Ants invasion in your car can be a frustrating ordeal especially if they decide to crawl up your body and try to bite you. It could be worse if it’s an army of ants who could potentially cause damage to the wiring system. Those pesky little bastards, aren’t they? Well, if you don’t know somebody that knows somebody that can get you an anteater to solve the problem, how should you get rid of ants in your car?
Ants can’t crawl into your car while you’re driving; although Marvel’s universe ant-man can do that. However, if you park close to an anthill or ant colony mostly found near trees or bushes, there is a probability that is the source of your ant problem. It’s even possible that your garage or home basement is infested with ants no wonder they keep re-appearing mysteriously.
In other words, it would be easier to wage war on ants if you can trace their operational base and avoid it. Otherwise, you would just be doing zero-work if you can get rid of them, only for them to come back two days later. Another thing; roll up your windows when you park.
You know that little piece of French fry or bread crumb that somehow found its way under your car seat? Yup! You probably forgot about it! Worker ants can detect that stale food and call for back up straight to their colony. Before you know it, you have an army of ants having a buffet under your car seat. Hence, you should avoid eating in your car.
Nevertheless, if you can’t help to eat, try to roll your food in a wrapper or put it in a dish and avoid leaving crumbs or small pieces of food in your car. Of course, don’t spill anything like soda or sugary drinks; ants love that sticky sugary goodness.
If it’s too late and the ants have already moved in, your next best course of action would be to thoroughly clean out your car. That means you need to get rid of any garbage like napkins, food wrappers, water bottles, sachets, donut boxes, plastic cups, food crumbs, and scrap papers. Even the car garbage bag should be emptied and cleaned or replaced.
Next, you should use a handheld vacuum cleaner to help you remove dirt and crumbs in hidden places such as the air vents, floor mats, dashboard, upholstery, under the seats and cracks. Besides removing the dirt, the vacuum cleaner also sucks up the ants into the abyss. Don’t forget to remove the floor mats to clean them separately.
During the cleaning process, it would be useful to shampoo your car’s interior to clean and eliminate the smell that is attracting the ants. Afterward, you can finish it up with automotive wipes to clean the windows, doors, cup holders, seat belts and glove compartment; plus it will give the car a nice, fresh smell.
Because tires have direct contact with the ground, ants will use them as a point of entry. So what to do? Simple, just treat the tires with a pesticide that can kill and repel the ants. However, you should be extra-cautious with any product that is toxic to humans or pets. In case you decide to use such products, make sure there are no children or pets around that could play around. Moreover, you could decide to treat the tires at night when you’re not driving your car but you’ve parked it close to ants infested areas.
There are plenty of ant traps and ant baits you could use to your advantage. But first, it’s better to consider natural remedies that are not toxic. For instance, you could fix double-sided tapes on the floorboard to trap ants that trespass into your vehicle. Similarly, you can sprinkle salt, pepper, and mint around your car. If you didn’t have a clue, ants have a strong dislike for those three natural ingredients.
Another non-toxic option would be to layout diatomaceous earth around your car doors to act as a buffer shield. To achieve optimum effect, you should let the dirt stay around your car doors for at least 24 hours before wiping it off with a damp cloth or a shop vacuum cleaner. Mind you, you should avoid using a household vacuum cleaner since the diatomaceous earth can damage the motor and filter. Also, diatomaceous earth is harmful to humans when ingested so keep it away from children.
Beyond that, you could purchase ant bait products from your local hardware or online store. The best ant bombs and traps should be odorless and tiny enough to fit in your trunk, glove compartment, under the seats and door compartments.
Finally, if you want to leave no stone unturned, you can set up ants booby traps in your garage. To do this, you could use the same ant baits secured in your car but instead, you strategically place them inside your garage. Now that’s what we call a double protective shield!
Yes, we get it! Sometimes, you could follow all the prescribed procedures to get rid of ants in your car but you still find those annoying little insects a few days later. If that happens, it may help to start an investigation to find the root cause of the problem. Is there a hole somewhere in your car where the ants are hiding? Maybe there is dry spilled soda trapped in the air vent. Or is there an ant colony near your home garage? Whatever it is, we’ve told you the secrets and it’s up to you to charge into the battlefield with a hammer……metaphorically speaking.
But the bottom line is this: The most effective method of keeping ants away is ensuring your car interior is always clean and free of food particles. Prevention is better than cure. However, if it happens, you know what to do.
