How To Get Rid Of Small Ants In The Laundry Room

How do you usually come across ants? Do they crawl up on your feet and legs, tickling you while you're sitting in the backyard or on your deck? Do you notice them crawling around on the exterior trash when you take it out? Perhaps you have an army of them somewhere in your home? There are various ways you might encounter ants. In this discussion, we will focus on one specific area where you may find these tiny pests and provide you with some tips to help you eliminate them. We'll explore how to handle small ants in your laundry room. It's important to note that most of these tips can be applied no matter where you discover ants. Here's what you need to know.

4 reasons why ants get into laundry rooms

It is annoying to have ants crawling around in your laundry room, but what are they doing there? Here are four reasons why ants may want to access this part of your home.

1. Ants need moisture for hydration. Certain ants are strongly attracted to humid spaces as they have a high moisture requirement. Laundry rooms can get humid.
2. Ants like warmth. Some ant species will target a laundry room because of the warmth—not the warmth in the room, but the heat produced by the dryer exhaust. They'll come near the dryer exhaust on the exterior of your home and find small gaps, which they can use to enter.
3. Ants are always looking for food. If you have clothes with food on them, ants will take notice. They may also be attracted to your laundry detergent, especially if it has a sweet scent.
4. Do you store food or feed your pets in your laundry room? Some people do. In some homes, a laundry room is a great place to store food that is not for immediate consumption. It’s also an area where pet owners feed their cats and dogs. Since animals are the neatest creatures on the planet, they may leave behind morsels for hungry pests. Ants may detect this food and enter your laundry room in large numbers.

It's crucial to remember that certain things can attract ants and lead to an infestation. Addressing these potential attractants is important to prevent ant problems or get rid of an existing infestation. However, it's also important to note that attractants may not always be the sole cause of an ant problem.

Sometimes, ants aren't lured into a laundry room; they're driven in. Outdoor conditions, such as high heat, drought, heavy rainfall, flooding, and other environmental conditions, can drive them in. Let's look at what you can do to keep them out.

Tips to keep ants out of your laundry room

If you don't want ants driven into your laundry room, you need to inspect the exterior of your home and identify potential entry points. Once identified, be sure to seal foundation cracks and other holes on the exterior. You should also seal gaps around plumbing, wire conduits, and your dryer exhaust using a caulking gun or expanding foam.

Once you've addressed potential entry points, consider weatherproofing. If you have an exterior door that leads into your basement, it might be the reason for the ant infestation in your basement laundry room. Check the weatherstripping, door sweeps, and frames. If you can see light leaking in, you can bet ants are able to get in.

Here are a few other ways to keep ants from taking over your laundry room:

• Don’t leave dirty laundry on the floor.
• Do not let wet clothes sit for too long.
• Keep your detergent, fabric softener, other laundry products organized and completely sealed.
• Wipe up detergent spills and keep the floor clean.
• Repair your washer right away.
• Address moisture and humidity problems in the laundry room.
• Pick up pet food every night if you feed them in this space.