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Best ant spray

Updated: 22 October 2026

A best ant spray, here, is the ready-to-use listing that names the insecticide and prints a nest-transfer claim, at a low price per litre in this set. That conditional top pick is Deadfast Ant Killer Plus, 750 ml, at £6.00. It is the wrong bottle if you need a dried lacquer, or an indoor aerosol you already trust. The [Ant spray](/hub/pest-control/ant-spray) comparison holds the table. The [ant killer spray buying guide](/hub/pest-control/ant-spray/sub/ant-spray-buying-guide) refuses a single winner. Peter F., editor for DIY & tools at productscompared.co.uk, did not run a laboratory test. Prices are the saved amazon.co.uk listings. A purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

A best ant spray, here, is the ready-to-use listing that names the insecticide and prints a nest-transfer claim, at a low price per litre in this set.

Our top picks

Deadfast Deadfast Ant Killer Plus Spray 750 ml

Best overall

Deadfast Deadfast Ant Killer Plus Spray 750 ml
8.4/10about £6.00
View offer
Doff Doff Ant & Crawling Insect Killer Spray 1 litre

Best value

Doff Doff Ant & Crawling Insect Killer Spray 1 litre
6.4/10about £6.00
View offer
Dethlac Dethlac Insecticidal Lacquer 250 ml

Alternative

Dethlac Dethlac Insecticidal Lacquer 250 ml
7.2/10about £7.90
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.The criterion, not the stars
  2. 2.Who should buy the litre or the indoor can
  3. 3.Who should buy the lacquer instead
  4. 4.What best does not mean

The criterion, not the stars

The job is ordinary black-garden-ant trails, indoors and out: a trigger you do not mix, a listing sentence that workers carry the product back, and a low price per litre. Deadfast is £6.00 for 750 ml, about £8 a litre, with 4.5 from 741 reviews. It names lambda-cyhalothrin and a microencapsulated residue, and it says workers take the poison to the nest. No other kept listing prints both. Garden Health's page, not the Amazon card, puts a nest effect at two to three weeks if you leave the band, and describes indoor and outdoor paths. The saved place-of-use field is blank, so read the bottle. Stars are not the test.

Who should buy the litre or the indoor can

Skip Deadfast when you want the most millilitres per pound. Doff's 1 litre is also £6.00, about £6 a litre, with 4.4 from 734 reviews, and the saved page does not name the active. Doff's own site has described cypermethrin and excludes pet bedding and food-contact surfaces. Read the bottle, and Doff is the volume choice. If the listing must name the insecticide, stay with Deadfast. Raid's six-pack is £21.09, about £12 a litre, with 4.7 from 795 reviews and an indoor title, and no active on the card. Tesco's separate 300 ml page names cypermethrin and imiprothrin and says indoor only. Do not copy that text onto the Amazon card, and do not take the six-pack onto the patio.
Deadfast Deadfast Ant Killer Plus Spray 750 ml

Testsieger

Deadfast Deadfast Ant Killer Plus Spray 750 ml
8.4/10about £6.00
View offer

Who should buy the lacquer instead

Choose Dethlac when you want a dried film the bullets say survives rain and mopping. The 250 ml can is £7.90, about £32 a litre, with 4.2 from 5,593 reviews, and it names pyrethrins and deltamethrin. It is a poor buy if you priced a lacquer as a litre of patio knockdown. Skip it on soil, grass, and uPVC. The Raid twin pack, £8.30 for two 300 ml cans, has no place of use, no active, and a title that reads Intant.

What best does not mean

Best on this criterion does not mean the queen is dead this afternoon. Garden Health's nest timing is two to three weeks, and you leave the band while ants still cross it. Ants dead in a minute are the contact kill. BPCA treats a general ant spray as a knockdown the nest can replace. Deadfast is the labelled exception on that clock. It also does not mean the spray is safe around pets or children. HSE tells authorisation holders not to call a biocide non-toxic, harmless, or natural. The listing does not answer the pet or child question, and reviewers mention a strong smell. Limits for food and animals are on ant spray in the kitchen with pets. If the ants are back and the job is the hidden nest, the next decision is ant spray vs ant bait.

Common questions

Which of these five is the top pick, and for what job?
Deadfast Ant Killer Plus, 750 ml at £6.00, is the top pick when the listing names lambda-cyhalothrin and says workers carry it to the nest. It is the only card here with both, at about £8 a litre. It is the wrong pick for a lacquer or an indoor aerosol you already use.
Why not the Raid pack with more stars?
The six-pack has 4.7 from 795 reviews, ahead of Deadfast's 4.5 from 741. Stars are not the test. The pack is £21.09, the title says indoor use, and the listing does not name the active. A higher rating does not add a nest sentence the card does not print.
Why not Dethlac, which has thousands of reviews?
Dethlac has 4.2 from 5,593 reviews and a film that stands up to rain and mopping. That is a narrow dried band, at about £32 a litre from a £7.90, 250 ml can. Review volume does not turn a lacquer into the trigger with a printed nest claim. Skip it on soil, grass, and uPVC.
Is Doff the better buy because the bottle is a full litre?
On millilitres per pound, yes. Doff is £6.00 for 1 litre, about £6 a litre, and the saved listing does not name the active. Choose Doff when you will read the bottle. Choose Deadfast when the named active and the nest line are why you pay about £8 a litre.
What if I only spray indoors and already use red Raid?
Stay with the indoor aerosol if the room matches the title and you accept £21.09 without an active on the card. Deadfast's Amazon place-of-use field is blank, and reviewers report a smell you clear the room for. An indoor job you already solve with Raid does not need this pick.
Does best mean it kills the queen today?
No. The maker's nest timing is two to three weeks, and you leave the band while pests remain. Ants dead in the first minute are the ones the spray touched. If the species might be Pharaoh or ghost ants, the next step is a pest professional.

Related pages

Ant spray

Ant killer spray buying guide: trigger, aerosol, film

How to use ant killer spray on the trail, not the air

Ant spray in the kitchen with pets: food, dogs, fish

Ant spray vs ant bait when the trail is back next day

Sources

Public UK sources used for this comparison. Shelf prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures captured for these five listings. Last checked 19 October 2026.

  1. HSE biocidal labelling (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. HSE home and garden pesticides (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. BPCA ant identification (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. BPCA ant control advice (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. Deadfast Ant Killer Plus Spray (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. Dethlac aerosol (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. Tesco Raid Ant and Cockroach Killer 300 ml (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. Waltham Forest garden ant fact sheet (retrieved 19 October 2026)