RSS Feed
How to Get Rid of Gnats
(6 votes, average: 4.17 out of 5)
Loading ...
Gnats are very much in need of a public relations department. Actually, a gnat could be one of several different small flying insects that are related in those biology classifications. The most common are called fruit flies and some types are called fungus gnats or vinegar flies. Regardless, they are always pests. They are completely harmless in every way except that they are one of the most annoying insects on the planet. They tend to buzz around our heads, clumsily bouncing off of our faces and occasionally get into our ears. The gnat has an average life span of around four months. It would be a very rare and unusual thing to see just one gnat flying around. This is because they spend most of those four months laying eggs. Each gnat can lay between two hundred and three hundred eggs during its life.
Most gnats love the smell of rotten food. It’s their main choice as a place to eat and to lay eggs. This is why you see them so often around your trash cans and sink drains. Most likely they are busy laying eggs there. They also seem to like over-watered plants. Since they really do not serve any practical purpose, are pests, and you’re reading this guide; you most likely want to get rid of them. The best way to get rid of gnats is to not let them come around in the first place. If you cover you trash cans, wash out you sink, and don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink, you shouldn’t have to worry about them. Also make sure not to over water your plants. If somehow, despite all your preventive measures, you still have gnats inside your home, there are several ways to go about getting rid of them.
- Nuke Them. This is a good choice if you just have a few that wander in from outdoors. Just about any flying insect spray will kill them and very quickly. If the situation becomes an infestation, a fogger might be a better way to get the job done. If you use a spray and have pets make sure that you check the labels, and follow all directions for safe use. A less caustic approach would be to use insecticidal soap sprays.
- Track Them and Kill Them. If you’ve got a swarm, you need to eliminate the source. It seems gnats are attracted to vinegar. Fill a jar almost to the top with vinegar, poke several small holes in the lid and then set it out. The gnats will come to the jar, wiggle down into the hole, and will not be able to climb back out. Set several of these traps around your home and monitor them to determine where the highest concentration is and use that information to find the source. Understand that the gnats that pester you in your home require moist or wet organic material in which to breed – it could be anything from a grimy drain to the drip pan under your refrigerator. Check your door and window seals also – they could be breeding right outside and wandering in.
There are other home remedies that have met with success, but most of them use vinegar, and work pretty much like the vinegar trap above. Mixing a half cup of vinegar and a tablespoon of Dawn dish detergent attracts the gnats. They will feed on the mixture and die. Apple cider vinegar and baking soda works also. Be careful with this one. Vinegar and baking soda react and foam up, so make your mixture slowly. A cup of ammonia poured down the kitchen sink can also encourage the little pests to go elsewhere.
Gnats are harmless pests, and like many such household pests, the best way to get rid of them is to prevent them from coming around in the first place. It takes just a bit of protective sanitation to take away their breeding grounds. Also, most commercial flying bug sprays will wipe them out with little or no trouble.
oh yes, and make sure you identify the right type of Gnat you have!
Fruit flies are definitely attracted to vinegar so that trick works, but the kind I have doesn’t respond at all, they get caught in that oil trap just cause it seems they are blind and fly into it accidentaly.
If your flies come from your plants, they are most likely not fruit flies!
ARRRRRRRRGGGG is all I can say.
In my other appartment, the moment a dirty dish or fruit would stay out in the open too long, we were SWARMED with fruit flies/gnats.
We did the vinegar trick which killed quite a few of them but what ultimately worked was just being clean and not letting fruit out.
I moved to a new appartment, my mother in law gave us a plant as a housewarming gift. Since it outgrew its original pot, we bought dirt at home depot and repotted in a bigger pot. HOLY S***! never buy home depot dirt! We are now infested with another kind of Gnat I hadn’t seen before (i’m guessing fungus gnats) and i just squished one AGAIN on my screen. They look so much like tiny mosquitos, it’s frightening.
So right now, I have a little container put upside down on the dirt of the plant and i covered it in oil, as they hover over the dirt (that’s where they all are most of the time) they get caught in the oil and die!
When it stops raining for a few days, I’m gonna go get sand from the next door park, and I am gonna try that tip of putting like an inch of sand above the dirt to hopefully kill them all. Can’t repot because the only new dirt I can get is from home depot, and that’s how this all started!!!
If the sand doesn’t work, I will just get rid of the plant because it’s driving me nuts!!! I always feel like the place is dirty when little flies are everywhere.
Oh MY goodness… I have done everything change the pipes under the sink, scrubbed th paint off the walls, I have tried the ammonia trick … it seemed to work for a brief moment HELP!! I am going to try the vinegar and dawn now! details later… LOL I HATE GNATS!
I guess there are different gnats because mine cared NOTHING for any vinegar, beer, fruit or other such items I tried to trap them with. Mine only cared about pure water and my plants. I discovered that my house plants’ soil was the host. I tried dish soap in my plant water as suggested by another post and it did absolutely nothing. I got a tip from another site and I repotted all my plants outside then topped the soil with an inch of pure sand. The next day there was only a few I killed by hand and the next day there was none. You should have seen the infestation in my plants and half of them almost died. The gnats didn’t care for the cactus, I guess because I let the soil stay dry a lot longer. So if your annoying gnats are hanging around your plants I suggest this painstaking, but worth it, remedy.
I just moved in and having trouble with everything! Infested with fleas, mice and now gnats! Battling all of it everyday. To lighten the situation and add humor I discovered Shop Vac Tai Chi! As I was fighting fleas I would seven dust or use flea powder on my floors and have to vacuum it up. In the process I thought “what if I just vacuum the little sucker gnats?” So the kids get a kick out of watching me in the kitchen chasing them. You have to do it slowly or they run but it seems to be keeping the numbers down and be visibly rid of them for a few hours anyway. Which is especially nice if you’re expecting company. It’s kind of satisfying to hunt them down and eliminate them. I’ll try the vinegar in the sinks and the jar thing seemed to work once couple years ago. Mine started with bananas I think.
I am going crazy trying to deal with these gnats. thanks for the tips.
I just recently aquried gnats, I first noticed them in the kitchen, drivivng me crazy. So I wiped everything down inthe kitchen then I discocered under my sink was leaking so I got that fixed and they almost immendently went away but I came home from hanging out all weekend and they were back ten fold. I tried the spray and the fogger I notice a little less but still there I can’t turn my heaad while im eating my house is clean.
We are having the same problem at my mom’s house. These bugs are EVERYWHERE! Swarms of them! Hundreds! As I’m typing, I’m having to swat with one hand and type with the other! Any you can’t eat, because they swarm your food! I’m having to eat with a paper towel over my plate and sneak a bite as fast as I can! HELP!!!
I’m so sick of trying to eat dinner with gnats sworming my food. I was told to place a rotten banana in a plastic bag and leave it out. Supposedly the gnats would come to the banana and while they were in the bag you could tie it up and take it elsewhere. I got tired of looking at the bag on my counter so I gave up, but maybe someone else could find some luck with this tip. You’re supposed to leave the bag out for several days. Good Luck!
I just used the vineger test and in 15 minutes or so I caught a gnat they are all over my house and it is driving me up the wall.. so i would try the vinegar trap!!!!!!!!!