Thursday, May 2, 2024

How to Get Rid of Gnats in 2024, According to an Exterminator

why are there gnats in my house

Plus, keeping your produce in the fridge will also keep them away. Gnats are like flies in that they’re usually spurred to go indoors by what they perceive as tasty scents. These range from obvious to less obvious, but you can usually pinpoint what attracts them with little fuss. For this old-school trick, place a long tapered candle in a candlestick holder, then put the holder into a pan that's partially filled with water. Turn off all the lights and wait for the gnats to fly toward the flame. If they don't hit the flame directly, they'll fall into the water.

Insects That Eat Ants: In-Depth Look

Getting rid of fruit flies, getting rid of fungus gnats, and getting rid of gnats in plants are all possible, but why are they there? Sometimes called "no-see-ums" due to their tiny size, gnats are commonly confused with other flying pests. A gnat infestation is often fungus gnats, but your unwelcome flying visitors could also be drain flies, fruit flies, biting gnats, midges, or mosquitoes. Most gnats don’t bite, sting, or spread disease, but they’re still a nuisance, particularly indoors. These annoying insects are attracted to sweet smells, body heat, sweat, and other forms of moisture. Additionally, they can eat and lay eggs in nearly any kind of decaying organic matter, so they can be hard to get rid of.

Leave out leftover wine.

Fill an empty spray bottle with lukewarm water and mix in a few drops of mild dish soap. Spritz this lightly on gnat-infested plants, but be sure to come back two to three hours later to thoroughly rinse the leaves. Note that commercially-available sprays designed for houseplants are less likely to damage the plants than homemade sprays, even with mild dish soap. First, we’ll show you how to identify the type of gnats you’re dealing with. Then we’ll provide some strategies for exterminating them and preventing them from returning.

why are there gnats in my house

Candle Flame Trap

It won’t be much use if you aren’t taking other measures to repel and kill gnats. For aggressive gnat killing, you can mix water with a few tablespoons of vinegar and just a few drops of dish soap together in a spray bottle. Use this spray to kill individual gnats or groups that aren’t captured by your traps. Thankfully, there are methods to make your home less hospitable to gnats and other insects, as well as to eliminate the ones lingering around your kitchen and plants. Let’s check out how to repel and get rid of gnats indoors for good. One of the biggest pest control mistakes you can make when dealing with irritants such as gnats is leaving the problem to worsen.

why are there gnats in my house

Buy a Natural Trap

An Expert Guide on How to Get Rid of Gnats Inside Your House - Good Housekeeping

An Expert Guide on How to Get Rid of Gnats Inside Your House.

Posted: Mon, 15 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The No Natz Botanical Bug Repellant is an excellent choice for eliminating gnats if you don’t want to spray any harsh chemicals in your home. It’s no surprise gnats can get in through small spaces in window and door frames. Here are a few house projects for you to work on to avoid another gnat problem. At this point, you are ready to tackle the gnats inside your house. Since gnats are usually harmless, you likely want to correct the issue yourself.

We’ve all been there — you forget to throw out that old fruit or to take out the garbage and suddenly your kitchen is infested with gnats. But the first thing you’ve got to do before you go about getting rid of gnats is to make sure that the bugs in your home are, in fact, gnats. There are lots of little winged bugs, similar to fruit flies, that can get into your home.

They can also be found near sinks, drains, and toilets, since they can reproduce in the grime inside pipes. For fruit flies, try a similar method to lure and trap them. This is a good way to remind your household to eat fruit before it starts to spoil. Fruit flies are another pest commonly confused with interior or fungus gnats.

Be sure the hole isn’t very big, so they’re more likely to get trapped inside and not find their way back out. As such, the DocaScreen Fiberglass Screen Roll can be used for replacing the screen in windows, doors, or patios. It claims to strike the right balance between effective insect protection, sun screening, and visibility.

Look for a moisture source

Fruit flies are attracted to rotten fruit but love any sweet liquids, such as vinegar and red wine. Drain flies can be found buzzing around your home's drains, while midges are more likely to gather around standing water, such as your backyard's water features. For fruit flies, the easiest DIY option is a vinegar trap, which is simple and cost-effective to create. Simply place a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar, a few drops of dish soap, and a tablespoon of sugar in a bowl and stir. If you don’t have vinegar on hand, you can substitute red wine.

Light traps can be installed inside and outside to discourage gnats. Interior light traps will help keep inside gnats and other nuisance pest populations manageable. If you’re in a real battle with fungus gnats, using DE can help with the egg and larval stages of the fungus gnat’s life cycle.

For starters, you might be wondering how gnats get inside my house. Understanding the cause will help you better assess the situation and eliminate the pest from your home. There are several things that could be attracting gnats, but luckily it’s not hard to identify where the problem is and how to remove the gnats. Below, you’ll find all the information you need on the different kinds of gnat in your home and what has drawn them there. Gnats are also attracted to poor soil with inadequate drainage outside.

The good news is that there are multiple ways to eradicate gnats in and around your home. Consult your doctor if you have unusual itching, diarrhea, or stomach problems after you use insecticides to control house gnats. Furthermore, the following should be done to prevent house gnats. Drain flies can sometimes transmit disease, especially when the fly issue is severe. If they fall into food, they may cause an asthmatic reaction, adversely affecting swallowing and breathing.

Clean up dirty dishes, clean trash cans with bleach and let them dry, and trap gnats until they’re gone. Gnats fly in large numbers and often occupy soil and other wet areas. Though they’re not necessarily dangerous, gnats are hard to get rid of and are a nuisance.

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