You have just decided to take a quick shower when you notice something in the corner of your eye.
A group of little dark-colored critters is suddenly heading towards your bathroom sink!
Their quick movement tells you they’re running towards some food, and an ant has even managed to crawl up to one of your toothbrushes.
Your toothbrush!
We know how disgusting this can be and want to give you some tips to immediately get rid of these drain ants.
How have these ants managed to appear in your bathroom?
Why Are Ants Coming Out of My Bathroom Sink?
Ants are attracted to stagnant water and leftover food particles. Your bathroom sink will contain both, and these will come from things like brushing your teeth, flossing, and other hygienic activities. Once ants find a food source, they create trails back to their nests.
Ants are always in pursuit of food and water.
Your bathroom is a notorious source of both, especially stagnant water.
I bet you want them out of your bathroom sink to maintain the high levels of hygiene you are used to in your home.
This article is here to help.
Knowing why ants come out of your bathroom sink is nowhere near enough information to deter ants.
You’ll need the tips and tricks below to quickly nip any serious ant invasion before it becomes a severe problem.
Learning how to get rid of these darned ants altogether and applying the methods we will discuss below is very important.
Sometimes, other contributing factors need to be considered to solve your ant problem, which will then eliminate the ants in your bathroom sink.
Can Ants Come Up Through The Drain?
Ants can come up through the drain. Ants are always in pursuit of food and water. Things like leftover food, stagnant water, and dead skin cells make drains a very resourceful place for ants. Once uncovered, ants will create paths from your drain to their nests.
Plus, it’s a convenient path for these critters to crawl through undetected and a great dark hiding spot.
What Attracts Ants In The Bathroom?
Strands of fermented hair, dandruff, and dead skin cells attract ants into your bathroom because of their strong odor. Food and water from brushing also attract ants. Finally, smells wafted off by personal hygiene products in your bathroom sink are also very inviting for ants.
While most ants are minuscule, they should take pride in having a powerful sense of smell.
They use this strong sense of smell to pursue different resources, but mainly it’s used in food hunts.
Remember when you were eating food and left behind just a tiny bread crumb?
Next thing you know, ants had already started making a feast out of the food debris and plotting a way to bring it back to the ant nest.
It doesn’t matter if it’s your kitchen, bathroom, or bedroom; as long as they can sense a food source nearby, they’ll immediately go into hunting mode.
How Do I Get Rid of Ants In My Sink?
Boric acid is a great tool to eliminate ants in bathroom sinks. While ants don’t particularly hate this compound and would, in fact, even ingest it, it’s one of the best ant baits that eliminates the queen ant and large colonies.
While we prefer boric acid, other options exist to get these ants out of the sink.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is a great mixing compound to help out during infestations.
You can pour about half a cup of baking soda into the sink or drain where the ants are coming from.
If ants are in the sink, once ingested, the baking soda will eventually dry out the insides of ants, killing them off.
Often, baking soda is not a standalone method but is applied along with another mixture, like white vinegar.
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White Vinegar
In addition to being an effective cleaning ingredient, the smell of white vinegar is a deterrent against ants.
Pour the white vinegar down the drain after putting the baking soda into the sink for the best results.
This mixture will create a bubble and foam up, effectively removing grease and other food particles in the drain pipe.
After 10 minutes, pour a quart of hot water into the drain to kill ants and thoroughly cleanse the drain lines.
Before doing this, make sure you do not have a leaky faucet. The last thing you want is this mixture flowing and getting onto your flour or clothes.
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Cucumber Peels
You probably will never spot ants near a peeled cucumber because ants can not stand cucumber peels.
If ants in your drain are a consistent problem, think about adding cucumbers to your meals.
This will help the problem, acting as a consistent and natural solution to ants in the kitchen sink.
Cayenne Pepper
Another way to repel ants is to spread some peppers into areas you have seen them previously infesting.
Cayenne and black pepper help rid ants, and it’s widely available on the market.
You may even have some stored in your kitchen cabinet, so don’t hesitate to use those versus ants conveniently.
Lemon Juice
Pheromones enable ants to communicate with each other by leaving scents that can serve as their trailing guide toward a food source.
Lemons are another deterrent to discourage this tactic, as the lemon scent will weaken the “mapping” effects of the pheromones.
If you have lemons at home, wipe your bathroom sink with lemon juice and other areas you wish to be insect and ant-free.
Extra Ant-Prevention Articles
Here are other suitable articles in our Ant-Prevention Series that also cover the direct prevention of ants.
- Carpenter Ants And Mulch: You may see some ants while gardening. While probably not near the bathroom sink, stopping any ant source will help.
- Carpet Prevention And Ants: Keeping ants out of your drain starts by taking care of other parts of the house. Know these tips and tricks in case you ever notice some ants on the carpet.
- Dryer Sheets For Ant Prevention: Dryer sheets can be found around the house; while they can’t help in the sink, they can help around the sink to keep areas ant-free.
- Will Salt Keep Ants Away: Tried everything in your bathroom sink? Maybe Epsom salt is what you’re looking for.
How Do I Get Rid of Ants in My Bathroom Sink?
Boric acid is a great way to eradicate ants in your bathroom sinks. Ants are attracted to this compound and bring it back to their colony, and this acts as ant bait, killing the queen ant and the whole ant colony.
Here’s How:
Mix the boric acid with some sweets that ants love, like mint jelly.
Next, strategically place this mixture into previously infested areas like your kitchen and bathroom sink.
Being social insects, don’t expect the ants to stay and eat there by themselves, as they will take their food and share it (trophallaxis) with the entire colony.
Once these ants start carrying this compound back to their nest, many of them will be poisoned by this compound, including multiple queens, killing them off within a day or two.
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Can Ants Live in Water Pipes?
Ants can survive in drain pipes and sink drains and make homes in these moist and humid environments. These areas are a haven of food residues, so ants may temporarily reside in them as long as the moisture and the food source continue.
One of the abovementioned strategies could help solve this problem and clean your water pipes from ants!
What Are Drain Ants?
Drain ants are ants found in drains like your kitchen and bathroom sinks. Ants found in drains are not exclusive to one type of ant species. For example, drain ants would include fire ants, pharaoh ants, and dark-brown argentine ants, which you may spot in the shower.
Carpenter ants may appear more on moist-filled wooden structures where they build their nest, while pharaoh ants can also be found lurking in your shower, searching for food and water.
If all Else Fails
Major infestations could happen; the source could even be your bathroom sink.
If so, there is likely already damage in your plumbing, allowing ants to pass through no matter how tiny the crack is.
If this crack can stay, the pests will be able to make their way through and constantly reinfest your bathroom drain and sink.
In this case, do not hesitate to contact a professional plumber to help you inspect and find potential damages in the plumbing and piping.
Final Thoughts on Pesky Bathroom Ants
Ants are one of the most resilient types of insects that could manage to infest (and reinfest) households initially unnoticed.
After all, they are sometimes too small to detect, and their population is higher than other pests.
But this can be treated.
By becoming aware of their entry points, you could apply the various mixtures and methods mentioned above.
You can also help prevent ants by keeping the area around both your kitchen and bathroom sink free from food particles and moisture.
This will make a massive difference in the goal of freeing your home of an ant infestation.