How to Get Rid of Ants: Why DIY Fails and What Actually Works
Sprays kill the ants you can see and leave the thousands you cannot. Here is what actually ends an ant problem, from cleaning trails to professional baiting.
When ants invade your home, they get everywhere, especially into food. They are relentless, they are unsightly, and because they have probably been through unsanitary areas on the way, protecting your family and your food matters. Ants can even damage stored food to the point where it is unfit to eat.
If you are searching for how to get rid of ants, the honest answer starts with understanding why the usual quick fixes fail, because the ants on your bench are only ever a tiny fraction of the colony.
Common DIY Methods and Why They Fail
Most advice on how to get rid of ants starts and ends with a spray can, and that is exactly why it fails. Here are the usual approaches and where each one falls short.
Surface Sprays
Just spraying ants is a waste of time. You are killing a few workers on the surface and doing nothing to the thousands back in the nest, so replacements arrive within days.
Vinegar and Wipe Downs
Wiping trails removes the scent line ants follow, so traffic slows for a while. But the nest and the queen are untouched, and the workers simply scout out a new route to the same food.
Squashing the Scouts
Foraging workers travel widely in search of water and food. Squashing the few you spot does not change what sent them, and the colony keeps sending more.
Supermarket Baits Used Alone
Baiting is the right idea, but off the shelf products are often the wrong bait for the species, or too little of it, so the colony is knocked around rather than removed.
Finding the Nest and Cleaning Up Trails
Black ants nest outdoors, in ceilings and under paving. From there, foraging workers follow well defined trails into your home and cluster around whatever food they find, from oils and butter to sweet foods, meats, breads and biscuits.
Spend a few minutes watching a busy trail and follow it in both directions. You will usually see where the ants are entering, through a gap in paving, a weep hole, a window frame or a crack in the wall, and which way the nest lies.
- Wash trail lines with warm soapy water to break the scent trail the workers follow.
- Keep benches and floors clean of spills and food remnants. Cleanliness is the key to not attracting ants indoors.
- Store food in clean, tightly closed containers so foragers come back empty handed.
- Fix dripping taps and wipe up standing water, since workers are hunting water as well as food.
Sealing Entry Points
Once you know where the trails come in, close those doors. Use gap filler or silicone on cracks in walls and paving joints, fit weather strips to draughty doors, and seal gaps around window frames, skirting boards and pipe penetrations.
Be realistic about what sealing achieves, though. It makes your home harder to raid and forces trails into the open, but with an established colony nearby, exclusion alone rarely ends the problem. The nest is still there, still sending workers.
Kill the nest and the trails end. Kill the trail and the nest sends more.
When to Call a Professional
If the trails keep returning no matter what you clean and seal, the colony is winning, and the real answer to how to get rid of ants for good is to destroy the nest, not the workers. That is exactly what professional baiting does.
Murray’s solution for black ant control is baiting, which destroys the source of the problem: the nest. Only small numbers of ants need to feed on the bait at the surface to eradicate tens of thousands hiding underground, in walls or in the roof, and there is no danger to pets or people.
A typical warrantied program includes interior gel or liquid baiting, external treatment where required, direct nest treatment when the nest can be located, a return visit 7 to 14 days later, a detailed report with findings and recommendations, and a free service period of three months on the treated area.
You can read more about Murray’s ant control service, or metro Adelaide residential customers can book the ant treatment deal online and save. Commercial and regional customers can email website@murraypestcontrol.com.au to arrange service through their nearest branch.
Ant Control FAQs
Why do ants keep coming back after I spray?
Surface sprays only kill the few worker ants you can see. The nest, with thousands of ants and the queen, is untouched, so new workers simply take their place and the trails return.
Should I spray ants before a professional baiting treatment?
No. If you are planning a professional ant baiting program, do not disturb the ants with domestic insect sprays or products first, as this can reduce the effectiveness of the treatment. The workers need to stay active so they carry the bait back to the nest.
Where do black ants usually nest?
Black ants nest outdoors, in ceilings and under paving. Foraging workers then travel widely in search of water and food, following well defined trails into the home and clustering around the food source.
Is professional ant baiting safe for pets and children?
Yes. Murray’s baiting approach feeds small numbers of ants on the surface to eradicate the colony at its source, with no danger to pets or people, and it is carried out by fully licensed technicians.
So that is how to get rid of ants properly: clean the trails, seal the gaps, skip the spray can, and when the colony keeps winning, bring in baiting that removes the nest itself. One treatment at the source beats a hundred squirts at the symptoms.