Ants can show up almost anywhere in your home, but one of the most frustrating places to find these little creatures is in your bathroom. Although you may not realize it, your bathroom provides the perfect breeding ground for several different types of ants, and once ants are in your bathroom, it can take a great deal of effort to get them out again.
If you’ve walked into your bathroom and noticed tiny ants scurrying around, it’s time to jump into action so that you can return your bathroom to its once pristine condition. Here’s how to get rid of tiny ants in your bathroom so that you won’t have to worry about these pests interfering with your routine.
Types of Ants In Your Bathroom
Like most pest problems, the most important thing you can do to get rid of ants in your bathroom is deciding exactly which species is currently in your home. Identifying the ants in your bathroom will help you choose the most effective treatment.
Although there are several types of ants that you can see in your bathroom, the most common are Pharaoh ants, Carpenter ants, and Argentine ants. Moisture is usually what attracts these ants into your bathroom, so if you’re not doing a good enough job of cleaning up standing water, you can easily have an ant infestation on your hand.
Find the Ants
Image via Flickr by bellemarematt
If you only see one or two ants on occasion in your bathroom, then you might not have reason to worry. On the other hand, if you’re noticing large groups of ants every time you go into your bathroom, then you have an infestation on your hands.
Once you’ve decided you’re dealing with an infestation, you need to find their nest or entry point. Look around your bathroom and see if you can find an ant colony. If you’re having trouble locating the colony, you can observe the movements of the ants in your bathroom. Usually, the ants will lead you back to their nest.
Prevent Further Ants
After you’ve identified the ants in your bathroom and found where they enter and exit the room, you should take a few basic steps. Although these steps won’t eliminate your current infestation, they can prevent more ants from making their way into your bathroom.
First, you need to get rid of any freestanding water in your bathroom. This will remove the moisture that attracted the ants to your room in the first place. Second, you should go around your bathroom and caulk any areas where ants can gain access. Look for cracks and other small openings along your floors and walls. Finally, go outside your home, find the ants’ point of entry, and then seal that as well.
Fully sealing your bathroom and eliminating excessive moisture will go a long way toward preventing future infestations.
Getting Rid of Ants
Now that you’ve made sure that no further ants can get into your bathroom, you can get rid of the ants that are still in your room. Luckily, several effective ways to get ants out of your home are available, many of which are safe and non-toxic.
For example, using essential oils can be a great way to kill ants in your bathroom without the need of potentially harmful pesticides. In particular, you can use tea tree and peppermint oil to both get rid of ants and add a very pleasant aroma to your bathroom.
To use peppermint and tea tree oil, you should add about twenty drops of each into a spray bottle. Then add water to the bottle. For particularly troublesome infestations, you can give this mixture an extra kick by adding cayenne pepper.
Once you’ve mixed your essential oils, you should spray the solution directly along the ants, as well as the trails they use to move around your bathroom. For even fuller protection, you can add a little bit of your solution to a cotton ball and then wipe down your baseboards. Spreading your essential oil mixture around your bathroom should help you keep ants out of your home long-term.
Baiting the Ants
If you don’t have children or pests that would be harmed by chemical pest control solutions, you can make your own ant bait with just a few basic ingredients. Three different baits can be used, all of which use borax to kill the ants.
The first type of any bait requires three quarters of a cup of maple syrup and a quarter cup of borax. Heat the syrup in your microwave for a few seconds and then stir in the borax. For the second bait, you will substitute the maple syrup for a powdered sugar and use the same amount of borax. No heating is required. Just mix the borax and the powdered sugar together. Finally, you can make a bait by mixing one part borax with three parts peanut butter.
The best way to get rid of ants is to make all three of these baits and then leave them out in your bathroom. Having all three baits means you’ll be able to target different ant species, as well as ants in different stages of growth.
Make Adjustments Out of Your Bathroom
After you’ve completely removed ants from your bathroom, a few adjustments can be made to guarantee that you won’t see tiny ants in your home anytime soon.
Regularly cleaning your toilet, for example, can go a long way toward preventing infestations, particularly if you’re making sure to spray a disinfectant. Because ants are attracted to moisture, you should also make sure that your sinks, bathtubs, and showers are draining properly. Lastly, you can replace broken tiles in your bathroom so that there will be nowhere for ants or other pests to gain access to your bathroom.
A little regular maintenance in your bathroom can be key for preventing infestations.
Get Rid of Tiny AntsWhile carefully following these steps should keep tiny ants out of your bathroom, some infestations are so serious that they’ll need professional attention. With an ant expert on your side, you should easily be able to keep the bathrooms in your home free from these common pests.
