Combine equal parts vinegar and soap and then add a few tablespoons of sugar – once you mix it all together you can place the bowl wherever the gnats have been gathering. They will be attracted to the sugar and vinegar and drown in the mixture. Traps can also be made out of red wine and dish soap, or rotting fruit.
HOMEMADE GNAT TRAPS
Using a solution of vinegar, wine, decaying fruit or beer placed in the bottom of a jar that has a paper cone placed over the top of the jar to prevent the trapped flies from escaping.
Pour a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar into a bowl or jar, then stir in a few drops of dish soap. The bugs will be attracted to the sweet smell, and the sticky soap will prevent them from being able to fly away. Some people also like to mix in a little sugar, as well, to really amp up the sweetness.
Apple Cider Vinegar Trap
Fill a glass or a bowl with 1 tablespoon of sugar, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, a half cup of warm water, and about 5 drops of liquid dish soap and stir well. Gnats will be attracted to the sweet sugar and pungent vinegar, but the sticky dish soap will disable them from escaping.
The only way to get rid of gnats without killing them is to repel them with scents they don't like: vinegar, vanilla, pine oil, peppermint, lemon, eucalyptus, and lavender. Even dryer sheets could help.
Conclusions. Based on the results obtained from our study, it is evident that Bounce original brand fabric softener dryer sheets repel fungus gnats.
A peroxide solution apparently kills larvae and eggs on contact, effectively killing off all infant gnats and disrupting the lifecycle. You should be able to buy hydrogen peroxide from any high street pharmacy or online.
Inside the home, gnats can be attracted to unsealed produce, fresh flowers, houseplants, food spillage and open or overflowing garbage cans. Gnats may also live in sink drains where food residue can collect. Dirty kitchen sink drains can provide food, water, shelter and breeding sites to many fly species.
We chose apple cider vinegar as the bait, but use whatever you have on hand. Luckily, flies are attracted to anything sweet — old wine, sugar water, ripe fruit, honey or syrup are some of best bait for a homemade trap. You'll also need dish soap, which helps drown the flies in the liquid.
Start by getting a jar and filling it with apple cider vinegar, sugar, dish soap and water. Mix it well and place the solution near the problem areas. The gnats will be attracted to the smell of apple cider and sugar but will die on contact because of the soap.
Stale Wine Trap
When you place an open jar of stale wine out, the gnats will be attracted to the smell and fly to it. Since the wine is mixed with a few drops of dish soap, they can't fly away, thus drowning them in the concoction. Pour stale wine into a glass or jar and mix with a few dashes of dish soap.
If you don't have vinegar at home, bleach will kill drain gnats, but it's a potent environmental pollutant, so you're better off running to the store for vinegar, which is actually more effective for cleaning your drain pipes.
Homemade gnat repellent spray: A mixture of dish soap, water, baking soda, and vinegar can be filled into a spray bottle.
Change the apple cider vinegar in the fruit fly trap every few days. The longer it sits, it will lose potency and they won't be attracted to it.
How long until the traps start working? The traps begin working immediately to catch adult flies. But it takes 1-2 weeks of consistent trapping to fully eliminate breeding and clear an infestation.
Gnats have a strong aversion to various smells, including peppermint, lemon, eucalyptus, vanilla, lavender, citronella, and DEET, so you can use this characteristic to ward off gnats.
Combine equal parts vinegar and soap and then add a few tablespoons of sugar – once you mix it all together you can place the bowl wherever the gnats have been gathering. They will be attracted to the sugar and vinegar and drown in the mixture. Traps can also be made out of red wine and dish soap, or rotting fruit.
Gnats are attracted to anything that smells fruity and sweet. Therefore, fruit-scented hygiene and beauty products tend to draw gnats into the house. Rotting food in the drain. A buildup of food in the drain would, over time, result in an infestation of house gnats.
Place a bowl near the infestation and fill it with vinegar before adding a teaspoon of plain sugar, which is what the gnats will be drawn to. The vinegar is what will ultimately kill them, but you also need a way to keep them in the bowl long enough for that to happen.
Use yellow houseplant sticky stakes
Yellow sticky traps are great for capturing adult fungus gnats and also help you gage which plants are the most infested. Put the sticky fly traps next to the soil of any indoor plants, they'll be attracted to the bright colors, fly into them and get stuck.
No, not unless the label describes that type of use pattern. The label of any pesticide product, including mothballs, tells you exactly where and how a product is supposed to be used. Using the product in any other way could put you and others at risk. Besides, they have little or no effect as repellents.
Essential oils such as lemongrass, lavender, tea tree, eucalyptus, and peppermint work great to keep gnats out of your face. To make your own spray, fill a 4 oz (118 mL) glass spray bottle about halfway with distilled water, 1 oz (30 mL) of witch hazel, and 50-75 drops of any essential oil combination you'd like.
People spending time outside this summer may have noticed what seems like an increase in gnats. That is because, according to experts, the bugs thrive in heat and humidity. Although gnats may be a nuisance, they serve a specific purpose in nature, pollinating plants and acting as a food sources for birds and bats.
The use of certain brands of dryer sheets led to an almost 50 percent decrease in the number of fungus gnats inside the testing radius. Other university studies demonstrate the effectiveness of dryer sheets to repel certain insects, including mites, food-infesting beetles, German cockroaches and weevils.