Many of us have the habit of eating and drinking while sitting at our computer desks. The food particles that fall on the desk might attract ants and they can go into your keyboard, cabinet, etc. Especially when you spill food onto your keyboard, they might start to infest it.
This can be a great mess and they might even bite you when you are working. So, you need to get rid of the ants and prevent them from getting onto your desk. In this article, we shall discuss the different ways you can get rid of ants from the computer desk and the reasons for them to get on your desk frequently.
How to get rid of Ants on my Computer Desk?
Ants can be easily removed from the desk by cleaning your desk, keeping food items away from the desk, using commercial or natural ant repellents, and blocking the ant trail. You can perform these remedies and get instant results for the ant problem.
Cleaning your desk
Ants have no business on your desk unless there is something that attracts their attention. Food particles on the desk are the primary things that attract ants to your desk. It may be a morsel of food or some drops of dips and sauces. So, by cleaning these from the desk, you can get rid of the ants.
Steps to clean the desk
- Turn off your PC and unplug all the components from the desk
- Remove everything from the desk
- Clean each of the components like your monitor, keyboard, mouse, PC case, etc. thoroughly, and remove any food particles or fluids.
- Now go to the desk and look for the ant trail.
- Using a brush, remove the ants and clean the desk thoroughly.
- You can also use a cleaning solution and give a thorough rub on the desk.
- Make sure to reach all the corners and inches of the desk to prevent further ant trails.
- Cleaning your desk periodically will help you avoid
Keep Food Items Away
Since we established the fact that food items are the main cause of ants on the desk, you can avoid bringing them to your desk. Prevention is always better than cure. Therefore, avoiding food items on the computer desk is the best way to get rid of ants.
Tips to Consume Food Without Spoiling Computer Desk
- Keep away from the desk at least a few feet when you are eating any food
- Have a tray over the desk to avoid spilling on the keyboard or on the desk
- Keep a separate side table to place the food items
Commercial and Natural Ant Repellents
There are several commercial repellents available for ants in stores. You can simply buy them and apply them around the table to protect the desk from ants. The repellents are available as spray and powder which you can use over the area where the ant trail is present.Â
As for the natural repellents, you can use apple cider vinegar mixed with water and spray it over the ant-prone desk. The vinegar smell repels ants and they will not climb back on your desk.Â
Steps you should follow to use commercial and natural ant repellents
- Find out the ant trail
- Remove the components on the desk
- Clear away any food particles present on the desk
- Use the ant repellent over the ant trailÂ
- You can also spray the repellent over the entire desk but make sure to remove all the PC components
- Let the repellent work for some time.
- Then replace the PC components.
Block the Ant Trail
Sometimes, ant trails can be found on the walls beside which the computer desk is placed. So, the ants might start climbing from the wall towards your desk to grab some food. This can be prevented by just blocking the trail or distancing yourself from the trail.Â
Ants usually don’t change their trail unwantedly unless there is a block in the trail or there are other means for food. So, simply distancing your desk from the ant trail might be a great way to avoid it initially.
Ways in which you can block an ant trail
- Distance your desk from the wall or anywhere from the ant trail
- Spray some repellents over the trail
- Physically block the trail using objects
- Vacuum the trail of ants and get rid of them
These are the ways in which you can completely get rid of ants and protect your desk from further infestations of these insects.
Other Computer Desk Maintenance Tips:
- 4 Best Precautions to keep Your PC Desk Dust Free
- What dimensions should a PC desk be?
- 4 Best Tips to hide Cables on PC Desk
- How much weight can a desk support?
Why do we need to get rid of ants in the PC desk?
Ants on the PC desk can be really annoying because they might bite you and disturb you while working, when too many of these insects start to climb over your desk, you cannot comfortably use your desk or your PC. Although there are some ant species that don’t bite, their movement on the desk is a nuisance.
Secondly, the PC and its related components will have a lot of holes and gaps. If your desk has ants, they can easily get into these gaps and might store their food particles inside it. They can be very difficult to get rid of once they start infesting these minute gaps. Keyboards in particular are easily prone to this ant infestation.Â
Too many ants on the desk can damage the circuit components of the PC hardware due to electrocution and result in component failure. Therefore, it is important to get rid of them as soon as possible.
Reasons for Ants in a PC desk
The major reason for ants on the desk is the presence of food particles both solid and liquid. Ants tend to collect these particles and save them for future use. So if you have a food particle or a drop of sauce on your desk, you can find ant trails collecting them.
If your desk has too much dust, then also there are chances for ant infestation. Because most of the dust particles contain dead skin cells and they can also be preyed upon by the ants. These are the two major reasons for ants on a PC desk.
Final Thoughts
If you find ants on your desk, whether one or a colony, then you can get rid of them easily with these guidelines. Make sure to keep food items away from the desk so you can be safe. Also, while removing the ants, make sure to clean the desk completely so that you don’t get the infestation ever again.
