Help I Can't Get Rid of the Gnats!

I read in Martha Stewart and have tried this and it works!!!!In a jar put 1/2apple cider vinegar and 1/2 dish soap.Put on counter and watch.It is amazing.The gnats are drawn to it and enter in the jar and cant get out.I had them so bad from banannas from Walmart.There must have been eggs on them.Nasty.Good luck!!!!

Dear C.,

I think what you have is fruit flies. I have had them & they
are very hard to get rid of. The exterminator said it's hard
for them too. They tend to love the trash can so I would spray Raid in the bag & close it up real fast & throw it out.
They are also looking for water & I would see them in the bathroom too. After bombing my house several times I finally
just started hunting the little suckers. You have to be fast
though because I swear they have eyes in the back of their
little heads! It took me about a week but I finally got them
all. I don't know how they get into the house but they are a
pain in the butt. Good luck!

C.

My grandmother makes a gnat trap! She takes a small bottle and a small piece of notepad paper. She rolls the paper into a cone... big opening at one end, small opening on the other. Then she puts a piece of banana in the bottle and stops up the top of the bottle with the cone.

Gnats fly in but they can't get out!! Extra bonus is that you can make it into a kid craft and the kids like looking at their gnat trap!!

Good luck!

get a small bowl of viniger and add just 6 or 7 drops of dishwashing liquid and leave in window seal or on counter where they are and this attracts them and kills them somehow i did it and it worked well

They are probably fruit flys. You may have brought them in w/your grocerys. Pour baking soda and vinegar down your drain. You may have to do it for several days straight, but they will die. They are nesting in your drain so it will take a while to get rid of them all.

If you have a garbage disposal, lift out the black cover that is at the sink and the drain, it will be nasty looking-brown and black stuff all over it-bleach it off...that is where the gnats are living and breeding. Clean it everyday/every other for a week then-I clean it monthly or so after that. This is what my pest control guy told me to do. Good luck those little gnats are pesty little things!

C.,

Years ago a pest control man told me to pour a cup of bleach down each of my drains once a month and let it sit 10 minutes. After it sits in the drain, run the water about 3 seconds to let it get all the way through the pipes. He explained many of them come up from the sewers through your drains. I have done it ever since and we have no issues with pests. In fact, we don't need pest control anymore. Hope this helps!

C.

I recently had the same problem. After much research, I found a solution that worked. Put vinegarr in a disposable cup, cover it with saran wrap and poke holes in the top.(not too big) The vinegar attracts them and they crawl through the holes and can't get out. Also, pour a bleach/water solution into your drains at night and close them off. Rinse very well in the morning. It may take a couple of days to get rid of all of them, but it works.

It sounds like fruit flies. What works really well is to take a small bowl of dish soap and leave it out on the counter. They are attracted to the smell and then they drown in the soap.

Also, you can pour a little bleach down the drain, it will keep them from coming out.

Good luck!
E.

You have been given some great advice about how to get rid of gnats.

I have experienced this once before but it wasn't gnats, it was weevils. After doing everything similar to what these other gals have recommended for gnats, I finally went through my pantry and found a box of some old cake mix that weevils had gotten into. They were breeding in there and then would come out as flying bugs. So you might want to check all of the dry goods in your pantry and make sure they are all sealed well.

If in doubt, throw it out.
Good luck!

I have this problem also. I take a baby food jar. I put about an inch of apple cider vinegar in it. Add a drop or two of dish soap and mix. Set it next to your sink and watch it do its magic!!

Hey, I have used orange oil product that works great for all bugs in and out of the house. It is safe to use around kiddos and pets. I even use it around the sandbox for ants. I think the name of it is Orang Guard. Hope it works for you!

they will also lay eggs that hatch in any house plants you have so mix water and dish soap (not that much is needed) and water your plants with it. Won't hurt the plants but it rids the flying critters!

hi C.,
so i used to own a bar and this was a very common problem i used to run into. gnats are attracted to water and to anything sweet. if you have any standing water, any at all, even from flower vases or a small soap tray they will be there. one thing we did that seemed to be effective was putting a small amount of red wine in a shallow ramikin or cup and also a slice of lemon, then cover it tightly with saran wrap and poke tiny (toothpick size) holes in it. the gnats are attracted to the sweet wine and lemon so they crawl in the holes then they feed and are unable to fly out. we would change it out every day or so as needed. it really helped and it doesn't involve chemicals or anything nasty around your children. just be ready to explain why you have a cup of covered wine on your counter!!! good luck, -sam

We had the same problem some years ago, Do you have a drain in the house that doesn't get used much? If so that is your problem area, dump some bleach down that drain and then flush it out with water. I now do this about once a month and I haven't had the problem since.

Jen

Looks like everyone has their own ideas about getting rid of the gnats/fruit flies. I had them so bad that even when we were sitting in the den watching TV we were being bombarded by them. I started searching around the kitchen area and found that there was a sack of potatoes that had gotten shoved back had some rottens potatoes in it and was drawing the fruit flies. I got rid of them and searched the entire kitchen/dining area and anything that resembled fruit, I got rid of. It even looked like they were coming out of the vent in the dishwasher. After just few days, they were all gone, that was over a month ago and I am still gnat/fruit fly free. We tried the soapy water thing and a few were drawn to it, but getting rid of the fruit and veggies by putting them in the fridge or ziplock bags or throwing them out did the trick.

Good Luck

Good Luck

I have had the same problem. Get a small bowl and put it near the sink, keep it full of vinegar with a touch of lemon dish soap. The gnats are attracted to the vinegar and dive in, but cannot get out because of the soap. It works for me!

Good luck
S.

a condiment dish full of honey, traps the little suckers

Hi C.,
The bugs are out and about... I use essential oils both inside and out, on and off the skin. All natural and safe for family and pets. Essential oils have so many uses! Contact me and I can direct you to a great website that is full of testimonies of how others have used essential oils.

I had an attack of those for a few weeks. Turn on your disposal unit often, cover any and all food or vegetable peelings etc. Put the fuit in your fruit bowl in sealed bags...basically never leave out anything that could feed them. Then they'll die.

Pine-Sol & Water
1/2 & 1/2
Kills everything. Flies, roaches...

Doesn't prevent breeding but killing all living pests except for MIL's. :)

The only thing you can do is remove all food from your countertops. Especially fruit. We have that problem every summer and that is the only thing that works. Also making sure you keep the sink and counter tops clean as you said.

I have had this problem as well. I noticed it a day after grocery shopping so now I put most of my fruit and veggies in the refrigerator and the problem is gone. I think gnats come in on the fruit/veggies so I also wash them with soap very well immediately if they are to stay on the counter. Otherwise we was the fruit and veggies as we pull them out of the fridge to eat.

You have to git rid of the gnats comming from the sink first. We throw icecubes and lemon slices down the garbage disposal to clean it out every once in a while. Also my husband bought a bugg killer that is a fly swat type thing. It looks like a tennis raquet. I bet your ten year old would love to play with it. I would supervise him strongly while using it and tell him that it is a shocking device and if he touches the inside of it ( it has safty bars across it) some kind of punishment will be enforced. Hope he is mature enought to help out with it. Or just a regular fly swater and put both your kids on fly killing duty. Its a man hunt! We also have these little weird larger than a gnat comming from our tub drains!!!

Put a little bowl of vinager around where they tend to linger, that typically does the trick. Good luck!

I used a safe bug bomb and left for the afternoon when I had a huge infestation. They are coming back though...I think I'll try the vinegar! They come to diapers alot too! Gross little things!

We started setting aside left over vegetables and/or fruit for our outside compost pile. Boy, a large number of fruit flies appeared!! Moving that "pile" into the fridge really helped.

You might find that you have fruit flies instead of gnats.

Still, the bleach in the sink idea sounds like a good idea. I would make sure the disposal was clear each day or night. That helped for me. It also surprised me finding fruits or foods my children would leave "around" that fed the fruit flies!

We've had the same problem. At first we thought it was bananas but they have been long gone and the next source we thought were some plants and we put them all outside. I had this feeling that we were prob not the only ones. I was in an office 500 miles away and there were some there and I thought it was weird. I have never had this happen before. I just swat like a mad women. My toddler just watches. Hope you get a good answer.

They are probably fruit flies. They do look like gnats & they do come out of the sink. The solution is to pour bleach down your sink. To be on the safe side, I would pour bleach down every drain in your house.

Do you have plants in the house? For example, ivy - knats love to live in the dirt of plants. You might want to check your plants if you have them and also, maybe run vinegar and bleach down your drain the clean it out.

Bleach worked for me, too; however, when I mentioned the gnats to my exterminator, he says that they often come up from the shower and bathtubs and make their way to the kitchen, so in addition to pouring bleach in my sink/disposal regularly, I starting pouring a little down my shower drain, too. Gnats are gone!

Hey C.,
Yuck!!! I hate those nasty little things!!! Try pouring bleach down all of your drains. If that doesnt work, try putting little cedar blocks all around your kitchen. (I believe you can buy them at Walmart.) I hope that you find something that works for you!!!!!

Hi C.,

I have used this little contraption for gnats before and it works great. Take a small piece of banana and put it into a glass jar. Put the lid on it (and if you have lost the lid then you can use saran wrap or foil and rubberband it on to the top of the jar.) With a toothpick, poke several holes in the top and sit it aside. The gnats are evidently drawn to the smell of the fruit and go into the jar to get to the fruit. Once in there, they are trapped........it works great! Obviously you will want to clean out the jar from time to time and replace the fruit as long as it is needed to rid the house of gnats.

I hope you find the answer....I'm having the same problem at work!

Vanilla for gnats and cinnamon for ants.

C.

Morning C.;
No their not coming out of your sink! They are coming from
more than likely Bananas!
Or other fresh vegetables or fruit. You might want to buy
some "Green Bags" at H.E.B. and store the vegetables and fruit
in them, especially the Bananas!
B. C

I have heard pouring bleach down the drain will get rid of them. Good luck!

I battled these earlier this summer. They are fruit flies. They are hanging out in your sink because it is wet and smelly down there. This is probably not their source though. I was able to conquere them by myself without a professional, but it took about four days. Here is what you need to do.

1. Take any fruits and vegatables that you have sitting out and throw them away.
2. Take any houseplant you have outside (they are hanging out on the wet soil)
3. Make sure you don't have any potatoes hanging out in your pantry or under your sink (this was my source)
4. Pour a liquid cleaner down the sink and wipe all surfaces with a liquid cleaner.
5. Wipe all surfaces dry, including sink.
6. Keep bathroom surfaces and drains clean and dry (once your kitchen is dry they will go looking elsewhere.)
7. Make homemade fly traps our of coke or other drink bottles by putting a small amount of fuit juice in the bottom (about an inch) and setting them around your kitchen. The flies will go in looking for the juice and cannot get back out the top.
8. Hang a sticky fly trap from your sink faucet (you can get them at walgreens and probably other places by the bug spray)

Good luck

I completely feel your pain! we had the same thing in our house a few months ago. we bought all different kinds of "drain bugs killer", had an exterminator come out & everything, but nothing worked. there were Swarms of them on some days. The Only thing that worked was to get a couple of those "wasp traps" the kind you put a banana peel or something like that in and throw them out when it gets ripe.

The other thing I found on my own was to keep the drains closed off with the stoppers so they couldn't fly out. we decided it might be a breeding ground in the garbage disposal, so we quit using that as well. The other thing is Do Not Leave out any open food, crumbs, or the like--if they have anything available to snack on, it will make them worse. This has really worked for us, so far, but every now and again a few show up. i think it's just one of the struggles we have to deal with as Texans--in order to live in the greatest state in the world

Do you have any plants inside? I had a similar problem and found that after I removed the plants the problem went away.
A friend told me that she left soapy water in her kitchen sink and that the gnats were attracted to it and died. This may be just an old wives tale, but I guess it would be worth a shot!

Try scrubbing the inside of the sink drain- take a brush to it- I've had that problem w/ my disposal sink drain and been amazed at what comes off the inside of the pipe. Or put vinegar and baking soda in it and let that "scrub" the pipe insides. Then rinse thoroughly and put bleach in the drain to sit. Apparently there are some little buggies that live in sitting water in pipes- hope this helps!

Wow, you certainly did get a lot of good advice. We live in the country- way out in the country, in central texas, and everything you have, we have only bigger---hahaha
I tried everything over the years- mostly products that were chemically based and potentially harmful ......then I found some other products that were not chemically based and actually worked much better- and cheaper- PM me and I can give you the website with all the information.-----I literally have no bugs, gnats, mosquitoes, fruit flies etc at all- in summer , winter , spring or fall- either inside our out-----
good luck with all your suggestions, I am sure you will find the right one --but if you want more information- PM me and see if what I use would fit your needs.

I had the same problem and I had a professional exterminator, but it still didn't do any good until finally I went through everything in my pantry and if is was questionable I threw it out. I threw out anything that there was a possibility of having weevils because weevils after a time will begin flying and they look like knats. Since I did that I have not had any problem. I hope this helps.

We were told by our exterminator to put plastic wrap over all of the drains and toilets at night, including bathroom sinks and tub/shower drains. In the morning you will see where they are coming from and then you pour bleach down that drain and then flush it with hot water. He said they come up at night through the drains.

Hi C.,

Try pouring a cup of bleach down the drain preferably before you go to bed at night so that you do not use the water faucet and then cover the drain...

had a problem very much like yours. Found that they were fruit flies. It took for ever to get rid of them. A banana had ended up behind something. They loved it. After finding the banana did all the cleaning and got rid of them. Look and see if this is your problem also.

I put a little bit of vineager in a container then put plastic wrap over it and poke holes in it with a tooth pick so they can get in but not out. that has always worked for me. good luck!!

Put bleach in the sink every night before bed. That always worked for me. I also used a flying insect spray and vacated the house for the afternoon. Good luck!!!

Solution(primary towards bottom): I've tried almost everything, once I thought they were almost gone, they come right back. It's a few different species of gnats and flies I'm dealing with. Majority stay on ceiling and walls and edges of things. They leave a hell of a mess to clean up after a while where they "rest". I'm getting ready to repaint my ceilings.

This is a collection of things to do at the same time:

I started with a large indoor bug zapper, it still works, but barely. They all have seem to evolved after generations to avoid it.

If you get pads or strips, they have to be sticky like honey, not tape, only gets really tiny ones if not honey like.

The "tricks" of poking holes in clear wrap and using some fruit and/or solution does not work. I've tried vinegar, bleach, lemons, left over food; different combinations. Now the only purpose the "method" serves, is catching 1% of the total population, so this method stopped working long ago.

Be ANAL about keeping all food and cans covered, thrown away, washed out, at least in the kitchen when done. Trashcan, unless its an air tight lid, put it on the landing or garage. Keep sink clean, nothing even residue on the steel. You pour something out in sink, SPRAY IT CLEAN RIGHT AFTER.

I've tried solution spray bottle, but maybe the mixture was off. Didn't work. I've also tried wiping areas with solutions, also didn't work.

What they apparently love, is cat food in cans that you open. Second to that is lemons, could maybe trap them some how, haven't tried. But canned cat food is miles more attractive to them.

Make sure your fridge seals are air tight, press extra hard when closing.

If they are in the trash as a go to, quickly trap/wrap, move to garage, repeat in an hour.

BEST SOLUTION: LIGHT! They all for the most part are attracted to light (WHEN AGITATED). I do this mostly at night. I basically use a broom or a large object. I sway or shake it a few far right, then left (kept vertical). When they try to go one way, I switch sides. I use what is like a half circle or cone(imagine holding the bottom of a bowl to your chest), cornering them into the direction I want. Sometimes I rock it back and forth about 15-30°. Sometimes I also just instead micro shake the broom, or both at the same time. I go from the furthest room from garage, sealing off the other rooms they can go into. The furthest room is dark, start from the back, and have the hallway light on with doors closed except the room i'm getting them out of, and I do this with all rooms only with 1 door open at a time to push them into the hallway. Rinse and repeat. Larger rooms are much harder to control them. I can get drenched in sweat within an hour; i'm not unfit. Wise to have at least 2 or more people. Once I get them to the kitchen (sealing it off with sliding door), I work from the back of the kitchen with the lights off. Make sure once sway with broom on walls and cabinets, you also get under upper cabinets over counters. I have a landing between my kitchen and garage. So the light in the landing is on with door open between kitchen and landing. Be sure to swipe quick behind doors you want them to go through, they hide quick in the back. You can try cutting some clear tarp and hanging it taped over lapping doors you open/close repeatedly. Maybe a bit of cardboard at the top between the wall and the door, taped to the door, and clear tarp(cut), hanging off of that, so when you open the door, you can have a way to prevent them going behind the door. You have to work fast if you want the most in one lap. Once I get a hundred +/- into the landing area. I carefully keep cornering them into the landing, then immediately shut the door. Then I turn the light on the landing off, open the door to the garage where I have a bright light that is PLACED LOW, about 3 feet from the door inside the garage to the house, and a bit angled so they can see it better in the direction I want them to go. Rinse, and repeat. THIS TAKES TON OF WORK AND PRACTICE TO GET IT RIGHT, kind of becomes and art (order out of chaos).

You can try using painting tarp that you get in large rolls or a sheet to close off rooms/entrances that don't have doors. Duct tape doesn't stick for long with bed sheets though, for long term stay, tacks or nails. I have plaster walls(thicker), so screws or nails not tacks I would have to use. I also have a large cardboard box that's about the same size of the door ways.

This started I think when my basement flooded a while back. They could be in the drain, but I don't think so. The small elongated flies are on the ceilings(mainly), walls(higher up more so), cabinets(like walls) and edges of things (higher up always), the gnats are (when they get the opportunity), in bags, cans, sink. They like to lay brown cocoons on plates and stuff in the sink. The gnats, most of them have stripes in the back.

For clean up of walls, cabinets, edges of things(few options): I have variable speed drills. USE LOW SPEED, it will fling everywhere if not. I also have lots of different types of Velcro pads and brush heads of different hardness, good for cleaning toilets and showers 10-50x faster. I have a right angle drill adapter to make higher up on walls easier. Spray water bottle and folded mild wet paper towel. You will go through A LOT if you don't use gloves and rinse unfolded in sink with sprayer (warm water). If you wring it too hard, you will get less uses before tearing more off the roll. You can use micro-fabric pads, like Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, but don't use on wood with clear coat/shine, it will remove the finish after 2nd+ pass. Don't use anything but water in spray bottle. Vinegar mixture maybe on walls, but wipe off quick. As I mistakenly forgot was in the spray bottle; removed the finish/coating on wood, long drips are worse. Unless refinished, it's permanent streaks.

Or call pest control. I can manage them, but I can't fully get rid of them.

Do you have any plants in the house? It sounds like you could have fungus gnats. They eat the decomposing organic material in the soil. You can usually solve the problem by allowing the soil to dry out a little more between waterings.

i use the fly traps that they sell at Walmart and I have been using them for years now and they really work.You can get them for about a dollar and something,and I know what you mean cause 1 day I was eating and 1 flew in my plate and my drink.I was pretty upset about so I knew I had to do something as soon as possible.Of course I threw the food away too.Good luck

bowl of apple cider vinegar in your kitchen works well.

All of the suggestions are great if its gnats, but it sounds very similar to fruit flies which are prevelant this time of year.Get rid of any fruit left out on the counters and try keeping all your fruit, potatoes, etc... in the refrigerator for awhile. Fruit flies are also attracted to wine, soda, or other sweet things so be sure to cork, cap, and cover all of these items just to be sure.

First, look around everywhere for some old fruit or potatoes! I had the same problem awhile back. I thought they were coming from my sink as well. But, the problem was hidden back in my pantry.

I was baking yesterday and had 1 gnat flying around my face and then the same bugger when I made dinner. I couldn't catch the stupid thing. We are fighting mosquitos, and when I went to Walmart to find stuff for them I think some of the things in the mosquito area said they also worked on fruit flies. I like the other ideas posted here.

We moved into an apartment and the garbage disposal was so GROSS. You do have to take off the black thing and clean it VERY GROSS. I found a garbage disposal cleaner at the grocery store next to the dish washer soap. It works really well but you have to clean that black cover by hand. I also run lemons and ice cubes through the disposal about once a week.

Good luck

I know what you are going through... I have gone through this a few times... After cleaning my kitchen, I usually poor bleach down the drain with hot water, and that seems to work.

I'll bet what you have are drain flies. They feed on organic matter that builds up in sink drains, among other places. You need to get rid of the organic matter buildup. I surfed the interent a little and found the site doyourownpestcontrol.com. They have a drain fly kit for $39.00 that will get them under control. The kit includes a spray for the adults, which you don't need if you're willing to wait a couple of weeks for the new eggs to stop hatching. Get rid of the organic matter buildup, and you'll be good to go!