Ants in the bedroom are a fallout of a thriving ant infestation in your house.
These tiny ants come in from places like the kitchen and bathroom, where they have colonies. And now they’re targeting your bedroom.
In this guide, you’ll find out what attracts ants in the bedroom. And how to get rid of ants in bedroom quickly and safely.
You’ll also get a list of things you should use to eliminate ants in the house and bedroom.
Keep reading.
What Attract Ants To Your Bedroom Despite No Food?
Let’s face it. Your bedroom doesn’t have any food source for ants like your kitchen.
So, why do you see ants in the bedroom?
There are two reasons for it.
First, food crumbs and stains on your bedroom floor, bedsheet, and furniture attract ants.
A random ant must have spotted those food sources in your bedroom. And it has alerted the other ants to follow suit.
Second, which is true when there’s no food in your bedroom, is that ants have found nesting places inside the bedroom.
Those nesting places can be rotting baseboards, cracks on the walls, floor, and even in your bedroom furniture like dresser drawers and closets.
Add appealing room temperature, moisture, and clutter to the above two factors, and your bedroom becomes a magnet for ants.
Where Do Ants Come From In The Bedroom? – The Source
Ants in the bedroom spill over from your kitchen, bathroom, basement, laundry room, and yard.
Water usage and water leakages are highest in these places. So, these areas in your home are high in dampness and moisture.
Remember, ants are moisture bugs. They need to remain near damp places and food sources to survive.
Your kitchen has stored food and food waste in the trash bin, and there are food crumbs and stains on the kitchen counter, sink, and cabinets.
Your basement is dark and damp. The cracks on the basement walls and floors and the presence of dead bugs make it an ideal nesting and hiding place for ants.
But like most bug infestations, your yard is the source of ants in your house and bedroom.
Most ant species build nests and colonies outdoors before they invade homes.
Damp soil, yard debris, organic wastes, honeydew from plants, and other insects make your yard the source of ants in your home.
The ants in the yard will use entry points like cracks on the walls, windowsill, door frames, and window frames to invade your house.
Many ants, including flying ants, will crawl inside the house through open windows and doors.
Effective crawlers like the carpenter ants can climb on apartment buildings and sneak inside apartments on the third floor and higher.
Also, the vegetation around the windows, doorways and the tree branches touching the home helps the ants to get inside your house.
These entry points worsen the ant problem in the house. It causes the worker ants to get inside the house, survey your home for food sources and nesting places, and the other ants follow them.
The ants enter the home in the form of ant trails that you might notice. These ant trails are ants crawling in a straight line and entering your bedroom or kitchen.
Later in the post, you’ll find out how to use the ant trail to your advantage to get rid of ants in the bedroom.
But before that, let’s find out the most common types of ants in bedrooms – the sugar ants.
Sugar Ants In The Bedroom
Sugar ant is a generic term for all house ants. Residents of the US use the phrase to address most tiny ant species in homes because all house ants feed on sweet foods.
So, there are no separate ant species in the US which is known as sugar ants. But in Australia, there’s an ant species named banded sugar ants.
Therefore, ants like carpenter ants, odorous house ants, ghost ants, and even the infamous red fire ants in your bedroom are sugar ants.
All these ants are already in your home before they invade your bedroom.
The ant colony of these ants must be in your house. And as their numbers increased, they spilled over to your bedroom.
Carpenter Ants In The Bedroom
Carpenter ants are big black ants that bore into damp and rotting wood pieces to lay their eggs.
These ants can be in your bedroom too. And they’re in your bedroom because they’re either looking for a place to build an ant nest.
Carpenter ants make multiple nests in different areas of your house.
These are satellite nests that cater to the main nest where the queen ant resides.
So, carpenter ants in the bedroom indicate that there are ant nests in your home, and the infestation is growing.
Odorous House Ants In The Bedroom
Odorous house ants are tiny black or dark brown ants in bedrooms and homes. These ants grow only 1/8th of an inch in size.
These ants are fond of sugary and greasy foods. So, when they enter homes, their primary target is your kitchen.
They also feed on dead insects and pet food.
Over time, when their numbers increase, the odorous house ants will spill over into other areas of your home, including your bedroom.
The primary reason is that the ant colony houses more ants than it can handle. So, they start to look for new nesting sites.
The odorous house ants will use the cracks in the bedroom floor, wall, bed frame, and furniture to build their colony.
So, it’s vital to eliminate the entire colony in the bedroom and your house.
Are Ants In Your Bedroom Dangerous?
Yes, ants in your bedroom and home are dangerous. Most of these ants carry pathogens that they can transfer to your food.
Also, the ants in the bedroom can crawl onto your bed. And when they’re on your bed, they can bite.
Those bites can give you sleepless nights and trick you into thinking that you’ve got bed bugs.
Ant bites can be itchy and cause red welts and rashes on the skin. In sensitive people, ant bites can trigger allergic reactions.
So, you must eliminate ants in the bedroom and from your home to prevent infestation and bites.
Let’s find out how you can do it.
How To Get Rid Of Ants In Your Bedroom – Step By Step
To get rid of ants in your bedroom and to prevent ants, you’ll need the following things –
- Vacuum cleaner
- Diatomaceous earth
- Ant killer spray
- Ant baits
- Natural repellents like peppermint essential oil
- Sealant
- Dish soap
Let’s get into the steps where you’ll find out how to use the above things to eliminate ants in the bedroom.
Clean Your Bedroom And Entire Home To Remove Wastes And Food Droppings
Start with cleaning your bedroom.
Take a vacuum cleaner and thoroughly clean all the nooks and corners of your bedroom.
Clean things like your storage sections like dresser drawers, wardrobes, and even the storage area underneath the bed, if any.
Get rid of the clutter inside the bedroom. Ants tend to hide underneath clutter.
The clutter is also one of the favorite hiding places for bugs like spiders.
So, discard any unnecessary items in your bedroom.
Take off the bedsheets and pillow covers. Wash them in hot water to remove food stains and bugs like bed worms.
But it doesn’t end with just cleaning your bedroom. You’ll have to clean your entire house, including your kitchen, before you get into the elimination process.
Remove food stains and crumbs on the kitchen counter, storage, and sink. Ensure that there are no food droppings on the floor and in appliances like coffee makers and dishwashers.
A clean house always keeps ants away.
Sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth To Kill Ants In The Bedroom
Diatomaceous earth is a natural ant killer. It penetrates the ants’ bodies and kills ants by dehydrating them from the inside.
Before you use an ant spray to kill ants, use diatomaceous earth.
Scatter diatomaceous earth in the cracks on the bedroom floor, walls, baseboards, and furniture.
If ants were in your bed, it’d be best to use some in the cracks of the bed frame and the headboard.
Ants can hide in carpets too. They’ll build an entire colony on the gaps in the floor underneath the carpet.
So, flip over your bedroom carpet or rug, and check if there are any cracks on the floor. If there’s any, pour diatomaceous earth in the cracks.
But diatomaceous earth doesn’t kill ants instantly. Let it sit for half an hour.
Then take a vacuum cleaner and remove the diatomaceous and dead ants from your bedroom.
Seal The Gaps And Cracks
The gaps and cracks on the floors, walls, and furniture, are the nesting sites for most ants, especially carpenter ants and pavement ants.
Caulk those gaps using a quality sealant.
If the floors and walls are damaged, then repair them.
A damaged wall and floor are ideal for ants and many bugs to build their nests.
Use Ant Spray In Your Bedroom
Ant spray is the final nail in the coffin when getting rid of ants in bedrooms.
Once you’re through with all the above steps, use an ant-killing spray where you’ve noticed ants.
Do not forget to use the ant spray in the places where you’ve sealed the crevices.
Ant sprays have residual toxicity that continues to work even after spraying. That residual toxicity also keeps ants away.
How To Prevent Ants In Your Bedroom? – The Natural Remedies
Prevention is better than cure. All your efforts to remove ants in your bedroom will come to naught if you don’t take preventive steps.
Here’s what you must do to prevent ants in the bedroom.
Keep Ant Baits Where You Noticed Ant Trails
Like the odorous house ants, many house ant species move in trails. Ants move in trails when they’re going to the nesting place for a food source.
Keep ant baits where you’ve noticed ants or ant trails.
Using the bait station in your kitchen will be best, especially underneath sinks and the pantry.
The ant bait stations work by attracting the ants. And when the ants feed on the bait, the poison on the bait kills them.
The ant baits come in liquid form or the form of sticky traps. The sticky traps emit a smell that draws the ants.
And when the ants step on the sticky traps, they get stuck. Then you must dispose of the sticky ant traps with the ants on them.
Spray Peppermint Essential Oils
Ants, and many other insects and pests, hate the peppermint smell.
So, use peppermint oil spray in your bedroom, kitchen, basement, garage, windowsills, and home’s perimeter.
The peppermint smell is pleasant for us, but it’s too strong for the ants and bugs. And ants avoid the areas that reek of peppermint.
Spraying the peppermint oil in places like windows and the perimeter of your home will stop ants from using those places to crawl inside the house.
Seal The Entry Point
Sealing the cracks and gaps from where ants enter is vital to reducing your house’s ant population.
Creepy crawlies enter homes through the cracks in the walls, crawlspaces, doorways, windows, and doors.
Seal those cracks and the crevices from where you saw ants coming inside with a silicone-based sealant.
Those sealants are tough, durable, and waterproof; bugs can’t chew through them.
Maintain Cleanliness In Your Kitchen And Home
Cleanliness is vital to repelling ants. It’s because it denies them the food sources that they desperately need to survive in human homes.
A clean and dry kitchen goes a long way to make your home unappealing for ants.
Always dispose of the kitchen food waste daily. Don’t let the food wastes sit in your kitchen garbage bags or bins for days. They start to rot and produce an odor that attracts ants, flies, and roaches.
Don’t leave leftover food on the kitchen counter or sinks. And don’t leave dirty dishes overnight, either. Wash them before going to bed.
Dirty plates on the kitchen counter and sink are a reliable food source for ants. Ants and roaches in the kitchen will come out to feed on them. And they’ll attract more bugs.
Keep grains and dry foods, including pet food, in airtight containers. Keeping them unsecured attracts ants and pantry pests.
Clean the kitchen counter, sink, and storage places with dish soap or disinfectant to remove the food stains and crumbs that attract ants.
Use Natural Ant Repellants To Keep Away Ants In Bedroom And House
Natural ant-repellants include coffee grounds, ground cinnamon, boric acid, peppermint, and bay leaves.
Keep them in your bedroom where you’ve noticed ants. However, they’re most effective when you keep them in places where ants attack first.
So, use them in places like your kitchen.
The smells of these household items repel ants and bugs.
Eliminate Ants In Your Yard Or Garden
Ants always sneak inside the house from the outdoors. So, eliminating them from the outdoors is vital for keeping the ant problem away from your house.
Removing ants in the yard is a subject in itself.
However, you can remove organic wastes, control the moisture by not overwatering the yard, and ensure that you dispose of the yard debris.
Like foliage, rotting mulch beds, decaying wooden pieces, and tree stumps attract ants and termites.
So, eliminate them from your yard to ensure that ants don’t make your yard your home.
Chop off unwanted vegetation along your home’s exterior walls. Ants can use those shrubs and plants to get inside your house.
Destroy the ant hills by pouring hot water into them. Those ant hills are the entry points for the ants to their underground nests.
Use Insecticide Granules To Prevent Ants From Entering Your House
Insecticide granules that sink in the soil and prevent swell-dwelling pests like ants and termites from invading homes are highly effective in preventing ants in your bedroom and house.
Scatter them along the home’s perimeter. For some insecticide granules, you’ll need to dig a ditch and scatter them in the ditch before sprinkling water on the granule.
However, there are many liquid ant barriers that you can use to keep ants away.
Control The Moisture By Fixing Water Leakages
Moisture attracts ants. High moisture levels also damage floors, walls, and furniture, making it easy for ants like carpenter ants to establish an ant colony inside the house.
The leakages underneath sinks, faucets, and pipes increase the dampness in your home.
So, fix those leakages.
Also, don’t overwater your yard or garden soil. Overwatering causes the dampness to shoot up, which makes it more attractive for ants like the red fire ants to build their colonies on your property.
If you live in humid or tropical weather, a dehumidifier will help keep the humidity levels under control in the home.
Summary
Ants in bedrooms and living rooms are a sign of an infestation that already exists in your house.
The ants spilled over from places like your kitchen, and their sighting in the bedroom signifies that they have found a food source or nesting site.
Getting rid of ants in the bedroom is straightforward. This guide revealed how you could do it.
But preventing ants in the bedroom and removing the ant problem from your entire house is vital for keeping ants away from your bedroom.
This guide also revealed how you could do it by using certain things that are natural ant repellants.
However, it’ll be best to hire a professional pest control service if the infestation is severe.
We’re Mark and Jim, and we’re retired pest controllers who made homes pest-free for more than three decades. We, along with our team of experts, founded this site to give you the pest control hacks that work.