How To Get Rid Of Ants In The Bedroom

Although most ants do more harm than good to the environment, having these little creatures in your home can be sometimes pesky. This is why in this article, we’re going to be teaching you how to get rid of ants in the bedroom. 

How To Get Rid Of Ants In The Bedroom
Photo by David Higgins on Unsplash

Why Do You Have Ants In Your Home?

Contrary to popular belief, having an ant infestation does not in any way mean that you are dirty or that you’re leaving in a dirty house. 

While leaving stuff out and leaving in a dirty environment might attract ants, ants might still choose to come into your home even if it’s in pristine condition. 

This is because ants come into your home for the sole purpose of food and shelter. They are not vile creatures looking to disturb your peace and sanity or punishers of dirty leaving. They are simply trying to fend for themselves and their queen. 

Does this mean that you should leave food out and live in a dirty environment? Of course, not. Those things give room for other problems such as bacteria infestation. 

Also, if you’ve had an ant infestation before, cleaning up would help to remove the pheromone. This would prevent new ants from coming in as a result of the scent. More on that in the “Prevention Section”.

Getting Rid Of Ants 

Understanding The Enemy

The first thing you need to do when trying to put to death thousands of tiny little creatures is to understand who they are. You need to first identify the ant species that have invaded your home. 

This information is what would determine the best solution to kicking them out. This is because different ant species behave differently. Because of that, different methods would have to be taken to eradicate them accordingly. 

It would surprise you to know that there are over one thousand ant species in North America alone. However, before you get too scared, most of these species are garden ants and would never take shelter in a home. 

There are two main ant species that are not scared to come into your home to take shelter. The first species is known as “house ants”, while the second is known as “carpenter ants”

The first ones are the ones you would most likely have in your house, hence, they’re name. These ones you would find around sugar, chocolate, and any sweets you lay around the house. They do not cause any notable damage apart from, of course, making do with your leftover sweets. 

Carpenter ants, on the other hand, act like termites. They usually live outside close to the home but are not afraid to come in for a bite. They, like termites, burrow through wood, and as such, destroy your beautiful carpentry. 

The easiest way to determine what species of ants you have in your house is by monitoring what they feed on. If they are around your furniture, they’re carpenter ants. But if they’re around your sweets, they are most likely house ants. 

Dealing With The Enemy — How To Get Rid Of Ants

Now that we have identified who the enemy is, it’s time to properly deal with them. We’re going to be looking at the various ways you can get rid of ants in the house, whether they’re house ants or carpenter ants. 

How To Get Rid Of House Ants

Kill The Trail

The first thing to do once you see an ant trail is to get rid of it. If you do not get rid of it soon enough, it would only allow those ants to release pheromones that would attract other ants. So, basically, the more time you spend leaving that ant trail, the bigger your ant problem becomes. 

To kill the trail, simply take a cloth or a sponge, dampen it with soapy water or bleach, and wipe off the ant trail. This will not only kill the ants but also kill their scent. By killing their scent you would ensure that no other ants would be able to come and join them. 

Even after killing off the ants, ensure to do another thorough wipe on the trail to properly cleanse the pheromones. This is very important. 

If the ants are too many to wipe off with a sponge, then we suggest that you sprinkle whatever cleansing liquid you have all over the ants first. After that, you can then vacuum the ant trail. 

If that doesn’t work for you either, then you can try a spray. However, we only suggest using a spray outside the house. If you’re inside, using a spray might be overkill. The spray might also be harmful to children and pets. So, if at all you end up deciding to use a spray, be careful to keep the spray out of the reach of children and pets.

Of course, after vacuuming, make sure you clean the trail again from beginning to end. This would ensure that the pheromones are completely cleansed and reduce the chances of a recurring ant problem. 

Use Ant Baits

Using a spray or any other means to kill the ant trails would only work for a few worker ants. If they are ants in the house that have their colony inside the house, then chances are that killing the ant trails would work. 

However, if the colony lives right inside your home, then killing the ant trails is only will only get rid of a few puns. And best believe, in a short while, you would definitely see some more of the same where the first ones came from. 

Killing the trail is only “first aid”. To completely eliminate the ant infestation, you need an ant bait. Ant baits are basically substances that kill ants but are unharmful to humans and animals. The most popular ones are made from boric acid. Boric acid is toxic to ants but completely harmless to humans. 

Mix these ant baits with sweets and other appetizing edibles and place it in a prime spot. Keep everywhere else around that area completely clean. By doing this, the ants would only be attracted to the bait. 

Keep this ant killer out of the reach of pets and children so they don’t tamper with it and ruin the plan. After a while, you would see the workers approach the bait again. 

This time don’t kill off the trail, allow them to carry all of the food into their nest. If they finish the bait, make more and put in the same position. After a few weeks, the ants would all begin to die right inside their colony and before long, you won’t see even a single work anymore. 

Be Patient

One thing you must note though is that you would have to be very patient. Using bait to kill a colony of ants might take a few weeks. You might also have to replace the bait a few times to get it to work. 

This is because a single colony of ants can have more than a million ants from a single queen. And sometimes, some ant colonies can have more than one queen. So you definitely have to be patient. 

However, if you need a quick fix, then try the option below:

Get Professional Help

If you have the money, calling pest control is the best way to go. Look in your local area for different pest control services. On average, pest control costs anywhere between $150 – $200 for a single visit. 

The pest control experts would be able to sniff out the ant colony and wipe them all out straight from the source. You wouldn’t need to wait a few weeks for them all to finally eat your bait. 

However, if this is something that you cannot afford, then using the ant bait is the best option for you. 

Photo by Gabriel Gabriel on Unsplash

How To Get Rid Of Carpenter Ants

Getting rid of carpenter ants is not as easy or straightforward as getting rid of house ants. It’s more difficult to find their nests. This is because they prefer to live inside moist wood. 

Unlike house ants, carpenter ants would not carry the ant bait back into their nests. What this means is that you would have to find their nests yourself and like we mentioned earlier, that’s not such an easy task. 

However, the fact that it’s not easy does not mean it is impossible. It is still very possible. And we will show you how. 

Finding The Nest Of Carpenter Ants

To find their nest, check around your house for sawdust. These are the remains of the wood they’ve chewed through and it would give you a clue as to where they reside. 

Once you’ve found these pieces of sawdust, check around that area for any moist wood. They usually have their nests in moist wood around the house. Things like trees, woodpiles, and decks, are prime spots. 

If you are able to find the nest, then spraying it properly with insecticide should do the trick. This would kill off the entire colony, ensuring that they don’t return into your room. 

However, if you do not see success in finding their nest, then forget about it. Because they usually don’t make their nests inside the house, the best thing would be to kill off the trail and wipe off the pheromones. 

After that, if you see them coming again, you would be able to trace their access points. Once you’ve found them, block all of them off. Patch any little holes and lace all entry points with insecticide to kill any ants on sight. 

How To Prevent Ants From Coming Into Your Home

Alright! Now that we’ve gotten all the ants out of your room, it’s time to learn how to keep them out. 

Block All Entry Points

Since you’ve already had an infestation, you should be aware of some of these places already. Try your best to seal up all these entry points as best as you can. 

Check through your home for small creaks in doors, in windows, and in walls. Fix each and every one of them. Remember that ants are very small and can get through even the tiniest of spaces. So, make sure your room is properly sealed. 

If you’re not already aware of the places that the ants might be getting in from, it is important to do a thorough search of your home. Places like windows, holes in walls, and door sweeps, are prime spots for ants to get in through. 

So, to prevent them from entering in through any of the aforementioned places, certain measures would have to be carried out. 

First, if they are coming in through the windows, it is advisable to block all the areas around the windows using a layer of caulk. Furthermore, if the window screens are torn, you would need to mend them properly. 

If you’ve noticed that the ants are getting in through holes in the walls, you would need to repair all of these holes with plaster. 

Finally, if you have a damaged door sweep or one that has been compromised, unfortunately, you would need to get another one. If you’re looking for a door sweep, here’s a great option you definitely should check out. It’s the:

The Fowong Under Door Sweep. Click to get yours now!

Seal Foodstuff Properly

The next step to keep ants away is to store all your food and water properly especially the sweet stuff, in airtight containers. If the ants can’t get any food in your room, they would properly not want to come in again. 

Clean Up

We know we mentioned at the beginning of this article that you can still have an ant infestation if your house is in pristine condition. However, the chances are reduced if you simply, clean up, especially after every meal. 

Just like it’s important to properly seal your foodstuff to prevent the ants from getting in, it’s important to clean up after every meal. This would ensure that there are no remnants on the floor that might attract the ants. 

If anything sweet spills on the floor, make sure to clean it with soapy water and a mop. This would not only ensure that the place is clean but that the scent of the food is gone. This way, the ants won’t be aware that anything sweet is or was in that place. 

Create Moats

If you must leave food out, maybe for a pet, then create something called a “moat”. A moat is basically putting the food into a tighter bowl, and then placing that bowl into a larger bowl filled with water, 

This creates a moat that would be difficult for the ants to cross, making it more difficult for them to get to the food. 

Use Ant Repellants

Use repellants to repel ants. Get it? Lol.

Stuff like baby powder, coffee, of cinnamon can be placed around entry points. These substances are known to repel ants. 

In fact, coffee grounds are acidic. They can burn the ants if they insist of passing through. 

Kill On Sight

Often times ants would first send scouts into a place to find out if there is food there. That ant on your cupboard is definitely not just a random ant. It’s a scout, a spy. 

So, to prevent word from getting out, it’s best to kill every spy ant you find on sight. 

Conclusion

Alright! We’ve gotten to the end of this article. Hope you’ve found it informative and educative? 

They say ants are smart but we know that we humans are definitelymulitple times smarter. Cheers to your now ant-free bedroom!