Many people get annoyed to see crawling ants coming up through the bathroom sink while brushing their teeth. Toothpaste’s aroma and sweet taste can bring them out if they are living inside drains.
Do Ants Come Up Through Drains? Ants come up through the drain when food leftovers, stagnant water, and fermented hair are present and get attracted to chemical odors or the scent of hygiene products. In addition, dead skin cells and dandruff can entice them to bathroom sinks, while food crumbs in the kitchen sink can also grab their attention.
Plumbing areas and pipes are the common spots where ants live, and leaky faucets can support the entry of insects above drains, mainly if there are cracks and holes in the pipes.
Many natural and chemical methods can be adopted to get rid of these insects when they come up through shower or sink holes.
Why do ants come up through drains?
Ants can come up through shower, or bathtub drains when they find a source of moisture. The presence of water drops in the bathtubs and sinks can bring them out from the holes.
They are efficient insects with a strong sense of smell that can detect moisture and begin to move toward it. These insects send cues to fellows or follow each other to store more water.
Moreover, do not be astonished to see a long trail of these tiny creatures in your bathroom, as they are probably attracted to water.
Some people do not take care of hygiene and leave stagnant water or hair in the drains that can fulfill the water and nutrition requirements of these annoying pests.
A typical odor is produced by fermenting hair that gets detected by their receptors and draws them out of the pipes when they have living colonies inside pipes.
They find holes or cracks in the pipes eagerly to reach the water or food source in the kitchen or bathroom when water ducts are filled with hair or food leftovers.
In addition, these insects perceive the chemical odors of hygiene products, shampoos, lotions, fragrances, or body perfumes to be soothing and pleasant.
Sometimes, the chemical odors of cleaning products used for cleaning the bathroom and room fragrances are also attractive for them as they find an environment cozy and comfortable.
Similarly, irregular cleaning practices can accumulate dead cells and dandruff inside bathtubs or even sinks.
These accumulated particles can become food for these tiny insects as they can easily carry dandruff flakes.
How to stop ants from coming up through drains?
You can stop insects from coming up through drains by keeping the surfaces clean and spraying solutions with a repelling odor that is considered unpleasant for the ants.
Wipe sinks with lemon juice
Lemons are used as potential deterrents against ants as they have a citrus odor or acidic nature and produce d-limonene. In addition, lemon juice and peels are effective in removing these insects.
The acidic juice can mask their chemical trails and discourage these insects from moving forward. You can use cleaning detergents with a lemon odor to spread the citrus odor molecules in the air.
Moreover, wipe out the bathtubs or sinks and other prone surfaces with lemon juice to restrict their entries; otherwise, put lemon peels in the room to repel them.
You can prepare a spraying solution by adding a small amount of water in juice or peels to maintain concentration, as highly acidic solutions are more effective than diluted ones.
Reduce atmospheric moisture
A moist environment is more prone to attack by ants and other insects, as they love to live in humid places and construct nests.
They begin to reproduce and multiply in number in moist conditions. High humidity can make wooden cabinets prone to damage, as excessive moisture can cause shrinkage after dampening.
It becomes easy for these insects with sharp mandibles to build tunnels within the wood and live inside compartments. Accordingly, they will come up through drains when they find moisture.
Therefore, you have to reduce humidity levels using dehumidifiers to help get rid of moisture after steam baths. Also, use dehumidifiers to keep surfaces dry and fix leakages and broken seals.
Remove food sources
It is better to follow preventive measures instead of dealing with pests when the situation gets complicated. You have to deal with the things that are attracting pests to come up.
Most commonly, the food sources can bring them out of the colonies, so you have to remove the food by keeping the drains clean.
You have to clean the dishes at night as these insects probably enjoy a feast when you leave the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink and go to sleep.
Therefore, remove the food leftovers, chicken pieces, or bread crumbs in the sink and keep the counter clean so these annoying insects do not come inside.
Use baking soda and vinegar solution
Home remedies are usually preferred over chemical treatments as they are cost-effective and easy to use because chemicals are not safe to handle without any prior experience.
Accordingly, baking soda and vinegar solutions effectively clean clogged water pipes when greasy food or hair restricts water flow.
These clogged drains can attract ants to enjoy protein-rich hair and food particles. You have to pour 2 to 4 tablespoons of baking soda and add an equal quantity of white vinegar after it.
Let the solution act on the grease stains and hair that are broken down after a few minutes. Then, dislodge the particles into pipes by adding boiling water and kill the insects if they live inside.
Spray ant-killing solutions
You can choose ant-killing chemical sprays when you find that their colonies are uncontrollable and all the home remedies are getting failed.
Get some commercial killing sprays or baits to deal with their population. However, it is better to ask for help from exterminating companies as professionals are good at dealing with pests.
This method can be costly as you have to get insecticides and hire exterminators, but it can help you get rid of these annoying insects permanently.
What type of ants can come up through drains?
Many species of ants are indoor pests that live inside houses and build their nests within walls, baseboards, and drainage pipes.
Most commonly, pharaoh and argentine ants are present in the drains that will come up in a short time when they smell any food or detect an attractive odor.
In addition, the black carpenter ants are also known as drain flies, usually found in moist areas, so they can live around showers, sinks, or bathtubs and come out sometimes.
The bathroom and kitchen pipes are also prone to fire ants infestation in addition to these tiny black insects because they also have a special attraction towards moisture.
So, kitchen sinks can allure tiny receptors of these water-loving pests when filled with stagnant water that needs to be removed quickly if you want to avoid them.
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