Contributor
    Plug the hole. If the hole is plugged, they cannot get in.
  • How long do the ants live?
    wikiHow Contributor
    An individual ant dos not live very long. Probably weeks to months, depending on the variety. The queen may live for a year or more. On the other hand, the colony you are observing will live, barring accident, exterminator, or you, for many years, even decades. At certain times of the year, probably in the spring for most varieties, the queen will produce young, new queens, who will leave the nest to form new colonies.
  • Our house has a garden in which there are many ant nests. Will they come in the house too?
    wikiHow Contributor
    It's certainly possible, so you may want to take some precautionary actions and seal up any known openings where ants could enter.
  • How do I prevent ants entering my bathroom?
    wikiHow Contributor
    Ants don't like peppermint, so spray that around their possible entrances.
  • The ants in my kitchen always come out of and go back through a small crack on my backsplash. I can caulk the crack, but I'm concerned that will trap ants behind my backsplash. What should I do?
    wikiHow Contributor
    First use a bait to draw out and kill the ants. Try Terro (a commercial bait) if they are small sugar ants, or search online how to make a home-made solution. Wait a day or two, then spray vinegar solution on the crack, let it dry, and caulk or cover it.
  • Why do they keep coming back year after year?
    wikiHow Contributor
    They keep coming back for food; they collect food throughout the summer and hibernate through the winter.
  • We can't find a nest even after spending some time watching, they just appear and disappear in various places and the amount of ants is increasing. We have been using over the counter products, powder, gel, and traps. Can you suggest any other products?
    wikiHow Contributor
    You can get ant bait. I use a liquid and bait by Terro and it works every single time for me. You have to be patient with it and after a while, there will be a ton of ants attracted and you can see a clear trail of where they come from.
  • What if there's not a line of ants and I can't locate the nest?
    wikiHow Contributor
    Use an ant bait. It will attract the ants and there will eventually be a clear trail from the ant bait to the nest. Place the ant bait where it seems like the most ants gather for the process to go quicker
  • What can I do to get rid of an ant infestation in a caravan when none of the products I have tried have worked?
    wikiHow Contributor
    Have you tried Terro liquid ant bait? They may not go in at the beginning so I force a couple of ants in and eventually everyone is in. Some will die inside while others will go back to their colonies, but eventually they will be dead.
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    • Consider an ant bait such as Gourmet Liquid Ant Bait that mimics the aphids sweet secretions. For best results use liquid ant baits with a liquid ant baiter such as the KM Ant Pro liquid ant feeder. Liquid ant baits can be found under various names in different countries. Always prefer any preparation low in toxicity to human beings.
    • Have a clear out of you house, like throwing away old items or papers before you start exterminating. As ants will hide under anywhere possible and you don't want to think that you have killed them all when really, you haven't!
    • Clean up after yourself and your pets. Make sure no empty soda cans are left out and keep rooms tidy.
    • Ants love aphids and scale, or more specifically, the sweet, sugary substances these insects produce. Treat outdoor plants for aphids and scale during the spring and summer months (when they are abundant) and ants will have less to hang around for.
    • If the ants are in your trash, make sure you keep the trash outside.
    • Many resources around the web suggest using cornmeal to kill ants; while anecdotal accounts sometimes refer to success with this method, other accounts suggest it's only effective in disrupting the trails and nests of the ants, not in actually eradicating them.
    • If you're in need of a quick, temporary fix, an all-purpose disinfectant spray such as Lysol or Windex does a great job of poisoning and killing ants in a matter of minutes. However, be ready for a relatively lengthy and possibly wide-spread cleanup. This generally only works on visible/or surface ants in easy to reach places, and will not do much to harm the colony itself beyond dwindling its numbers.
    • Sprinkle grits in tiny mounds. They eat them which causes them to swell, and they die.
    • Pour ant powder in damp and dark holes, edges of walls or cabinets around your house. Note that you should only apply ant killer powder in areas that humans will not be in contact with. (Read the instructions on the bottle of powder, if you are unsure.).
    • Be careful while killing with the substances as they can harm you too. Try not to breathe them in and keep pets away when you are spraying or using the chemicals.
    • Do not use any repellent products, sprays or materials near areas where ant baits have been applied. The ants will not go near these areas and this will render the ant baits useless.
    • Use a lint roller to clean up a path quickly and efficiently.
    • Using mostly any type of chemical cleaning spray will help kill the ants.
    • If there are flying ants, there probably is a new colony nearby; you can't follow the flying ones, but they indicate some are leaving the old nest to reproduce a new colony. If you see an ant that's a little larger than all the rest in its group, it might be a new queen produced by a large colony, looking to establish a new nest. Queens are usually two to three times larger than workers, possess wings before mating, and have very large abdomens.[8]
    • Remove plants that can attract ants (peonies for example) or control aphids, whiteflies and other insects that produce honeydew (aphids love roses and clematis). Reduce moisture sources, including condensation and leaks.[1]
    • Sweep, vacuum as often as possible. Even if small amount, ants don't care, they take what they can get.
    • Some studies have shown that ants are turned off by the smell of cloves.


    • If more than a teaspoon of boric acid is swallowed by an adult, drink two glasses of water and seek medical attention.
    • Boric acid poisons may be less effective in warmer weather; rely on these more during spring.
    • Planting mint around your house and garden may deter ants, but mint can be invasive, so speak to a knowledgeable garden center before planting it directly in the ground.
    • Use gloves and a breathing mask, if using any ant-deterring substances. At best, they're irritants; at worst, they're poisonous. It's also advisable, if using sprays to wear safety goggles. The most effective substances are the ones that seal up against the face (not just ones intended to stop projectiles such as wood chips when sawing, although those would be better than nothing).
    • Keep all ant-deterring substances and poisons out of the reach of children and pets. Many of the materials are highly toxic. They should be kept neatly in a distant cupboard or any heightened place. Follow labeling/instructions.
    • Contact with boric acid or borax can have negative effects.[9] It can be irritating to your eyes; so if it comes into contact with them, rinse and seek medical attention, if symptoms persist for more than 30 minutes.

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