HOW TO GET RID OF ANTS IN THE KITCHEN – OUR 5 BEST ANT REMOVAL TIPS
If you’ve frantically been Googling “how to get rid of ants in the kitchen” and wound up here, we’re glad. This Terminix Canada blog is dedicated to liberating you from the hair-raising thought of ants invading your kitchen and contaminating the food you eat.
When you wake up, the only thing you want to see is your morning cup of coffee, not a trail of ants trespassing across your kitchen countertops. Read on to learn about how ants get into kitchens and what to do to get rid of ants.
Why are there ants in my kitchen?
In short, ants favour your kitchen more than any other room in your home. Ultimately, ants are equipped with odour detectors. This allows them to quickly and efficiently sniff out potential sources of food. Ants are highly skilled in detecting the traces of foods that can accumulate on your kitchen countertops and flooring. It only takes a spot of spilled apple juice, a few cake crumbs or an orange peel in your garbage can for ants to appear on site. Any food residue is an open invitation for ants to raid your kitchen.
Secondly, ants need water too. Water regularly enters and leaves your kitchen. Therefore, it’s prime real estate for ants to hang out. Even just a minor leak around a faucet or a poorly draining dishwasher may leave your kitchen vulnerable to tiny invading ants. In short, damp wood or condensation provides enough moisture for ants to quench their thirst.
When questioning “how to get rid of ants in the kitchen”, the first step in removing them is identifying the ant species you’re dealing with. This helps you determine what is attracting ants into your food preparation space.
Elsewhere, you should make sure to remove any garbage food daily, and clean your sink and refuse bins regularly. For those with garbage disposal systems, run them long enough to ensure all food waste has been ground up and flushed away.
Are ants in my kitchen dangerous?
While ants in the kitchen aren’t usually dangerous, they can be unpleasant. Most often, ants are seeking food. These tiny creatures won’t need a second invitation to find their way into unsealed packages while infesting the food you plan to eat. This is a big health hazard since ants leave behind bacteria.
Beyond this, some ants can be dangerous in different ways. For instance, carpenter ants hollow out wood for nesting, which can damage the structure of your home over time.
Tiny Ants In The Kitchen? Here’s The Most Common Kitchen Ants
Got small ants in the kitchen? The common household ants infesting your kitchen likely belong to one of four species of tiny ant. These are the little black ant, the pharaoh ant, the odorous house ant, or the pavement ant. All four ants are truly tiny, with workers averaging around one-eighth of an inch in length. Each of these ant species are also extremely opportunistic and may establish true colonies indoors. – Learn more
How to Get Rid of Ants in the Kitchen
For starters, preventing an ant infestation is much easier than stressing over how to get rid of ants in the kitchen. Canadian homeowners can use any of these tips to help prevent ants from making your kitchen theirs.
1. Seal All Points Of Entry
Ants breach homes by entering through gaps around windows, doors, or your home’s foundation. By sealing cracks or gaps before ants get in, this can help to keep your kitchen free of ants.
2. Practice Prompt Clean-ups
You should immediately clear plates from your dining table after eating. Then sweep away dropped crumbs and thoroughly clean away spills. Remember, dirty dishes in the sink will attract hungry ants.
3. Store Food In Airtight Containers
Ants go crazy for ripe fruits and vegetables. If you leave food like this exposed, you’ll attract ants into your kitchen. Store your fruits and veggies in airtight containers or in your refrigerator.
4. Clean pet food bowls
Ants aren’t the picky kind. They’ll be just as easily attracted to your furry companion’s food as your own. Make sure that pet bowls are empty between meal times. Then clean the space around the bowls to avoid crumbs and standing water that provide an oasis for ants.
5. Check for Water
Ants are not only attracted to food but also to water as it is also essential to their survival. Fixing leaky faucets, ensuring windows and doors have tight seals and dealing with high humidity in the home can help make your home less hospitable to ants.
6. Maintain outdoor areas
To further reduce the chance of ants breaching your home, ensure trees and bushes don’t touch your house. Seal gaps and openings around windows and doors, and have any foundational cracks fixed.
Removing Ants Is What We Do Best. Leave Ant Control To Terminix Canada
Given their tiny size and resilience, tiny ants in the kitchen can still reappear even after diligent sanitation. Your best bet for proper ant removal is hiring a Terminix Canada ant exterminator. Leave it to our ant control and ant removal specialists who are backed by over 90 years of experience. We offer expert pest & wildlife control services for both residential and commercial properties with locations across Canada including BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.