How can I get Rid of Gnats?


Of all the flying pests, gnats might be the most annoying. Though they're harmless, they hover and buzz around our heads, driving us crazy. Gnats are also known as vinegar flies or fruit flies because of their attraction to the smell of rotten food. This explains why they particularly enjoy the areas around drains and trash cans.

Gnats are most commonly found around fruit, saturated house plants, compost piles, and other rotting, smelly food or plants. The problem is there's no such thing as one gnat. In fact, one gnat can lay two to three hundred eggs in its two to four month life span. If you frequently see gnats hovering around your sink drain or trash can, there's a good chance they're laying eggs inside your home.

If you don't want gnats around, you have to cut off their food supply. This means fruits and vegetables have to go in the refrigerator or a bin the bugs can't penetrate. Make sure house plants stay damp, but not wet, and they must have the proper drainage. Gnats just love over-watered house plants. Empty trashcans regularly and don't allow rotting food to sit in the house. Make sure all trash receptacles and sink drains are cleaned thoroughly, and don't have any old rancid food stuck to them. Never let dirty dishes stand in the sink.

Your best recourse is chemicals. The supermarket and hardware stores have several flying insect spray options for you to choose from. Just about any one of these will take care of your gnat problem. Be sure to check the back of the label to make certain it isn't harmful to pets. If your home is experiencing an all-out infestation, you may need to look into a fogging product. This will require you to seal off cabinets and anywhere else food and eating implements are stored. Be sure to take the pets and leave the house for the day.

You can also get rid of gnats by using products found around the home. Since they are attracted to the scent of vinegar, fill a jar with vinegar and poke holes in the lid. The gnats will climb into the jar, but they won't be able to climb out. For those that remain in the house, try putting vegetable oil around your kitchen sink drain. Gnats finding themselves coated in the oil will be unable to breed. If you're not interested in potentially clogging your drain with vegetable oil, pouring a cup of ammonia down your kitchen sink is said to get rid of any flies hovering around that area. Let it sit for a couple of hours before using the sink again.

Gnats are a source of irritation for many, but you don't have to let this happen to you. Dispose of food properly and don't over water your house plants. If gnats do get in the house, act quickly before one or two bugs become an infestation. Save your irritation for something else... like mosquitoes.

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Discuss this Article

73
we came home from vacation and i found my cactus dead in my bathroom and i got rid of it

now i have a few gnats in every room

i think i might use some syrup and cover it with a plastic wrap.

- anon35140
72
I am having a big gnat problem in my kitchen..It came as a surprise one day!

For a trap I used: Some water+Strawberry Syrup and covered it with plastic wrap.

I put some holes in the wrap with a pen. This morning I found hundreds of the irritating beasts floating on the surface. Hopefully, a lot more tomorrow and then I will be alright. This seems to be working for me!

- anon34572
71
How can you say "gnats are harmless" and then talk about how dangerous their bites can be?? Any bug that bites is not "harmless"; neither is any that can drive you to distraction by buzzing into your eyes, ears and nose.
- anon34569
70
this is my second summer with a bad gnat problem. last year, i tried all the apple cider vinegar/water/dishsoap mixtures that are out there. pouring bleach down the drains helped for a day or 2. mostly i had little to no luck. this year, i've had my drains snaked & poured straight Ortho Home Defense down the drains as well.

today i nearly went crazy trying to kill one these little buggers that is attracted to my monitor. i just sent my b/f to the store for more bleach. the only trick i haven't tried is the boiling water. i'm going to give that a shot.

i think it is a matter of staying on top of your game with these insects. i'm going to bleach/boil them out every couple of days even if i haven't seen them. kill them like it is your job!! good luck to us all!

- anon34511
69
Does anyone have gnats that are attracted to light bulbs? We keep finding little black flying bugs by our two table lamps and on the mirror (w/the lights above) in the bathroom. I will try the vinegar "trap." Thanks.
- anon34375
68
Basically, two things cause's gnat issues: Excessive water and rotten or moldy things. I would check under the house for a leaky pipe, dead animal, and unsealed areas of the flooring. If your home is on a slab it could have developed a crack that is allowing moisture/mold to seep in. Check attics for the similar problems. Find and repair holes in screened porches. A screened in porch should have a screen under the porch if constructed from decking boards. If your yard holds excessive water treat with small amounts of sand or in some cases a drainage ditch or French drains may be needed.

Keep the length of the grass short as possible. Flower beds and plants should be watered in the mornings and fully dried by the end of the day. Keep in mind that some mulch can hold water for weeks, even during droughts. Gnats like to harbor in most types of mulch. Pour bleach down all drains and let sit for a few hours. Use a spray to remove gnats from inside home or use one of the many home remedies available. Check your plants for excessive water. Check and clean anything that is rotten or moldy.

The most important part is finding the source first and then treat for gnats. If found in potting soil, you can use many chemicals available to treat the soil such as seven dust. Just read the label and follow the directions. Re-potting the plant is also another way.

Sources: 10+ years exterminating

- anon34329
67
I just tried several suggested gnat trap "recipes" and a couple of my own concoctions, as I didn't have all ingredients. After one hour, the winner, by far, was *balsamic vinegar.* The apple cider vinegar and soap had one, the others, none; but the balsamic vinegar has about 20-25, plus others resting on the lid of the cup(two straw-sized holes in top), waiting for their turn. Yea!! Hope this one helps someone else. Thanks for all the great ideas!
- anon34125
66
try mean green, i killed a few that way..you can buy it anywhere from 1.00-2.00 at least in my area.
- anon33322
65
Please...Need help...We are being besieged by Buffalo gnats that are so thick that when we go out into the yard they try to get into your mouth and nose and ears. You can feel them in your hair!!!! But wait, it gets even worse! They bite and they raise terrible welts or bumps for days that itch and hurt like no mosquito bite ever did. It is horrible and my dogs are trying to find places to hide. Have tried Vanilla and Listerine. Anything else that anyone knows about? Makes it impossible to enjoy flowers, animals, anything outside. No gnats inside house at all. This is a different thing all together than the fruitfly gnat that you have inside the house sometimes.
- anon32903
64
I also have problems with gnats outside, I've found cooking vanilla to keep the gnats away from me.
- anon32628
63
I have had a problem with these things for at least four days now. I really started to notice them on Thursday morning, and I thought that perhaps I was a bit smelly. Also, the night before I had to throw out a pound of rotten meat. Because Friday is garbage day, and there are usually two or more dogs in our yard I decided to wait and throw out the trash until Thursday.

Well I woke up bright and early Thursday, got rid of the trash and then cleaned the apartment top to bottom; spotless (though it wasn't too bad before). Then I took a shower. But they are still here.

It is not a ton of them, but every time I kill one (which is all I have seen at a given time) another one shows up out of thin air. They don't even bug my roommate, but are driving me nuts. And so far, I have had more luck catching them with a glass of water rather than the vinegar.

Also, our pipes are old and the bathroom sink and tub back up very badly (another problem with seemingly no solution). I'm going to try the boiling water trick tonight to see if that works for us. I just don't understand. I use bleach to clean because we don't have pets or kids and I like the clean scent. None of our plants are over watered, and we are generally clean people. Could the people living downstairs be attracting them for both apartments?

- anon32573
62
No one seems to answer the questions about outdoor gnats. I can't even sit out on my porch without the things driving me nuts. I don't have them in my house, what do I do outside so that I can have some peace?
- anon32561
60
I tried this apple cider thing and it *does not* work. I'm at my wits end with these things. They are driving me nuts! Please help...
- ycart
59
This has been kind of helpful... I have a ton of house plants. I also have a very severe gnat problem... I have tried everything to get rid of these pesky little buggars.. Potato skins and vinegar. I have also used bug spray etc. I can't seem to get rid of these pesky little intruders... Please help.

I saw that you can use sand? Also I'm going to try the apple vinegar and fly paper trick... I don't want to throw my plants out.. I do not over water. I just would love to kill these creatures.. Thank you Leah

P.S I tried the soap water yesterday.

- live2fast
58
we have been bitten by buffalo gnats, but after hearing they do not like the smell of vanilla i put imitation vanilla spice on the bill of my cap and they left me alone. also vanilla candles work.
- anon32128
57
I have had these little monsters for about a week and they are maddening! They are all over the apartment but they seem to be focused in my bathroom, in the other bedroom. Ive taken all the tips here and put them to use, so far I'm not sure. I hate to call an exterminator b4 I try all home options. Thanks to everyone here for the great advice.
- NortonsGLeg
56
If you don't mind wasting a beer, pour half to 3/4 of any beer into a tall glass and leave it on the counter. Gnats are attracted to something in the beer but cant swim, or they're just too drunk to! Either way they die. This might take 2-3 days but I've done this many times and it always works for me! Good luck!
- anon31208
55
If you have gnats or fruit flies in your house, pour full strength chlorine bleach in all sinks and tub drains and let it stand a while before turning on the water. And if you have a refrigerator ice maker that dispenses Ice through the door, make sure to clean the ice dispenser in the door. If there is a removable grill where you set the glass to receive ice, clean it and underneath it. A small place, but drinks spilled there collect and fruit flies love it!
- anon30049
54
*Thank God for this blog!!* I have been fighting these pesky bugs for at least two months now with no clue as to where they were coming from...until yesterday. We have a pretty large fish tank and I opened the lid to feed the fish and about 40 gnats flew out!!! After closer inspection, I found that there were *hundreds* of eggs on the inside ledge of the tank. Normally I can't see it because the top of the tank is above my eye level. I normally just open, feed and carry on. But after what I am assuming were newly hatched gnats flew out, I pulled up a step ladder to find the ledge literally *covered*! Of course now I have the task of removing the fish and scouring the tank.

I am seriously considering just giving the fish away and leaving the tank empty. These things are such a pain! So, if you have an aquarium or tank, check there as a source for these pests as well. In the meantime, I will definitely be doing the boiling water/clorox solution down all of my drains and fogging to try and get rid of the ones flying around.

- ndw0425
53
Gnats in plats. Let the pot become very dry, to the point the plant starts to wilt. Then pore 1/4 teaspoon to one gallon of Murphy's Oil Soap, into the soil. Cover soil with one inch of sand.

The gnats larva live off the roots of the plants, and will stay there for about five days.

Also, the gnats leave larva in the drainage tray of the plant, change this daily.

Another trick, slice up a potato, and lay on the soil, the larva will raise up, and eat the potato, throw potato away.

- anon28330
52
Just two weeks ago, I found these very small black insects that look like gnats or little mosquitoes in our kitchen by the door. There are probably a hundred of them. Some are still babies or maybe eggs and some have little wings. I have houseplants, but I don't believe they attracted the gnats because they are far away from the kitchen door. I checked the plants and there are no gnats on them either. I do however have potted plants outside about 4 feet away from the kitchen door. I wonder, how did these little creatures get in the kitchen? The door was always closed esp. during Winter. What I did was I always swept them into a trash bag and threw them in the bin, but in the next two days a new group has come in in the same spot and formation as if the ones I swept away came back. I think that I will try the apple cider vinegar. I will let you know what happens.
- anon28196
51
*Boiling water is the answer*!!! In all fairness, I did not try the other suggestions. I went with the simplest solution, first. Immediately, they were gone. Really!!!

Thank you!!!

- anon27593
50
After leaving town for 3 weeks, I returned to colorado mountain home to a room with a closed door that has millions of dead gnats all over the floor, from corner to corner, with some survivors around. The room is completely empty of food, water, plants, furniture. What are they eating, how did they explode in 3 weeks, what do I do to prevent after cleaning and bombing? This is so wierd.
- anon26662
49
I have a ton of gnats in my home. Tried the vinegar idea and it did not work for me. I want to try putting dish washing soap in my water when I water the plants. Anyone know is there is a particular kind of dish washing soap to or not to use?
- tdelvecc
48
I tried the cider vinegar in the bowl trick and it caught a lot of them, but the thing that finally got rid of them was the simplest solution. I poured a big pot of boiling water down my two kitchen sink drains twice a day for a week. I also kept the drains sealed with those little rubber drain stoppers 24/7 unless I was using the sink for something. I am pleased to say they are gone! We had such a bad swarm that I was very close to calling an exterminator. Try boiling water....it worked for me.
- anon23293
47
We have a gnat problem around our windows. I went to clean our windows and they were just everywhere around the windows. We have noticed a few flying around every now and then but today i spotted where they are coming from. Our windows. I dont know what to do. I cleaned the windows really well and just went back to check the windows and there was some already on the windows. My husband suggested we buy some clack and put around the window screens so they cant come in under the screens. Is that a good idea. please help. they are really bad in my daughters window in her room and i noticed her with little bites on her legs. I want to get this problem solved.
- anon23153
46
My gnats seem to be coming from my washer. There is a tiny herd of them atop my washer lid when I do a load of laundry. Can I pour bleach down there to get rid of them or what's the best route to take? Help!
- anon22927
45
I have a real Christmas problem. Our fresh Blue Spruce Christmas tree must've been home to some gnat nests. I discovered this when I had my fireplace up full boar and I was finishing trimming the tree. They were on my lamp, the window, the table, the ceiling...etc. I don't know how to go about getting rid of them? I need water at the base of the tree to keep it alive and I can't spray the tree with anything because it will ruin my ornaments! I'm going to try the vinegar in the jar, but if anyone has any better suggestion please let me know.

Thank you!

- anon22733
44
Hello ladies and gentlemen with Fungus Gnat problems like me! I tried the Green Works (1/8 cup), lime(1 tbs.), and water (1 & 1/2 cups) recipe today. I wanted to add mint, but didn't have any on hand. Even without the mint, the mixture smelled pretty good. I was following the recipe of a previous poster, but I made a half batch. I really hope it does not hurt my plants. I will post again in a few days and let you all know if it worked. I have never had this problem before and hopefully this will be the last time. Happy houseplant tending to you all.
- anon21174
43
Okay I have these lil pests in my house plants.. After reading a few of these posts I am going to try the Green Works mixture first.. I'll replace the first few inches of soil with sand and hope it works.. Thanks for the site..
- liltea
42
Wish I read this first...we've had a few gnats for a while and always wanted to know where they came from. My son was growing a potato plant, noticed it was rotting at the top, and figured the gnats were coming from it. Checked my house plants and noticed a lot of baby gnats crawling around one and threw it out. Really liked that plant...wish I read this blog first...
- anon21002
41
came home to find tons around a banana peel that had missed the trash can.. in a panic i reached for the safest chemical i could find. WINDEX!!

worked like a charm and it left a pleasant smell that could be wiped up. they really did 'drop like flies'

- anon20040
40
For everybody who tried vinegar and it didn't work, you need to use Apple Cider vinegar (or just cider vinegar as it's the same thing). That is the only kind of vinegar that will guarantee success. Also the hole in your trap may have been too big so that they were going in and then flying back out (sneaky critters). Vinegar traps will quickly wipe out an infestation of hundreds in the matter of one to two days if the traps are changed a couple times a day and the holes made so that flies or gnats go in and not out. Also there are several different bugs all classified as gnats but that are actually very different. I am not sure of all of them, just that the most common are mosquitoes and fruit flies (which are not the same species for he who said mosquitoes were just female gnats) but also several other types of small flying insects are under the category. The vinegar will work great for fruit flies which is most likely the problem, but I'm not sure about other kinds of gnats. It's possible you will have to kill one and compare pictures.
- anon19882
39
how can you get rid of the gnats that fly around your face when outside we have them on the playground at school so much that they drive us all crazy ..no food or standing water out here?
- anon19844
38
to anon15232, it sounds like some kind of mold. Something that might have become a different texture with the moisture from your pipes.
- anon19662
37
I tried the vinegar in a jar too. I grabbed an old glass pickle jar (smelled like vinegar already) and added 1/2-inch of white vinegar to it. I poked holes in the steel lid and put it by the sink. No joke, within 2 minutes a gnat had flown across the room and into the jar! Too funny.
- anon19515
36
Thank you, everybody who posted their experiences. I tried the fruity wine/fly paper remedy for gnats with limited success, although it did work better than the fly paper alone. (Actually I use Victor Indoor Fly Traps.) Then one day I poured boiling water down the drains and shazam! that worked great. Dozens of tiny black specks showed up on the fly trap and bathroom counter (dead baby gnats, RIP). So I poured boiling water down all the drains in the house and all we see now is the occasional gnat which rides into the house with one of us or comes in on plants. -- Gail
- anon19126
35
My husband and I have spent the last half hour squirting hoards of gnats with hairspray. They drop on contact. It smells better than bleach... and it's very satisfying!
- anon19021
34
OH my so glad to see im not the only one, this is my 1st new built home and its still a construction building area and ive got them in the kitchen I was told it was my fruit but there no where near where I keep it, but to make sure I put all fruit in the fridge, I took out the trash can and was told to pour bleach down the drain as just using a rain flying spray didnt seem to work well, but so far the bleach seems to have done the most its the second day of trying to rid my kitchen, def go for bleach down the drains and stop there food source, as a preventive measure we sprayed the flying raid stuff around the drain hose of my washer as who knows if the water is stale back there as you often get small drainage there and we did the bath room sinks to, there a real pest, I apologize to the fly i thought they where the most annoying pest ever but im wrong!
- anon19003
33
We have gnats due to my love for houseplants. I don't mind them but it drives my husband insane.

So I created the AllNatural Gnat Destroyer potion! =D Seriously, take an empty spray bottle. Put in a NATURAL dishsoap (I use Green Works by Chlorox)- about 1/4 cup. You need to use one that is all-natural or it will kill your plants and not be safe to mix. 3 cups water. 2 tablespoons crushed mint. 2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice.

Spray on soil of houseplants, and hit those darn gnats directly in the face with it. Because it has mint in it, it also deters them from coming back (and makes your house smell good). Doesn't hurt plants (I spray it directly on the soil), doesn't hurt children, pets, or even if you have beneficial insects (I have a tiny "pet" spider that I keep by my window to get little bugs that might get in through where the window got stuck and doesn't shut all the way. I sprayed it near him and he didn't mind a bit.)

- anon18504
32
I have cups sitting all over my house with vinegar and dishwashing liquid and dead gnats. But, I think they are coming back through eggs in the drain. So do I just pour vegetable oil or ammonia down the drain and let it sit all night? Should that work?
- anon18379
31
I guess my gnats were different than most. They really only seemed interest in water and my plants. The dish soap water in the plants was no help what so ever. And NONE of the traps of vinegar, or beer, or lemon, or wine, worked AT ALL, not one gnat. But I tried the tip from another anonymous post to put sand over my plants and it worked! I repotted them first though, and outside, then put 1 inch of sand. The next day there was only five gnats that I killed by hand and now they are gone. Yippee, at least one tip worked. So if you live in Colorado and have gnats around and in your plants the traps might not work, but it was easy to try. Repotting and sanding all my plants was a lot of work, but it was worth it! Gnats are sooo annoying.
- anon18354
30
I tried the suggestion posted by robinson6553 about the apple cider vinegar and lemon juice combo in the coffee can with a fly strip and it worked miracles!!!!!! I'd suggested it to everyone!
- anon18343
29
Years ago my mom had a large old fashioned ceramic pitcher which we used as a decoration in the kitchen. Somehow, without our realizing it, a banana had fallen down into the well of the pitcher. We kept seeing these little bugs everywhere but couldn't locate the source. It was just driving us crazy. Then, in a frenzy of cleaning everything, my mom looked into the pitcher and was horrified to see hordes of these things. Of course the banana had gone bad and attracted the gnats, or whatever they were. It was really disgusting, but we got what was left of the banana and began to clean the pitcher. It took repeated washing with bleach to clear them out completely. When it was clean we removed the pitcher from the kitchen so nothing like that could happen again. After that there wasn't a problem. Thank God for bleach!
- tommyjane
28
I've had problems this time of year 3 years in a row. I left stale beer with Dawn dish soap in it on the counter this morning and about 1/2 hour later it had about 20 in it and drawing more all the time. Works much better than vinegar with Dawn. I didn't have any luck with that one. Good luck!
- tbird78
27
EXPERIMENT: Take some sticky duct tape. Using a magic marker put black spots all over the sticky side. Make it look like flies with wings. Hang it up and see what happens. Scientists say that gnats are attracted to other gnats congregating in one spot (which is true). This fakes them out and they get stuck to the tape - maybe.
- anon17551
26
There are a group of annoying gnats that are not interested in food, sweets, vinegar, etc. They are small and fly around your face but hardly ever land on you. They come out of your sink drains. They are called drain gnats. They are most common within 1-mile of a waste treatment plant in your town. They are the product of poor waste handling techniques and you need to bring it to the station's mgmt. Canvas your neighbor's to see if they have them too. You can only keep the drains plugged up or use a special insecticide to kill them. They come from a long way out of your sewer line back to the processing plant. They are VERY common but people are not aware of their origin. Try Googling DRAIN GNAT.

BTW - The mosquito is a female gnat in case you didn't know.

- anon17549
25
I am sooo freaked out. There are tons of these little things flying around my kitchen. I fogged my house last night only to wake up to find some of these gross little things still alive. Some one please tell me what to do. I dont understand what is causing them or where they are coming from. I'm about to pack my stuff and move out!!!
- scontroversy
24
I had a professional spray for those little irritating and disgusting winged creatures. He sprayed everywhere. They were mostly hanging around the kitchen sink. Our garbage disposal had been out of order for about a week and the gnats were attracted to the things stuck in the drain. He said the spray should kill the gnats that were flying around. He also told me to pour boiling hot water (actually boiling not just hot) down every drain in the house to stop the eggs and larvae that he thinks are probably in the drain. I also poured bleach down the drains after the boiling water. This was just today and already I haven't seen those nasty little critters flying around. Good luck to you all.
- anon16515
23
This is the most precious blog and I haven't had this much fun laughing in years. What a spirit lifter! How funny. Actually, it's not that funny because I have gnats; one is flying around my head as I'm typing this right now. I don't understand why they follow me when I wake up in the morning. I'm clean, my bedroom's beautiful and clean, but there, there is Mr. Gnat, in my face and following me to the bathroom and kitchen as soon as I get up. Are they after any chemical scent or oils in the human body? Nevertheless, I'll be employing many of the suggestions here, right away. Think I'll get 'em drunk off the wine, first. Very funny site. I never thought I would end up on a Gnat blog site, blogging about this, but you never know.
- anon16281
22
My kitchen had been taken over by gnats. We went away for the weekend and had left apple peel in the disposal without disposing it. It was awful. After reading this article I Took a container about the size and shape of a large coffee can and poured vegetable oil in it and turned it so that all of the inside was coated. Then I poured out the excess into the sink drain. After that I poured apple cider vinegar and lemon juice into the bottom in equal parts. It really smelled like rotting fruit! Then I hung a flystrip almost touching the liquid right in the center of the container using butcher twine to extend it from the ceiling. In about 20 minutes I didn't see anymore gnats flying and the fly strip was practically covered. There were a few gnats stuck in the oil on the sides of the container but it really worked! I'll probably keep it up for a couple of days just to make sure I get them all. I will keep pouring the vegetable oil in the sink for about a week since that covers the hatch time for the eggs.
- robinson6553
21
Put a layer of sand on top of soil of all potted plants. The gnats can't lay eggs and it keeps the soil moist for the plants. It worked for me, though I found you need a good half inch of sand. The quarter inch suggested to me would allow for soil exposure when watering. I had to add more to get rid of the nasty little buggers.
- anon16117
20
my gnat problem started in my cat's litter box. now they are everywhere!! in the kitchen sink and her litterbox! i was so shocked when i was cleaning out the litterbox because hundreds of these nasty things were swarming and i dont even know where they came from! but they are soooooo nasty!!! uuuggghhh!
- anon16009
19
these little critters are the worst. i use lemon slices in a small dish or ramekin, covered with plastic wrap, and with a 1" diameter hole at the top. Leave it open for a few hours, mid day works best, and then cinch the top when enough gnats are trapped inside. You can repeat this process a few times. Caught about a 100, I kid you not, in a few hours time. Totally gross, but works. Lemons people.
- anon15916
18
Gnats do not have to lay their eggs in dirt - I picked up an old sippy cup left in our bathroom, opened the top and was horrified to see a few gnats come out and TONS of tiny brown eggs! I immediately took it to the sink - filled the sink with scalding hot water and strong bleach (because it was a good sippy cup!) and let it soak! Then I flushed everything down the sink and sprayed out the sink - BAD IDEA!!! 2-3 days later we had a ton of gnats around our kitchen sink - I should have just taken the cup outside immediately! I did not know that the eggs could live after scalding hot water and bleach! No sooner do we thoroughly sanitize one area then they go to another area! The vinegar idea did not work for us - but we plan on trying the fruit wine and hanging the paper fly trap over it!
- anon15412
17
I have gnats coming out of my bathroom sink. I tried pouring diluted Clorox down the drain and that seemed to work for awhile but now they're back so I'll try ammonia next. They also are occasionally on my office wall (which shares a wall with the bathroom). I live on the 2nd floor of an old 3 story building and have had a smell/oily residue type thing going on for a couple of years. It seems strongest near walls that contain pipes (kitchen/bathroom) It causes my cats to sneeze and be congested. I've had plumbers, the gas company, environmental companies. etc in here and no one has a clue as to what it is. When I lay on my couch for awhile, when I get up I feel it on my face. Any ideas?
- anon15232
16
My mom gave me the idea to put dish soap in the water that I use to water the plants. It worked for me a couple of years ago and it kept me from having to throw my beautiful plants away. I have the pesky things back this year; however, they do not seem to be swarming my plants this time. I did use the dish soap in my plant water and am going to try the vinegar idea.
- anon14425
15
we have what we think are gnats all over our back porch, whenever we go outside they crawl all over us, it's disgusting!!!! they are tiny and black and have the tiniest wings. we are not sure if they are gnats or not, but we just got them today. we live out in the country in kansas and it's not an apartment. we have never ever had them before.
- anon14219
14
we live in nyc. since november we have been plagued by gnats. very puzzling. they do not go near any food. we have a dog who eats promptly and has her bowl picked up for washing. trash is taken out daily. we have a few bromiliads and cacti....no standing water or overwatered plants.

the gnats sit on the walls in the kitchen and living room. i find dead ones on the window sills. the windows are all double glazed and shut. we've closed off the kitchen exhaust fan.

i'm trying the vinegar remedy today.

- francyne
Editor's reply: i wonder if you have a neighbor who is attracting them? i'm assuming you live in an apartment in nyc.
13
Gnat free! I figured it out. Gnats love fruity wine. put about 1 inch or so of wine in a straight-wall glass, perhaps 2 or 3 inches or so in diameter. set the wine glass on a counter. buy a tube of fly paper, the kind that pulls out in a curly ribbon with the glue on the paper, hang that fly paper over the wine glass, with the fly-paper ribbon bottom hanging down in the glass, almost touching the wine.

In about 3 hours, I rid my house of gnats that flew into that glass and got stuck on the paper, I had hundreds, if not thousands of those critters.

I tried:

Just hanging fly paper in the open doesn't work... you might catch a few, like I did, but you won't get rid of many.

- carl894
Editor's reply: Thanks for the tip! I know we're all looking for non-chemical pest solutions, and I don't know about you, but I hate the smell of bug spray in my house!
12
OMG, I have gnats everywhere, in my bedroom on the walls I spray, spray, spray and they just will not go away. In my kitchen that I was forced to bleach real good they are on my cabinets but not near my sink and they are on my ceiling. In my bathroom on my washcloths and on the walls. I can't spray too much because we have 1yr old twins in the house, so we pretty much can't do a whole lot of spraying. I mean every 5 minutes I swatting and trying to catch them banging my hand on the walls and they just relocate from one spot to another, please HELP!!!! before they run me out my own home.
- anon6497
11
it seems like these annoying pests just spring out of thin air! your bananas start turning a little brown, and there they are! do they come in from the store, or just simply find their way in from outside? it never ceases to amaze me how these little critters just come from nowhere. i live in the midwest, and don't tend to see them during the winter...do nats and/or their eggs go dormant during the cold weather?
- olittlewood
10
gnats in my bedroom.....
- anon4525
9
i found using apple cider vinegar in a soda bottle works really well, its draws them down into the bottle and then they drown in the vinegar. also using fly strips near areas where they tend to be most of the time works REALLY well.

P.S. if you have pets that use a litter box, ie cats or ferrets make sure to change their litter daily because the gnats will lay eggs in their poop which can actually harm your pet when they hatch into larvae.

- anon4324
8
We get gnats every year, but they are particularly bothersome this year. I have found that gnats love a good cocktail. I make a Manhattan and cover if with saran wrap and punch holes in the wrap. This works better than the vinegar.

- anon4299
7
i have gnats in the bathroom, but cannot tell from where they are coming from, checked all drains and have no live plants. i'm baffled!
- anon3669
6
Help we have gnats in and around our screened porch and we are also finding them in our master bath. (in the tube , in the sink and on the floor)

I have tried the spraying and the vinegar in a jar and nothing seems to work.

They are driving us crazy and my husband has sprayed under the porch and all the surrounding areas.

We live on 5 acres and have many trees and plants outside. We have lived here for 11 years and never had this problem before.

We have no inside plants, we have no standing water as it has not rained here in Georgia for over a month.

- anon3375
5
hi there, i had these gnats in my BATHROOM SINK!!! i live in an apartment, and this infestation could be one of two reason.... those being: i sometimes pour my pet's water down the bathroom sink, to save time from running across the house, and perhaps the pet's water is better smelling???

and the other factor is: i believe we need a new sink. the plug on it doesn't work, and i think that causes the water not to drain properly(seems as it takes forever). i think that this is the landlord's fault. perhaps some pipe cleaner is in order,after the ammonia i will try tonight at work.

- anon3163
4
how can i get rid of the adult gnats that are laying eggs. Can i just change soil to organic how do I know they wont lay eggs there. Help. Got the vinegar thing down and catching the gnats but need to get the larve.
- anon2994
3
i tried the vinegar & it worked very well.
- anon2818
2
When using the vinegar in a jar, can we use a plastic cup with a lid on it? How many would you use?
- malik30
1
I thought that gnats laid their eggs in the dirt. If that is so, how do you kill the eggs in the soil? What if it's a house plant?
- anon1621

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