Ants Guide

Follow These Steps to Learn How to Kill Ants Effectively

Ants are among the most common household pests, leaving many wondering how to eliminate them. These tiny invaders thrive indoors and outdoors, drawn to food and water sources. Successful ant control combines proper sanitation with the use of professional-grade ant sprays and baits for both indoor and outdoor applications.

With a wide range of ant species—like fire ants, sugar ants, and little black ants—it’s important to identify the specific type of ant before choosing a treatment product. Not all products work on all ant species.

Follow these steps to tackle your ant problem:

Indoor Ant Treatment

• Preparing Your Home for Ant Treatment
• Using Indoor Ant Baits and Sprays

Outdoor Ant Treatment

• Preparing Your Property for Outdoor Ant Treatment
• Using Outdoor Ant Sprays and Baits

Remove What Attracts Ants

Sanitation is crucial for effective ant control. Skipping this step or doing it half-heartedly can lead to treatment failure. To deter ants, eliminate food and water sources that attract them and seal entry points to your home.

Clean Kitchen Appliances
Ants can thrive on grease and crumbs behind and beneath appliances. Clean thoroughly around:

• Stoves, refrigerators, and microwaves
• Toasters and dishwashers
• Sinks and the surrounding areas

Empty and Clean Cabinets
Crumbs and spills from stored food can attract ants. Regularly clean your cabinets to remove these hidden food sources.

Store Food in Sealed Containers
Use airtight containers made of metal, glass, or hard plastic. Ants can easily penetrate cardboard and loosely sealed packaging.

Limit Food Consumption to One Room
Restrict eating to a single room to reduce crumbs and spills. This helps contain infestations to one area.

Clean Thoroughly Each Night
Since ants are most active at night, ensure your kitchen is spotless before bedtime:

• Wipe countertops
• Wash dishes
• Sweep or mop floors
• Store food securely

Vacuum or Sweep Non-Food Areas
Clean all areas of the home every few days to remove crumbs, ant body parts, egg sacs, and pheromones that attract other ants.

Manage Pet Food
Empty pet food containers overnight or cover them tightly.

Keep Garbage Cans Clean and Sealed
Regularly clean trash bins and always keep lids tightly closed to avoid attracting ants.

By following these steps, you’ll eliminate the key attractants that allow ants to thrive indoors.

Ants require water to survive, so reducing accessible water sources is key. While you can’t remove all water, eliminating as many as possible will help deter them.

• Fix Leaks: Repair any leaky plumbing or sweating pipes.
• Dry Sinks, Tubs, and Showers: Completely dry these areas before bedtime and plug the drains.
• Manage Wet Items: Store dish rags and sponges in airtight plastic bags, place them in the washing machine, or hang them outside to dry overnight.
• Pet Water Dishes: Empty and dry pet bowls overnight, refilling them in the morning.
• Empty Refrigerator Drip Trays: Regularly check and empty drip trays to remove excess moisture.

Making your home less appealing to ants involves removing their potential hiding spots and blocking their access points. Ant colonies can range from hundreds to thousands of ants, so sealing entry points is crucial to prevent re-infestations.

• Seal Cracks and Crevices: Use caulk or a suitable material to close gaps around window frames, door frames, baseboards, and any other areas where ants enter.
• Block Larger Openings: Seal holes around cables, pipes, and wires with copper mesh or another durable material.

By addressing water sources and entry points, you’ll create an environment that is far less attractive to ants, helping to keep your home ant-free.

With sanitation and preparation complete, it’s time to apply products to tackle your ant infestation. For effective results, we recommend using three essential products:

1. Non-Repellent Aerosol Spray
2. Two Types of Ant Baits

Using this combination of products ensures a faster and more thorough elimination of your ant infestation than relying on a single solution.

To simplify your selection process, our Indoor Ant Control Kit includes all the essential products you need to get started.

How to Effectively Use Ant Bait Indoors

Place bait in areas where you’ve observed ant activity. Avoid placing bait directly in the middle of ant trails or on ants, as this can cause them to avoid it, rendering the bait ineffective. Instead, position the bait near ant trails or areas of activity. To keep bait fresh and off surfaces, use bait plate stations included in the kit.

Recommended Bait Placement Areas:

• Inside kitchen cabinets and on countertops
• Behind, next to, or under the stove
• Near sinks or drains
• Around pipes, cords, and cables emerging from walls
• Behind or beneath bathroom fixtures
• Around the medicine cabinet or vanity

Check bait placements weekly and replenish as needed until the ants are completely gone.

How to Effectively Spray for Ants Indoors

To complement ant baiting, we recommend using a non-repellent ant spray. This approach is effective for situations where ants are in a nesting cycle or already have access to a safe, steady food source, causing them to ignore baits.

Non-repellent sprays are included in our ant kits because ants cannot detect the product. They unknowingly pick it up on their bodies and carry it back to the nest, spreading it throughout the colony. These sprays take a few days to begin killing ants, allowing time for the product to infect a larger portion of the colony.

How to Apply Non-Repellent Ant Spray:

• Use the included straw applicator for precision.
• Apply directly into cracks and crevices along:

This method helps target hidden nesting areas and disrupts the colony’s activity for long-term control.

How to Eliminate and Prevent Ants Outdoors

Ants on the exterior of your home can easily lead to indoor infestations. To stop this, it’s essential to address the outdoor environment that initially attracted them. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) combines sanitation and habitat modification to reduce pest populations by removing the elements ants need to survive: food, water, and shelter.

Key Steps for Outdoor Sanitation:

1. Trim Trees and Shrubs
2. Eliminate Shady, Moist Areas
3. Create a Dry Zone
4. Turn Over Mulch Regularly
5. Clean Gutters and Downspouts
6. Maintain a Short Lawn
7. Clear Lawn Debris
8. Manage Fruit Trees
9. Properly Store Trash

By implementing these measures, you’ll make your property less attractive to ants and other pests, significantly reducing the likelihood of infestations indoors and outdoors.

It’s normal to have some ants in your yard, as they help control other pest populations. However, when their numbers grow too large and they start invading your home, outdoor treatment becomes necessary.

To eliminate ant colonies near your home, use a combination of ant baits and non-repellent ant sprays. This dual approach targets ants effectively, both at their nests and along their trails. For convenience, our Outdoor Ant Kit includes everything you need to address outdoor infestations with ease.

How to Effectively Spray for Ants Outside

When dealing with ants outdoors, it’s crucial to use the right products. Non-repellent sprays, like Advion WDG, are highly recommended because they’re undetectable by ants, ensuring maximum effectiveness. While other sprays may kill ants on contact, they only affect the small percentage (around 20%) of the colony that ventures out to forage, leaving the rest of the colony intact. Additionally, ants can sense most traditional insecticides and avoid treated areas, reducing their impact.

Non-repellent sprays work differently. Ants unknowingly cross treated surfaces, carrying the product back to the colony. Through grooming and social interactions, the insecticide spreads throughout the colony, eventually eliminating it.

What You’ll Need:

• A hand pump or backpack sprayer
• Non-repellent product (e.g., Advion WDG or Termidor SC)

How to Spray for Ants Outdoors:

1. Prepare the Spray Solution:
2. Apply Around the Perimeter:
3. Follow Label Instructions:

Key Notes on Non-Repellent Insecticides:

• Products like Advion WDG are designed for a slow kill, allowing the active ingredient to spread through the colony.
• It may take several weeks to see full results, but this ensures more thorough colony elimination.

Using non-repellent sprays properly can provide long-lasting outdoor ant control and prevent future infestations.

How to Effectively Use Ant Bait Outdoors

Outdoor ant baiting targets ants that are farther from your home, reducing the likelihood of them migrating indoors. For best results, use both liquid ant bait and granular ant bait, as ants may prefer one over the other depending on their current nutritional needs. Both bait types can be placed in the same station simultaneously.

Steps for Outdoor Ant Baiting:

1. Identify Active Areas: Place bait stations in locations with high ant activity.
2. Use Both Bait Types: Add liquid and granular bait to each station for maximum effectiveness.
3. Monitor and Replenish: Check stations weekly and refill as needed until the ant population is completely eliminated.

This dual-bait strategy ensures better coverage and a quicker reduction in outdoor ant colonies.