How to Get Rid of Ants Indoors and Outdoors

Ants are one houseguest you can live without. Indoors, ants are invaders, getting into your stuff and causing chaos. Outdoors, they can turn family lawn games or gardening into painful experiences when you accidentally disturb their nest. The part of the anthill you see is just the tip of the ant colony iceberg. Colonies often extend 2′ to 3′ beneath the surface mound and another 2′ to 4′ around it.

In This Article:
Why Do Ants Come Inside the House?
Understand How Ants Live
How to Get Rid of Ants in Your House
Easy Ways to Repel Ants
How to Get Rid of Outdoor Ants

Just because ants are little doesn’t mean they’re a pushover when it comes to removal. Ants roamed the earth with dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex — and survived a mass extinction event. That means ants have some serious staying power. But it is possible to get rid of ants as long as you don’t underestimate them.

There are many reasons ants will invade your home. They could be looking for food or water, or if there is rotting wood in your home, the ants may use it for habitat. Late spring and early summer are the most common times ants enter a home because that’s when they’re most active.

Whether you’re dealing with ants indoors or out, it’s best to eliminate the ant nest versus simply repelling ants. Each ant colony can contain hundreds or thousands of members. Left alone, ant colonies multiply, and a small problem can become a nightmare pretty quickly.

Outdoors, it’s easy to spot an anthill in the lawn or on the pavement. The part of the anthill you see is just the tip of the ant colony iceberg. Colonies often extend 2 to 3 feet beneath the surface mound and another 2 to 4 feet around it. Indoors, it’s not easy to spot the nest, because ants tend to hide — beneath floors, in walls or between cabinets.

Each ant colony includes at least one queen and worker ants. The colony survives as long as the queen lives. Whatever tactic you embrace to get rid of ants, aim to kill the queen. If your treatment fails and the queen lives, the colony can splinter and migrate, forming new colonies. If you only repel ants, they may exit one area, but will likely turn up somewhere else.

Indoors or out, ant baits provide the most effective control. A bait is a blend of a slow-acting pesticide (natural or chemical) and sweet or salty ant food. The food disguises the pesticide, so ants eat it and carry it back to their nest, feeding it to baby ants and the queen. When using ant baits, you typically see more ants at first, as they discover and visit the bait. During this time, resist the urge to use ant killing-sprays or repellents. You want the ants to carry the bait back to the nest so the colony is eliminated.

If you see a few ants in your home, it’s a safe bet that there are actually many more present. Of the 25 ant types that typically invade homes, house ants are the most common. They’re usually less than 1/8 of an inch long and are really just a nuisance pest, not causing damage or carrying diseases.

Techniques for Getting Rid of Ants in Your House

• Seal all doors and windows, and cracks in your home’s foundation. Ants and other insects can crawl through the tiniest crevices.
• Keep your kitchen spotless. Wipe countertops and other surfaces with a citrus-scented spray – citrus repels ants.
• Vacuum the kitchen floor frequently and be sure to properly seal and store all food in airtight containers.
• Don’t leave pet food sitting out longer than necessary.
• Mix equal parts baking soda and powdered sugar and place in a small lid or shallow container in the area where you’re seeing ants. When ants nibble baking soda, it reacts with an acidic material in their stomachs and kills them. This bait can help kill ants in the nest.
• Make a colony-killing bait by blending equal parts Borax and corn syrup. Smear on a small piece of cardboard or index card. Ants love corn syrup, and when they eat it, the Borax kills them.
• Sprinkle food-grade Diatomaceous earth (DE) along ant trails. DE kills ants through dehydration. It affects only those ants that come into contact with it and has no effect on ants in the nest.
• Place commercial bait gels in areas where ants are crawling. Most indoor ants like sweet food, which is commonly found in gel ant baits. Squeeze gel into cracks or place a pea-size amount onto a piece of masking tape (sticky side down) to keep gel off surfaces. If you have children or pets, use gel only in areas they can’t reach. Fully enclosed plastic bait stations are a good choice for use around pets and kids, although some pups may try to chew them.
• Make a spray of 1/4-cup Castile liquid soap and 1 quart of water. This spray kills ants on contact. It’s effective against scout ants but won’t kill ants back in the nest.

To lower the chances of ants wandering indoors, follow these easy tips.

• Make a barrier. Place a substance that ants dislike along door thresholds, window ledges, baseboards — anywhere ants might enter your home. Ants dislike cinnamon, cayenne pepper, ground chalk and cornmeal.
• Spritz vinegar. Fill a spray bottle with equal amounts common white vinegar and water. Spray where ants enter your home.
• Peel citrus. Save and dry citrus peels (lemon, lime, grapefruit, oranges, etc.). Place dried peels in a food processor or grinder and pulse them into powder. Sprinkle powdered peels in areas where ants enter the home.
• Use oils. Essential oils including peppermint, tea tree and citrus types repel ants. Blend 1/4 cup of water with 7 drops of citrus oil or 15 drops of tea tree or peppermint oils. Shake well and spray along baseboards, windowsills or other places ants enter your home. Or place a few drops of orange, lemon or peppermint oil on cotton balls and tuck into cabinets or pantry areas to keep ants out.