# Ants and Laptop **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 13, 2007, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-laptop/411659 "2007-07-13T15:53:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ChicanoRojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@ChicanoRojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChicanoRojo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-laptop/411659/1 "2007-07-13T15:53:26Z")
Woke up this morning to get my Straight Dope fix. Get my laptop out of the brief case I have it on. ARRRGH! ANTS! :mad: :smack: WFT?! So. No I got this little creatures from G-d walking around my whole laptop. Now. Mind you. Not many, many, but enough to make me sweat it out. So. \*\*What can I do to get 'em out? Is there a possibility that they might have f… up my laptop? \*\*I have been tapping the casing of the laptop this morning and just hitting e/a one that comes out away from my computer. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-laptop/411659/2 "2007-07-13T16:07:02Z")
Pretty soon somebody’s going to suggest you submerge your laptop in water to kill them. Don’t do it. Do ant traps have an attractant in them? Maybe they’ll leave your LT for one of those don’t check out things. ---
**Author:** ![ChicanoRojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@ChicanoRojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChicanoRojo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-laptop/411659/3 "2007-07-13T16:13:43Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Pretty soon somebody’s going to suggest you submerge your laptop in water to kill them. Don’t do it. [/quote] DAMN IT! Let me get it out from the sink! :eek: 😛 > [@](#): > > Do ant traps have an attractant in them? Maybe they’ll leave your LT for one of those don’t check out things. “Don’t check out things”? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-laptop/411659/4 "2007-07-13T16:16:00Z")
The old bug-collector’s method of killing bugs you can’t squish still works. Wet a cotton ball or tissue with ammonia. Put it in a dish. Put dish and laptop in a trash bag for a few hours. Your ants will be dead. Will the little pests hurt your computer? Probably not, but the use of “bug” for computer problems dates back to a little moth that died in the act of being a short circuit between terminals in a very early computer. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-laptop/411659/5 "2007-07-13T16:28:16Z")
[QUOTE=ChicanoRojo] \ No I got this little creatures from \*\*G-d \*\*walking around my whole laptop. Now. Mind you. Not many, many, but enough to make me sweat it out. \ [/QUOTE] Is it really that big of a deal? I mean, if they’re only between the “G” and “d” keys, that’s only like an inch and a half worth of ants. Rub some peanut butter on the Caps Lock key, that ought to get em away from the home row. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![ChicanoRojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@ChicanoRojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChicanoRojo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-laptop/411659/6 "2007-07-13T16:41:13Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] The old bug-collector’s method of killing bugs you can’t squish still works. Wet a cotton ball or tissue with ammonia. Put it in a dish. Put dish and laptop in a trash bag for a few hours. Your ants will be dead. [/QUOTE] Amonia as in glass clear? ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-laptop/411659/7 "2007-07-13T16:41:29Z")
[QUOTE=ChicanoRojo] DAMN IT! Let me get it out from the sink! :eek: 😛 “Don’t check out things”? 😕 [/QUOTE] I think he means those little traps that they can go into, but cannot get out of. As in a “ants can get in but they can’t check out” type deal. ---
**Author:** ![ChicanoRojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@ChicanoRojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChicanoRojo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-laptop/411659/8 "2007-07-13T16:43:41Z")
[QUOTE=Pygmy Rugger] Is it really that big of a deal? I mean, if they’re only between the “G” and “d” keys, that’s only like an inch and a half worth of ants. Rub some peanut butter on the Caps Lock key, that ought to get em away from the home row. 🆒 [/QUOTE] 😃 Well. Running around the key boards and coming out from nooks and crannies I had never even seen in the laptop. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-laptop/411659/9 "2007-07-13T16:45:52Z")
> [@](#): > > I think he means those little traps that they can go into, but cannot get out of. As in a “ants can get in but they can’t check out” type deal. More specifically, this was the advertising slogan for Roach Motel brand - “Roaches check in, but they don’t check out.” ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-laptop/411659/10 "2007-07-13T16:50:46Z")
Before you try anything else, change all your passwords. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ants-and-laptop/411659/11 "2007-07-13T16:55:24Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] The old bug-collector’s method of killing bugs you can’t squish still works. Wet a cotton ball or tissue with ammonia. Put it in a dish. Put dish and laptop in a trash bag for a few hours. Your ants will be dead. [/QUOTE] Or if you have some plain old bug spray, spritz down the inside of an empty cardboard box large enough for the laptop, insert laptop and seal it up for a few hours. If you are worried about dead ants inside (i wouldn’t) open up the case and blow it out a bit.