How to Stop Ants from Coming Into Your Home

Co-authored by Kevin Carrillo

On Earth, ants outnumber humans 140,000:1. However, that doesn't mean they need to become guests at your house. You can keep them out by destroying their nest, removing their food sources, building barriers, and baiting their scouts. Read on to learn how to stop ants from coming into your home uninvited.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Keeping Ants Out

1
Seal off all entrance areas. Since ants are tiny, they can find thousands of tiny doorways into your residence. Some of them are easy to identify; others will only be discovered when there's a parade of ants marching through them. First, figure out where the ants are entering the house: follow the trail of ants to see where they're entering and leaving your home. Seal all the entrance holes that you can find using silicone caulk, putty, glue or plaster. Temporary methods might include petroleum jelly or poster tack.
- If you use a temporary sealant, like poster tack, only do so until you can fill the space with a more permanent solution. A weaker material will deteriorate over time, and the gap will open up again.
2
Seal cracks with caulk. Close the gaps around windows, doors, and walls. Block off any space that might permit passage to an ant army. Your sealing efforts will be most effective if you're thorough.
- An additional benefit of sealing off your home: more effective temperature control, and thus lower energy bills. Plus, this is one of the least risky methods where kids or pets are concerned.
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3
Line suspected entryways with anti-ant substances. This is a somewhat more aggressive tactic than simply caulking up the cracks. You can create barriers of chemicals and powders that repel— even kill— unwitting ants. Consider diatomaceous earth, salt, and even commercial ant poisons. This might function as a form of baiting.
- Diatomaceous earth is a fine powder that kills ants by pulling all the moisture from their bodies. It works by absorbing moisture from the ant itself, but it's best used in dry environments. You also don't want anyone in the house (especially pets and children) sniffing it up.
- Try using salt. It has a similar drying-out effect on ants, especially if they carry it back to their nests. You can spread it under doors, near windows, and along the edges of your walls.^{[1]
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EXPERT TIP

Kevin Carrillo
MMPC, Pest Control Specialist
Kevin Carrillo is a Pest Control Specialist and the Senior Project Manager for MMPC, a pest control service and certified Minority-owned Business Enterprise (MBE) based in the New York City area. MMPC is certified by the industry’s leading codes and practices, including the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), QualityPro, GreenPro, and The New York Pest Management Association (NYPMA). MMPC's work has been featured in CNN, NPR, and ABC News.

Kevin Carrillo
MMPC, Pest Control Specialist

Our Expert Agrees: To keep ants out, use a repelling insecticide instead of ant bait. You can find repellants at a home goods store, or make your own out of peppermint oil, white vinegar, or oil of lemon eucalyptus.
4
Make a tape barrier. Line your kitchen with adhesive tape, sticky-side up. No poison or messy powders necessary. When ants try to climb over the tape, they may stick to the adhesive – effectively stopping them in their tracks. Make sure that the ants can't crawl under the tape; try using double-sided tape, or taping the back of the tape to your floors, walls, and counters so that there is no room for ants underneath.^{[2]
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5
Try making a barrier from talcum powder. Talc in various forms is thought to deter ants, although the mechanism is poorly understood. Tailor's chalk and baby powder usually contain talc, so you can use them to create a barrier for ants. Regardless of which form of talc you use: keep in mind that talc has been called out as a potential carcinogen.
- Many sources recommend using normal chalk; however, this is made of gypsum, not talc. This misconception could be the result of confusion with "ant chalk", which is an insecticide that looks just like normal chalk. It was outlawed in the US in the 1990s, but you may still be able to find it in certain underground markets.
- Some baby powder brands are made of corn starch, so they will not work effectively against ants. Check the ingredients before you build your barrier.
6
Try using nontoxic ant deterrents. You can also defend your home with scents and substances that ants don't like. Consider some combination of vinegar, peppermint oil, cinnamon, black pepper, cayenne pepper, whole cloves, and bay leaves.^{[3]
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- Be careful where you place your deterrents: keep peppers and spicy things away from curious pets and children.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Killing Ants By Hand

1
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 makes it back to the nest and brings back some friends, they'll be following a scent trail, single file. Unless you're ready to bait them and wait them out – squish them all, and do it quickly.
- Spray the trail with an all-purpose cleaner or a bleach solution, then wipe it up with a wet paper towel. Spraying the nest can be effective, but you want to make sure that you get them all. If you only kill part of the colony, you may simply encourage some species of ant to establish new colonies – which ultimately won't stop ants from coming into your home.
- For a less hands-on solution, vacuum them all up. Then, vacuum some talcum powder or diatomaceous earth to finish off the ants inside the vacuum cleaner. This second step is important: make sure that the ants don't survive their trip into the vacuum!
- In a pinch, just use your hands or a damp towel. Squish the ants or wipe them into oblivion. You don't need any fancy methods to eliminate the scouts.
2
Use water. If the ants are all over the floor, throw some water over them and wipe them up with a paper towel. If ants are on your bed, get a good handful of paper towels and a cup of water. Dip the towels into the water. Squeeze to let out all the extra water— you don't want to be sleeping on a soppy bed&mdash, and then wipe them all up.
- Repeat this process as needed. You might need to do it many times to rid your home of all the ants.
3
Bring down the nest. If ants continue to raid your home, you're going to have to raid theirs. If you're able to locate the nest, you can pour several gallons of boiling water into it to instantly kill most of the insects within. If you don't know where they're coming from, your best alternative is to bait them.
4
Kill the queen. The most permanent way to get rid of ants is to destroy their source: the ant queen. The queen produces a large number of ants, and she gives direction to the nest. Destroy the queen, and you'll scatter the ants. You can find the queen at the center of the ant nest. Follow the trail of ants back to the nest, if possible.
- Consider hiring an exterminator. If the trail of ant-workers disappears into the wall of your kitchen, you'll find it much more difficult to trace. An exterminator can do this for you.^{[4]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Removing Food Sources

1
Don't leave food out. These ants are coming into your home because there is something there for them: a food source or a warm environment. If you have a very dirty house, ants will multiply – so make sure that you clean daily. The cleaner you keep the house, the less they'll have to eat, and the more they'll look elsewhere for sustenance.^{[5]
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- Wipe down all surfaces. Spray tables and countertops with a mild bleach or vinegar solution. Make sure you keep up with a regular cleaning regimen: sweep, mop, and vacuum for at least a few days each week.
- If you do accidentally leave something out, take the opportunity to trace the trail of ants back to their source. It can be tempting to wipe out a swarm immediately – but try to think long-term about the problem.
2
Remember that all it takes is one ant. If you see a lone ant roaming your counters, it is acting as a scout. It is scoping out your kitchen for scents and food sources. If this ant discovers a perceived food source—even just a sticky sweet spot on the counter-top—it will carry the information back to its nest, and you'll have an infestation on your hands.
3
Store food in airtight containers. Even if you've stashed your food in a cupboard, ants can still find their way in through the smallest of holes. If they can smell it and reach it, then they will swarm it. Putting food in airtight containers has the added bonus of keeping the food fresher.
- Consider buying Tupperware or another brand of standardized, sealed containers. It may be easier to keep track of your containers (lids and bottoms) if you're using a uniform set.
- Consider washing out resealable containers, then reusing them to store food. This might be a resealable yogurt tub, or a plastic takeout box, or even a lightly-used Ziploc bag.
4
Keep the sink clean. This means no dirty dishes, no standing water for ants to drink, and no food in the drain. If you clean your hands, food, and dishes in this sink, you want to make sure that it's a safe and sanitary environment.
- Place pet-food bowls in a slightly larger bowl, then add some water to the larger bowl. This creates a moat around the pet food that the ants can't easily cross.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Baiting Ants

1
Pick your poison. Mixing boric acid powder or borax with maple syrup is the most common bait; some popular commercial ant poisons essential monetize this mix. Boric acid affects ants both externally (when in powder form; similar to diatomaceous earth) and internally (when ingested). The ants bring the poison (borax or boric acid) with them to the colony and spread it around. If you get the quantity and timing just right, you can wipe out a large colony, but it might take anywhere from several weeks to a few months.
2
Mix the bait carefully. A bait that's too strong will kill the ants before they make it home, and a bait that's too weak will only weaken the colony temporarily. Be intentional about your increments. The idea is for the poison to spread all throughout the colony before it begins to kill the unwitting ants. The boric acid kills the ants; the water dilutes the boric acid; and the sugar attracts the ants. Try the following recipes:
- Mix 1 cup water, 2 cups sugar, and 2 tablespoons boric acid.
- Mix 3 cups of water, 1 cup of sugar, and 4 teaspoons of boric acid.
3
Administer the bait. Try letting the mixture sit in an upturned lid or a low dish for easy access. If you have pets or small children, leave the bait in a container that will allow ants to enter, but isn't wide enough for larger creatures to get at the poison. Carefully shake the poison into the bottom of a metal can. Crush one side of the can, but leave a gap that is just thin enough for ants to get inside. ^{[6]
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4
Wait for the ants to show up. Remove any deterrents, if you used them; the idea of baiting is to attract the ants so that they'll defeat themselves. Don't lure new ants with the bait, or else you might attract new colonies.
5
Move the bait closer and closer to the nest. Once there's a line of busy ant scavengers, place the bait next to the trail. The mass of ants will shift to swirl around the bait. Keep moving it further from your kitchen and closer to where the ants are entering your home.
- Be careful not to place the bait directly on top of the ant trail. You'll confuse them and interrupt their march home, making your baiting strategy less effective.

Warnings

Be careful around a large wave of red ants.

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If you have small children in your home, you may want to avoid placing ant traps. Most of these traps contain poisons and other harmful chemicals.

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Glue traps are non-toxic.

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Diatomaceous earth may cause allergies or breathing problems. Do thorough research before using it.

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