5 Easy Ways to Keep Ants Away From Your Bed

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Our beds are meant to be a haven, a sanctuary where we can retire from the stresses of the day. So, the last thing that we want to see is that something has joined us in the bed. Seeing an unwelcome insect can bring a bit of a shock with it.

Ants are a fairly common issue and you can find them in just about any area of your home, your bed included. If you see that there are ants in your bed, it could be as simple as you bringing them inside with you if you have spent time outside.

There are plenty of reasons why the ants could be making their home in your bed. Thankfully, there are also a few things that you can do to turn the tide and get rid of them (and keep them away) for good.

1 – Don’t Eat in Bed

One of the biggest reasons that you may be noticing ants in your bed is because you like to snack there. When you leave crumbs in your bed, they act as a beacon for nearby insects, ants included.

While the crumbs directly in the bed may not be enough to send up a signal, there is usually some kind of trail down onto the floor that can be enough to grab their attention.

Make a habit of not eating in your bedroom. This will help limit the attractive items in your room and the ants should take their attention elsewhere.

Odorous or sugary foods are particularly a problem and you may find your bed a bit more crowded until you cut out the problem.

2 – Wash Your Sheets Regularly

It should go without saying that you need to wash your sheets on a regular basis. Having said that, one of the quickest ways to get rid of ants and keep them away is to wash your sheets using a bleach-based detergent.

Using a bleach-based detergent will ensure that your sheets are completely disinfected. Make sure that you wash your pillowcases and blankets as well. For comforters, it’s probably a good idea to send those to the dry cleaners.

Any mattress coverings that you use will need to be removed and cleaned as well. This includes standard mattress covers and pillow top covers.

You want to disinfect every portion of your bed to ensure that there are no lingering ants and the detergent should be enough to dispel them until your next wash.

3 – Locate the Source of the Ants

If you’re struggling with getting rid of the ants in your bed, a good place to start is to locate the area that they are coming from. Obviously, they aren’t just magically appearing in the bed; they have to be coming from somewhere. Not only that, but ants also do not travel alone.

You can try locating the source of your ant problem. It could be as simple as a door, window, or windowsill. It can also be the result of a crack or hole in your wall, particularly near the baseboards and molding.

Locating the source can allow you to properly seal off the area or at least use a preventative measure to keep them from coming through that entry again. When the problem is particularly bad, it can be a real pain to just continuously kill ants without dealing with the source of the problem.

4 – Spray Ant Killer

While you don’t want to put an ant killer directly in your bed, it is a good idea to spray around the bed and around the edges of the room. If you want to be particularly safe, you can go with a non-chemical ant killer such as white vinegar.

If you purchase an ant killer from the store, make sure to follow the manufacturer instructions. Each manufacturer may have different specifications for how it is to be applied and under what conditions.

5 – Natural Remedies

If you’re looking for a home remedy instead of purchasing a chemical ant spray, there are plenty of options out there that are completely safe to use around your home. Chalk is the first one of those; it has calcium carbonate in it and that naturally keeps ants away.

You can even spray some powdered chalk around the areas where the ants may be coming in or even draw a line of chalk near their entrance. It’s also a good idea to keep those lines out of the reach of any child that may be in the house since they can wipe away the chalk line and ruin your defenses.

Lemons are also a natural household remedy. You can either squeeze the lemon or use some of the peels around the point of entry for the ants. If you have hardwood floors, you can even wash the floors using some water with a little bit of lemon juice in it.

Ants don’t like the smell of the lemon and it should work to keep them away. Generally speaking, you want to go with something that is bitter and sour, but do not use anything that has sugar in it. Ants love sugar and you will wind up with a bigger problem than you started with if you implement something using sugar.

Oranges are in a similar vein to lemons. Generally speaking, any citrus should work well against ants. You can actually make a paste out of the orange peel and some warm water. Just spread the paste around the entry points and then wipe it afterward.

The best part about using lemon or orange is that they will bring a bright, citrus smell to your home as well as keep the ants away.

Pepper is another great household remedy for getting rid of ants. While they absolutely love sugar, they definitely do not like pepper.

Having some black or cayenne pepper around your house can make for an easy solution. All you have to do is sprinkle some pepper in with a little bit of water and spray your solution around any of the problem areas of your home (windows, doors, holes, other entry points).

If you don’t have any of those things in your home, there’s another common household item that will work to keep ants away: salt. Spread some salt all around the nooks and crannies of your room, basically anywhere that you think they could be coming in.

Table salt is not only super inexpensive, it is one of the best methods for keeping ants away naturally. You can create a solution as well by boiling the salt until it dissolves and then pouring your mixture into a spray bottle. You shouldn’t have to see ants again with this mixture.

White vinegar is another household possibility. This is a great item to have in your house anyway since it is such a great natural cleaning agent. Since vinegar has a strong smell to it, it can make for a great way to keep ants from coming back.

You’ll definitely want to mix it with some water to dilute it a bit and then spray the points where the ants come in. Make sure to do this daily until it is clear that the ants aren’t coming back.

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