How To Get Rid Of Ants In A Bathroom Sink

Bathrooms are a frequently used space in your home to freshen up, bathe, and maintain daily hygiene. However, did you know that ants are often sighted hanging around bathroom sinks? If you wondered how to get rid of ants in your bathroom sink, you have found the right place. We researched what attracts ants to bathrooms, how to reduce their appearance in the bathroom, and other helpful tips.

Ants are often on the lookout for food and water. Consequently, they may forage for sustenance in bathrooms around the sink and other key areas. If ants are frequently sighted around the bathroom sink, there are some helpful steps you can take. Check out the following actions to reduce the presence of ants in the bathroom.

Keep your bathroom sink drains clean of debris and standing water
Leave out traps around the bathroom for ants
Seal cracks and replace broken tile nearby the sink
Ensure the bathroom sink plumbing is in good working order

Don't panic if you notice ants in your bathroom. You can stop ants from hanging around and making a home in or around your bathroom sink.

Deterring Ants From The Bathroom

Bathrooms are surprisingly a place that ants like to hang out in homes. These insects are attracted to the odors emanating from pipes, common cleaning chemicals, standing water, and even human hair in bathrooms. If you cannot regularly clear your bathroom plumbing of clogs, hair, food debris, or keep your bathroom clean, prepare for ants to make themselves known.

If you find ants around the bathroom sink, look for areas that allow the ants to get in, where they love to linger most, and take steps to keep them out of the bathroom. In the event of an infestation, contact a professional exterminator.

1. Clear Debris And Water

If your bathroom sink has any standing water or debris that could be a food source, ants will love to cluster around these areas. Look for leaking pipes and stop water from escaping. Don't allow water to stand in a sink basin, and remove any food, hair, or other attractive items from the bathroom for ants.

Pour a mixture of equal parts baking soda and vinegar down your bathroom drain now and then to clear away the buildup that ants feed upon. Follow up a cupful of baking soda and vinegar with hot water after allowing the solution to stand in the drain for at least 10 minutes.

Use a drain cover to keep hair from clogging up the sink. Occasionally shift around plants around the bathroom sink that can hide ants or allow pools of water to collect. If you have a trash can under your bathroom sink or near it, make sure to change it regularly to keep ants away. Also, look for areas where moisture lingers on a sink following a hot shower or running the tap and wiping it clean and dry.

2. Leave Traps

If you want to maximize the efficiency of any traps or natural solutions to bait and eradicate ants, be more observant. Look around your bathroom sink for signs of an ant trail, or watch where a visible ant travels to look for entry and exit points.

Ants can come through cracks in nearby tiled walls, gaps around pipes, and even through the bathroom drain. Consider the following solutions to get rid of pesky ants in the bathroom.

Leave coffee grounds, cucumber peels, citrus fruit peels, or spritz white vinegar around ant trails to drive the insects away. Sprinkling cinnamon powder, mint, or cayenne pepper may also annoy ants so they won't hang around.
Try sprinkling borax, boric acid mixed with sugar, or diatomaceous earth around cracks and gaps around a bathroom sink to deter ants. Use a thin layer and place it in hard-to-reach areas where ants may get through.
Apply a commercial liquid, spray, or leave bait traps around the bathroom sink to kill and dissuade ants from coming back.
Use a solution of 15 drops each of peppermint and tea tree essential oil mixed with six to eight ounces of water and a dash of cayenne pepper. Spray in areas where you discover ants, especially around their trails.

Whenever possible, in addition to using natural or chemical-based solutions to stop ants from showing up in and around your bathroom sink, take preventative measures. When not using your sink, put in a drain stop to close it off. Keep your bathroom clean, dry, and remove moisture and debris as soon as possible.

Check out this liquid ant bait on Amazon.

3. Seal Cracks And Replace Broken Areas

Where there's a will, there's a way, and ants will make their way into a bathroom sink through cracks, gaps, or broken areas. Grab some caulk and seal ants out from hard-to-reach areas that they can squeeze through.

Remove and replace broken tiles, seal off gaps or leaks in pipes, and look for any areas ants can use as a passageway to a bathroom. Areas nearby the sink, such as walls or tile with cracks or broken places, provide a space for ants to create a nest, water, and debris to collect and may release odors that attract the insect.

4. Maintain The Plumbing

If you discover that you have a leaking pipe, cracks in your plumbing, or constant water around the bathroom sink, you are likely to attract ants. Call a professional plumber to fix or replace any problems with your bathroom plumbing if you are not comfortable doing a DIY plumbing project.

Gaps in a wall around pipes, dripping water, and improperly installed pipes that allow water to collect can attract ants into the bathroom. Ensure that your bathroom fixture's plumbing is in working order, dry, clean, and free of clogs.

What Attracts Ants In The Bathroom?

Ants love warm, moist environments, are attracted to collected pools of water, and can feed on decaying hair, urine, and food debris. Also, ants may find scented candles, plants, lotions, perfume, toothpaste, and soaps in your bathroom attractive too. These insects feel welcome in spaces that are dark and moist where they can hide and potentially find food.

Additionally, after taking a shower, you may want to open up a window or put on a ventilation fan to reduce a bathroom's attractiveness to ants. Some cleaners and the odors that come out of drains over time may also draw ants.

How Do I Know What Kind Of Ants I Have?

If you want to know the best way to get rid of ants in your home, it is helpful to identify common types of ants you are likely to encounter. The following types of ants are often found in bathrooms and other areas of an abode.

Pharaoh ants are reddish-brown to a yellow-tan color, have a dark back, love sugar, and like making nests indoors.
Argentine ants are light to dark brown, like nesting in debris, wood, mulch, and venture indoors when extreme weather is present.
Carpenter ants can cause a lot of damage to the structure of a home and are usually black in color.
Odorous ants are identified by their brown-black bodies and lighter-colored legs and release a foul odor when crushed.
Pavement ants are small, brown, or black in color and reside in cracks in the pavement but will live beneath floors and cracks in walls.

Once you recognize the type of ants you have, you can choose the best solution to get rid of them or consult an exterminator.

How To Prevent Ants In My Bathroom?

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Put a stop to ants' attraction to your bathroom and remove garbage often. Keep sinks, toilets, tubs, and floors dry. Keep your bathroom clean, find ways to de-humidify the space, ensure the plumbing is draining and not leaking water, and seal off any cracks.

Replace broken tiles, patch holes in walls, unclog drains and do not allow pools of water to collect. After you take a shower, vent your bathroom, so there is less moisture lingering on the surface of tiled walls, sinks, mirrors, toilets, and other areas.

Regularly commit to keeping your bathroom clean and dry. Additionally, you may want to put down sprays or baits in strategic areas to deter ants from making a home in the bathroom. If you keep any items in your bathroom that ants love, consider storing them elsewhere in your home in an air-tight container.

Check out this non-toxic pesticide for ants on Amazon.

In Closing

We hope you feel more confident tackling getting rid of pesky ants in the bathroom. Surprisingly, ants are equally attracted to the bathroom as much as the kitchen, thanks to moisture and alternative food sources. Ants love areas that are dark and easy to hide and set up a nest.

Seal any places where ants can come through, such as cracks in nearby walls, gaps between the bathroom sink and walls, and any hard-to-reach area. If leaky or damaged plumbing attracts ants, call a professional plumber or contractor to replace and install new pipes and fixtures.

Keep bathrooms clean, dry, and free of moisture to reduce the attractiveness to ants. Ants are drawn to certain odors from pipes, debris in drains, candles, soaps, and anywhere water is left to collect. Choose a non-toxic, natural ant deterrent, or opt for a chemical solution to eradicate ants. If there is a clear sign there is an ant infestation, contact a professional exterminator for services.

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