How to deal with an ant problem in my car?

[petitedollbabee]

Got in my car this morning and the inside is swarming with ants, I don’t even know why. I never leave food in there and I haven’t spilt anything. I don’t know where they’re coming from either. Would vacuuming and wiping down the inside get rid of them, or would bug spray/bug bomb be more effective?

[Adventurer23]

If you want to use a spray, use the most effective one that you can literally make with a common household product: water and dish soap. Seriously.

Fill a spray bottle with water, add a half teaspoon to teaspoon of dish soap, gently shake and you're ready to go! Basically, you want the water to be a very pale yellow, orange, blue or green, or whatever colour your dish soap is. You don't need a lot of soap in it.

I know this might sound like it wouldn't work at all, but it does, and it works both better and faster than any poisonous spray you can buy. The reason why it works is because ants actually have small holes in their body that they use for breathing, so the soap in the water allows it to stick, causing them to not be able to breathe and it essentially suffocates them.

Last summer, for whatever reason, I walked into my kitchen one morning and there were about 300-400 brown ants in a small area on floor, and I sprayed them with soapy water and it literally killed them within 20-30 seconds. No joke. It just stops them dead. Spray them and watch how fast it takes for them to stop moving. I haven't tried it on large black ants, but there's no reason why it wouldn't work just as well.

Again, the soap in the water causes it to stick to them and they can't breathe. This simple spray works better than any poisonous insect spray or ant trap ever invented. Don't take my word for it, try it yourself! But best of all, it's super easy and quick to make, costs nothing and is also 100% safe to use around pets and children. Just spray, wait a minute, then wipe/vacuum them up. Works like a charm.

[WindAtMyBack]

If you clean well (remove the source of food) they will go away on their own. Ants tend to invade in the spring. They are out looking for good places to form a new colony. Near food and water is a good place for a colony. The invasion is usually short term. After a while they'll chill and you won't see as many.

If you smash a lot of them, it leaves a danger signal to other ants. But they won't avoid the area right away. More ants will come to clean up the dead ants, for the same reason people don't want dead people left laying around.

[petitedollbabee]

It’s currently the end of summer here, and there’s no food or drinks or wrappers in my car, my car is clean, i vacuum every week.

I hope they go away soon, ants like to bite me and it’s a distraction if I’m driving.

[TrueConfection]

I've never heard of ants in the car. I wouldn't trust poison (sprays or bombs) in the car. I think vacuuming should do it and parking in a different spot. Maybe you were parked over their ant hill?

[weysally]

put some Nippon down, and the ants take it back to their nest and kills them

[Losalt]

Ants have a even better sense of smell then dogs, and there's a number of smells they really don't like.
I suggest filling a spray with a smell they don't like but that you do and spraying that in your car.
I don't remember all the smells they don't like.
But vinegar and mint both comes to mind
But it's definitely not the only options.
Google some options then try different smells till they leave.

[The_Shadow_Dweller]

It seems the problem is really close to what I encountered. I keep my laptop really clean, internally. Excuse the exterior.

I saw ants living on the motherboard. I figured the warm temperature and the ease of going in and out of the laptop attracted them. I use my laptop as a desktop. I rarely move it from its place.

I searched online. I manually cleaned the laptop. I implemented most hacks available online.

What you need to do is, to not throw your bitten nails in the car. I needed to clean my laptop to take them out. Just one to two such nails attracted some of them.

And get your car cleaned frequently. Inside out.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Mix up two cups of water, three tablespoons of Dawn soap, and three tablespoons of salt in a spray bottle. Spray the ants directly with it to kill them; you can also use it to clean your car. Additionally, ants HATE citrus.

https://www.toyotaofclermont.com/blog/how-to-handle-ants-in-your-car/

[Sharkstealth]

Spray with any household cleaner. They die instantly and spray a trail. They won't come back.

[bowenw]

https://www.wikihow.com/Get-Ants-Out-of-Your-Car

[Anonymous]

Park over a different spot and I think vacuuming would be better to take them. And can you p. m me lol?

[iSensei]

You can make a deal with ants 😀

[Charliefretz329]

Permethrin

[Pterodon]

Set off a bug bomb