Ants, as with other insects, travel in groups. However, what makes ant infestations different is that ants arrive in huge numbers. Since they are small in size, it could be difficult to spot them at first. As ants usually make their way towards closed spaces, there is a high chance of an infestation in your vehicle.

People also tend to eat during car rides so the crumbs or leftovers are an additional attraction for ants. This brings us to the question of what to do in such a situation. How to get rid of ants in car?

What to Look for

Once you have spotted ants in your automobile, you need to assess how bad the situation is. You’re not going to get away with it that easily if the ant infestation has spread all around the vehicle. If that is the case, the first step is to remain calm because there are multiple ways you can get rid of ant infestations from your car. You just need to know a few tips first.

Tips About Ant Infestations

Firstly, you need to keep in mind that if ants have invaded your car or anywhere, then they are not going to go away on their own. You will have to intervene in order to drive them out. Keeping ants out of your car isn’t all that difficult.

Secondly, ants usually enter cars when they are looking for food. Now, you may call it bad luck that the queen of the ants chose your car out of multiple others to infest or you may call it anything. But the situation at hand is that ants are in your car. Worrying about why they came into your car is the first step that you need to take.

Types of Ant Infestations

There are two types of ant infestations. The first is where your car has a small colony of ants and they’re situated at one place. They like moist places, and your car will always have some food lingering around so you can expect the queen to lay thousands of eggs there.

The queen also chooses dark places because they are safe from predators and other harmful insects that can potentially harm her eggs. Other than that, there is the type where you will find multiple ant colonies. This means that your situation is out of hand and you will need to adopt severe measures in order to get them out of your car.

You can always choose to leave your car and buy a new one. While this may be the last measure, you can try chemical fixes that have made getting rid of pests from your car quite easy.

Simple Fixes

There are countless types of ants. Among them, there are harmless ants that pose almost no danger to you or your car and there are others that need to be cleansed as quickly as possible. Now, if you need to know how to get rid of ants in your car properly, you should try to identify some of the ants that you come across.

If the ants have a red color, they’re likely fire ants, red ants, or possibly even carpenter ants. These ants are very dangerous. Not only do they bite people, but they can also hack through foam, wires, and wood. These are the ones that you need to watch out for. On the other hand, house ants are rather harmless.

Even though ants are small creatures, they’re pretty strong for their size. They can lift a lot of weight (compared to their body mass) and their queen can live up to 30 years, which is a lot for an insect. There are many ways to get rid of ants from your car.

Vacuum Cleaning

The first simple fix to get rid of ants from your car is to use a vacuum. If you don’t have one, you need to buy or rent it because vacuums are a quick and convenient way to sweep those insects from your car. Just make sure that you cover yourself properly so that they don’t fly towards you.

Before that, try to locate the source of the ants. You will need to follow their trail and look for a place where there’s a lot of ants. The queen surrounds herself with countless ants because she’s their queen, after all.

If you are successful in finding their source, then you are almost there. Just make sure that you start vacuuming directly at the source. If the queen dies or if she is swept away by the vacuum, then the ants can’t do much. Without their queen, their numbers will begin depleting as you vacuum your way throughout your car.

Clear Out the Food

Another way is to clean your car thoroughly. People eat in their car a lot of times and this can invite colonies of ants. They’re looking for bits and crumbs so cleaning your car thoroughly will mean that there’s no food there. When there’s no food, ants will start to move out of your car.

Technical Fixes

Furthermore, you should know about some technical fixes that can be used to get rid of ants in your car. The first is to buy ant traps, which are quite successful at getting rid of ants. This is one method that people choose when they have run out of all other options.

If ants are in your car, there is a huge chance that you haven’t cleaned your car in a long time. In case you cannot put in the time or effort, don’t worry because you can always contact professional car cleaning services to have your car cleaned.

Insect Killing Sprays

One other way you can always go is the classic ant spray. What do you need to do? Well, just start spraying everywhere in your car from one corner to the next. Cover your car with ant spray and lock it immediately (with the windows up).

This will ensure that the ants and especially their queen cannot survive and they will likely die because of suffocation. It’s a cruel way but sometimes you have no options left.

Dish Soaps

Another way is to use dish soap, which you can easily find in your house. Dish soaps have a complex chemical formula and they are super helpful in cleaning out ant infestations from your car. These dish soaps dehydrate the ants and lead to their death rather quickly.

Takeaways

Of course, if you don’t want to get near those ants, or in case of red ants or fire ants, you can always contact professional pest services. They are experts at what they do and they can clean your car before you can say ant infestation. Apart from that, some people also have a fear of ants. It is considered the right action and, in fact, it is recommended to let the experts handle ants in such situations.