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How to Get Rid of Ants in Your Carpet: Step-by-Step Guide

Ants can be a real problem in homes. 

They are notorious for infesting carpets. This is not only annoying but can be very difficult to clean up. 

Ants will take over a carpet if given the opportunity, so it’s important to know how ants live on carpets and what you can do to stop them from doing so.

In this article, we will discuss the topic of ants in your carpet, including why they might’ve infested your carpet, tips for getting rid of them as well as advice about stopping ants from coming back into your home

How to Get Rid of Ants in the Carpet

There are many ways to deal with ants, but here’s how we’d do it:

  1. Check for Food or Moisture Sources
  2. Vacuum
  3. Use Ant bait
  4. Apply Ant Carpet Powder

Depending on the severity of your problem, you can either do it yourself, as described above, or you can call an exterminator.

Most people want to try fixing the problem themselves first because an exterminator is by far the most expensive way to deal with ants. But if you can’t get rid of them, simply because the colony is too big, you might need to consider this option.

Also read: How to get rid of ants in your home

Step 1: Check for Food or Moisture Sources

An ant infestation is almost always the result of available food or moisture in your home. Perhaps you’ve spilled some food crumbs, or you have a leak somewhere.

Ants love sugar and protein-rich foods like syrup, candy, treats for pets, spilled drinks (especially soda), meat scraps/spills from cooking areas, etc. 

If you’ve spilled any of this on a carpeted area, the ants will find it.

Ants also use pheromones as a communication mechanism to tell more ants where they can find a potential food source. That’s why you might be seeing a lot of ants all going to the same area.

Make sure you identify why the ants are invading your home – and then clean it up.

ants eating foods together

Step 2: Vacuum

Once ants are found on a carpet, it’s important to vacuum them up. It can be tough to spot all the ants, so make sure you’re careful about vacuuming the entire area.

Vacuuming ants will remove many ants at once rather than having to deal with one ant at a time. They’re small and light, so they’ll get sucked right in.

Red vacuum cleaner on a beige carpet

Step 3: Use Ant Bait

Using ant bait is one of the most common ways to get rid of ants on a carpet. It’s important to use an effective ant bait because ants are very difficult creatures to fight when they have infested something.

The bait will work in two ways:

  1. It will lure the ants away from your carpet.
  2. The ants will think it’s food, which makes them create a pheromone trail leading to it. This will lure more ants to the bait, effectively killing off a bunch of them.

Place the bait close to the ant trail leading to the carpet, or directly on the carpet.

trail of ants

Step 4: Apply Ant Carpet Powder

Ant carpet powder is another common way to kill ants on carpets. The powder will get picked up by the ants, killing them off within a short amount of time.

This will help kill off any ants that didn’t fall for the bait you put out.

sprinkling powder

If Nothing Works: Call an Exterminator

If ants seem to be crawling all over the carpet, even after you used bait and powder, it might be time to call an exterminator. A professional has access to chemicals that can kill ants without causing damage or harm to people or pets in your home.

Also, if you are unsure about using certain products on your carpet due to allergies or sensitivities of other kinds, a pest control professional should have no trouble working around those issues and will make sure not to cause any problems for anyone living inside the house.

ant spray and exterminator

Why Have Ants Infested Your Carpet?

There are many different reasons as to why ants might infest your carpet. If you’ve spilled food that ants like, they’ll want to collect it. If you have some moisture issues under the floor, they’ll also want to infest the space underneath.

A carpet also provides them with an adhesive surface, warmth, shelter from predators, and access to other places ants can take their prey items too if needed.

Also read: What attracts ants?

You’ve Spilled Food on Your Carpet

The main reason ants invade your home is that you’ve spilled food on your carpet. 

It’s important to clean it up right away. If the ants don’t go away by themselves, you can follow our step-by-step guide further up in the article.

Are ants dangerous?

Although ants are more of a nuisance than they are actually dangerous.

Ants can carry certain types of germs that can harm humans if they’ve contaminated the food you intend to eat yourself – but when it comes to ants on the carpet, they’ll usually just eat whatever you’ve spilled there. 

Germs from ants are typically only an issue if you have young children or pets who frequently put their hands in their mouths. 

If there aren’t any kids or animals running around your house, though, ants won’t be much of a danger to you. It’s not likely you’ll come in direct contact with ants unless they crawl onto your hand by accident when you’re trying to kill them.

Read the list of the 13 most dangerous ants.

Do Ants Eat Carpets?

No, ants don’t eat carpets. Ants will eat anything edible, but since a carpet isn’t edible, they won’t do so. 

If ants are infesting the carpet, they might be eating off of your carpet because you’ve spilled some food onto it. 

To figure out why ants are in your carpet, observe them for a bit. What are they doing? You might be able to see them carry away food or engage in other activities.

Ants don’t really damage things, but you may want to get rid of ants anyways, as they are quite annoying to have running around. 

Grey carpet on the floor at home

Can You Use Ant Spray on a Carpet?

Yes, you can use ant spray on a carpet, but it’s not recommended, as it can leave stains. Ant spray also contains chemicals that are dangerous for humans to ingest, so if you have any animals or small children, you should really avoid this altogether.

You can use something else instead, such as ant bait stations. These will be easier to control since the chemicals are contained within the little contraption.

spray bottle to kill ants

Ant Nest Under Carpet

Ants will sometimes nest under your carpet, under the floor. They might do so because of moisture, heat, or access to food.

If you have ants, look for a hole in the floor near where they are coming from. You may even be able to see ants crawling around on top of your flooring and follow them back to their home entrance point. 

To get rid of ants, you’ll need some kind of pesticide that will kill off all ants living under the carpet as well as aboveground ants.

Make sure to identify where they’re coming from, as it can help you in your ant-killing efforts.

How to Prevent an Ant Infestation Under Carpets

Avoid Eating Over Your Carpet

If ants are often found in your carpet, it may be because you have food lying around. Some ants eat meat and fruit which they find on the floor or ground so if you want to avoid ants entering your home, make sure that there is no food leftover from breakfast.

If you have carpet all over your house, you can also just make sure to clean up properly after you’ve eaten – at least until the ants have gone away.

Keep It Clean

In order to keep ants from coming into your carpet, you must first ensure that it is clean. If your carpets are clean, there won’t be anything there to attract them. This should keep future ant problems off your hands.

Before ants invade your carpets, vacuum them thoroughly with a brush attachment for best results.

Vacuum cleaner on the carpet

Vacuum all carpeted areas of the home every week to get rid of any possible ants before they can cause problems in one specific spot on the carpet.

You should also clean around baseboards as ants are likely going to be crawling along these edges – try brushing away debris.

Sometimes ants may use your carpet as a safe route to your kitchen. You should keep all areas clean, to make sure ants won’t invade your home.

Summary

Ants will often infest areas of a home where they can find shelter, water, and food. Learning how ants behave and what attracts them to your carpet is the best way to get rid of ants on the carpet. 

If you know that the ants invading your home feed primarily on sweet substances or sugary liquids then keeping these items away from carpets is essential in order to prevent an infestation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Ants Live on a Carpet?

Ants can live on a carpet, which is why it’s important to get ants off of the carpet as soon as possible. If ants are allowed to continue living in or around your carpets for too long, they can cause some damage to your home, as the colony grows bigger.

Can Ants Live Under a Carpet?

Yes, ants can live under a carpet, but they usually don’t. If ants are crawling around under your carpet, it’s most likely because there’s leftover food or other nutrients for them to consume.

What ants might do instead is to nest underneath your carpet in the floor. This can become a problem, as they might end up making a hole through your floor, to gain access to your home.

There are several ways to deal with this. First of all, you should get rid of the nest under the floor. Until you do this, you’ll keep having problems with the ants. You can either try to do this yourself, or you can call an exterminator.

Do Ants Like Carpets?

Ants love to live in carpets because they provide a safe and secure environment for ants. Carpets also offer ants the convenience of easy transportation throughout your home, giving them an advantage over other insects that may want to invade ants’ homes as well.

Should I Spray Raid Ant Killer on My Carpet?

No, you should avoid using ant spray on your carpets or rugs. There are some downsides and risks associated with using pesticides or insecticides directly on carpets, such as the fact that it’s dangerous for humans to ingest.

Instead of using an ant killer spray, try using something like an ant bait station instead. This will allow you to avoid spraying insecticides and pesticides all over your carpet and instead keep it in the little container.

Pesticides can be extremely dangerous to children and pets if it is not used correctly, so you should always take precautions when using such chemicals around them.

If ants come into contact with the pesticide they will die shortly after; there’s no need for them to eat or ingest any of the substance since all that needs to happen is a simple touch for the ants’ lives to end. 

Make sure you read and follow all directions on whatever product you choose as well as check for warning labels before spraying anything onto your carpet. 

Also, keep in mind: an infestation of ants doesn’t necessarily mean their nest is located inside your home. They could have built nests outside near trees, bushes, and entered through small cracks.

About Teodoro Pittman

Teodoro is a nature and animal lover. He specifically focuses on insects, such as ants, bees, and the like. In his free time, he takes care of his own ant farm, where he analyzes their behavior. Teodoro has spent the last 7 years studying the intricate behavior of these small creatures.

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