It started with only one ant, but now there appears to be an unending number invading your kitchen!
There are several types of ants in the U.S., but you shouldn’t welcome any of them into your home. If you ignore the problem, then the ant colony may build a temporary shelter inside of your abode.
Are you willing to share your house with hundreds of ants? If not, then it’s time to tackle the problem head-on.
Read on to learn how to get rid of ants in four easy steps.
1. Identify What’s Enticing the Ants Inside
Your first step in removing ants is to identify what’s drawing them inside. Ants who invade your home are often after one thing — food.
If one ant finds a good food source, then expect him to run along and tell ALL his friends. Within no time, dozens of ants will be over that fallen food scrap.
Before you take action, watch the ants. Look at where they are going, and identify what’s bringing them in. Are they swarming a leftover food scrap behind the fridge? Are they headed for your trash can?
Make a mental note of the source, and then move on to step two.
2. Follow the Trail
If you spot one ant chowing down in your home, then it’s likely there are others already exploring inside, too.
Follow the ant trail to see where they’re coming from. Often, you’ll find them creeping in through cracks in your home or an open window. At other times, the ants may appear to be coming from somewhere INSIDE the house already.
If that’s the case, then they may already have a temporary shelter indoors. Ants have been around since prehistoric times. So, they know how important survival is.
Look for damp areas and spaces in rotted wood. They could even be hiding out in one of your houseplants.
3. Plan Your Attack
Now, you’ve identified where the ants are coming from and what they’re after. Remove those, and you’ll be able to stop the ant invasion.
Start by sealing up the area where the ants are getting into your house. If they’ve built a temporary shelter, remove that item, too. Put it outside for now.
Next, get rid of the food source. Clean up any food scraps and trash. Use dish soap as a cleaner. If ants come into contact with soap, they absorb it and perish right away.
4. Fortify Your Home From Future Invasions
Once you’ve done the above, you should stop seeing ants for a while. It’s important, though, to fortify your home from future ant invasions.
You’ll want to schedule recurring cleaning on a weekly basis. On top of that, you’ll want to inspect your home for cracks every month.
How to Get Rid of Ants For Good
Learning how to get rid of ants is the easy part. Executing your plans and keeping your house fortified is the hard part.
If you’re a working parent, then it’s a challenge to find the time to clean your home every day. It’s almost impossible to squeeze in time for deep cleaning. We know how you feel.
