Does anyone know how to keep gnats out of the house? They get in through the screens. I would like to know about natural ingredients to do this. Thank You.
Ann from MA
Put water in a shallow container, and pour in white vinegar and dish soap detergent. They smell the vinegar and go to the water, the dish soap pulls them in. They drown, no more gnats! It works! But you have to make sure there is no food out for them to go to instead; no dirty dishes with food, etc.
This also works outside on the ground for fleas! Use tiny shallow ones for places like window seals, or lids to mayonnaise jars, or those aluminum pie pans, etc., anything shallow. The more vinegar you put in, the more they go to it. The more dish detergent you put the more it pulls them in. I usually use a lid and 1 teaspoon for that size, just barely putting enough water in it not to run over. When you pour it out later pour it outside, but not down your drain, you don't want dead gnats in there stinking. But it works, try it. Lay them around where you are gardening or having a grill out and they will go to it and not get out! (05/10/2008)
By Julie
I found one that really works, and it's cheap! Put some apple cider vinegar in a small jar. Make a cone out of paper and put the small end in the jar. Don't let it touch the vinegar. The gnats will go in, but they won't be able to get out. (05/10/2008)
We have two Venus Fly traps in the kitchen. They seem to work great - they are definitely thriving! We have them on the counter where I put the fresh fruit and veggies. (05/10/2008)
By TracyInNH
They also can be found in houseplant soil. They are caused by a fungus. You will have to change the soil to get rid of the gnats. Look at the soil to see if they are crawling in the soil. If they are, this is the solution. Sometimes you can get rid of them by letting the plant soil dry out, but I do not like this method because it puts the plant under too much stress. Another method is to put a layer of sand on top of the soil. But again I still think changing the soil is the best answer. Hope this helps. (05/10/2008)
By Janette
I just thought that if you cannot control them and they do come through the screen, I would try spraying Hair Spray over the screen. I would think they would get stuck and not be able to get through!
Good luck. What a horrid problem. (05/13/2008)
By Monique
You can try this website which carries organic pest killers:
http://www.cleanairgardening.com/organicbuyers.html
(05/13/2008)
By Sherry
I've often heard about Skin So Soft from Avon doing the job on many insects, so I put a search on for it. I would probably spray this directly on my screens if it doesn't smell obnoxious. (05/13/2008)
By Bonnie Trott
Your biggest thing is to figure out where they are nesting at. More likely if they are in your home they are living a complete life cycle in your home (egg, larvae, pupa and adult). Check all your moisture areas. Crawl spaces, drains and house plants. More than likely they are mildew eating Gnats. If they are in your house plants stop watering and allow the soil to dry out, this will kill the complete life cycle, egg, larvae, pupa and adult.
By pestfreegogreen
I had gnats last year and I received the best sure fire cure. Lemon scented spray. Any lemon scented spray you have in your home. I use lemon scented ammonia and spray it in the kitchen and around the windows a few nights a week and I have not had any issues since. (06/29/2008)
By Tonya
I suggest fly ribbon, if you can find it, because it can hold up to 145 gnats at a time and works great. However, it may be hard to find and is not an easy cure. (07/09/2008)
By gnat killer
Using Dawn liquid dish soap with vinegar really does work, but I used lots of vinegar and soap. I filled up a small glass jar with vinegar and then squirted in quite a bit of dish soap. It felt like I was being wasteful, but it worked. My jar is sitting beside me right now and I have caught 15+ gnats in the last 5-6 hours. I noticed when I sit at my computer that the gnats like to drive me crazy so that is where I put my jar. It worked. This really does work, just more than the original amounts suggested. (07/20/2008)
By S
Take an empty CLEAR bottle, place a piece of a banana peel in the bottom. Make a small funnel out of a piece of paper with a very small gnat sized hole in the bottom. Tape around the funnel so they can't escape. They are too stupid to go back out of the hole. This will catch them! I had a gnat problem until I put one of these in all of the problem areas. (07/21/2008)
By Lisa Reed
My boyfriend and I had a huge gnat problem when we came home from vacation. The second day back we went to Panera Bread and he got a green tea with lemonade. There was a lemon inside the to-go cup, and when he finished, just left the cup on the table. The next morning there were probably about 10 gnats that went in and died since they couldn't get out!
By Alexis
I am struggling with gnats in my kitchen along with the rest of you reading this site. I reviewed contributors suggestions and then put them to the test. I set up a simple experiment more by accident than by design. Gnats appear to prefer white wine as evidenced by the 12 insects that plunged to their death over a 30 minute time period. The red vino only lured one hapless victim, and the funnel bottle with white wine technique captured nil in the same time period. Please note that equal volumes were used in each trap. Hence I am limiting my gnat snares to Pinot grigio. (07/28/2008)
By Colt
We always take a shallow bowl, fill it with apple cider and a few slices of banana with a little dish washing liquid, and cover it up with saran wrap and poke holes or make a slit with a scissor. They always go in there, so I highly recommend this method. (08/07/2008)
By Madison
You might want to purchase "Knock Out Gnats". It is supposed to work really well. (08/07/2008)
By Anne
Vinegar in shallow bowls was working slowly in our home, but Skin So Soft was a much quicker solution. I sprayed it on the window seals, sink and counter area. The gnats got weighed down by it and I was able to wipe up many of them right away. (08/12/2008)
By MO
I put some apple cider vinegar, soap, water, and bleach in a bowl. Will that work?
Editor's Note: I don't think the bleach would help. (11/07/2008)
I moved into a new apartment 3 months ago, leaving windows and my front door open w/the storm door locked for fresh air. By the time I realized it my place was infested with gnats from the uncleaned in 3 months birdbath directly downstairs below my door, and the not emptied in 3 months wheelbarrow in the side yard beside me (finally dry).
I've put plastic over all the leaky windows and tape around every outlet and light switch cover. I almost got video of one trying to get round my bathroom outlet, but it got stuck and quit moving, just joined the rest that are stuck. This entire building is infested and I've tried everything. One day I was decoupaging an electrical spool to make a coffee table and the dang gnats wouldn't stay out of the glue. So I have two plates of glue water under lamps, one in my living room and one in the bedroom.
I have dramatically cut my kill rate from 45/day to about 20 in the last couple of nights. Simply do a spiral of normal Elmer's or whatever and put enough water in to cover. They love it and are pretty much stuck immediately. And the glue will wash off the plate when the hunt is finished. They hang around my curtains during the day and I've been killing 30-50 of them per day since the 2nd week of October, two weeks after I moved here.
I also heard that they like to lay eggs on potatoes, so keep slices on another plate and toss down the toilet every couple days. Everyone, good luck! This is one of the worst household problems I've ever encountered. (01/18/2009)
By Debi
Try Skin So Soft by Avon. You can log onto the Avon website and purchase this product. It works well for keeping all types of bugs away. Use Repflyer to get free shipping on your order. Good Luck. (09/20/2009)
By Lauren
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