Oh my word.
ANYONE else out there experiencing an unusually high volume of gnats this year? Ryan and I were driving home the other night, and as we turned onto our street, we went through a thick cloud of them that just utterly grossed me out. {Side note: it's always fun to RUN through a cloud like that and not breathe!}
We were just about to go to bed that night, when Ryan turned on the bathroom light and about 25 of those things were crawling all over the mirror. So foul! How are you supposed to brush your teeth when you can't see them?
We clean our house, we empty our trash, we don't leave food sitting out, and yet we were overrun by gnats. And Ryan reached his saturation point, right then and there.
He opened his computer and began searching for home remedies on gnat killing. We mixed up the concoction he found and the next morning when we got up, I was shocked to see about thirty dead gnats at the bottom of the bowl we put on the bathroom sink. (And there were a total of four bowls in the house.)
I shared the recipe with my mom and sisters (we live all over the place, so apparently it is not just a Kokomo problem) and I heard it worked for them too - even killed a fly at my sister's house!
So here you go! Our killer (ha! See what I did there?) gnat recipe:
* 1 liter of water
* 1 Tablespoon white sugar
* 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
* Little bit of soap
Stir and divide into smaller bowls to place around the house in problem areas.
* Our measuring bowl had a liter measurement on it, but my mom said a liter is about 4 cups for those of you who might not have a cup or bowl with that marking on it.
* We used dish soap and put in enough that it bubbled slightly when it stirred, but it didn't suds up like a bath. (Ryan read that the sweetness of the sugar and the apple cider vinegar draws the gnats, bu the soap pulls them down so they can't get out.)
* I noticed that they would circle above the mixture for a while and then get down in. Recently "added" gnats were at the top and then they would sink to the bottom. This discovery told me how active we still were in "catching" them.
* My sister asked if this was safe for pets, as she has cats. I can't imagine most pets would WANT to drink it because of the smell of the vinegar {Braeya had no interest} but at least what we made was non-toxic. The soap we use is a non-toxic soap, so if she had any, she probably would have been okay. And also, I would have worried about her taste buds.
It worked for us! In about two days, we had almost no gnats left. YAY!!!!!!!!!
11 comments:
Growing up on the marsh we had SWARMS from March to October - ick! Wish we knew about this solution!
I used a similar homemade "killer" solution when we had a bunch of fruit flies in our house a couple of years ago. Glad to hear your gnats are gone...
I definitely plan to try this. Just in the last two weeks the gnats have been quite plentiful in my kitchen. Perfect timing for you to share this recipe...I was just about to do some googling myself. Thank you!
Bekah, I just checked a liter-to-ounces conversion chart and it says that 1 liter equals 33.8 ounces, which would be a little over 4 cups, not 2 cups. I'm not looking for a debate (haha), but I'm wondering how much water you actually added to the concoction you mixed up, 2 or 4 cups? If your recipe worked using 2 cups, then that's what I want to do as well. But to be safe, I thought I better check to make sure it's not just a typo, or that you perhaps mis-quoted your mom. (Sorry, I have to confess that I MIGHT be a little OCD and that I follow recipes to a T.)
I will have to try this I hate gnats.
A turkey hunter hunter taught us to wear vanilla to keep them away outside. Liquid vanilla wears off so I keep reapplying. Vanilla lace lotion last longer. In some of our tent revivals this is a staple for me.
I have the same gnat issue. I take a tiny bowl, and put dish soap in it, several squirts, and then pour a little bit of vinegar in it and usually place it by the trash. it works great!
I'm wondering if your knats are the same as what we call fruit flies in ND? We use a small dish with a small amount of apple cider vinegar (less than 1/4 cup) and a few drops of liquid dish soap. Swirl the dish around to mix the soap in & leave it on the counter. We notice them in the kitchen & bath usually in late July or August. When we notice them, we put out a few containers of vinegar & soap, empty any trash bins, make sure fruit isn't sitting on the counters, and clean the drains. I read once they can come out of drains... not sure where they come from so I clean the drains by dumping in some baking soda, followed by white vinegar. Let it sit (and bubble & fizz) for 20-30 minutes & then dump boiling water down the drain. I do both the bathroom & kitchen sink with this method.
Rachel in ND
Tamar - I can't imagine how much worse they would be by a marsh! Shiver!!!!
Maria - Maybe it works for all the little winged insects! I'm glad they're gone too!!
Hannah - You're welcome! Hope you come back to see the updated water measurement since I messed that up initially!
Anonymous - Thanks for correcting me! I have no idea if Mom typed it to me wrong or if I just read it wrong. With this cold I've had this week, anything is possible. My head is not reliable. But yes, you are right - FOUR cups and not two! I updated it!
Odie - I did not know that about the vanilla! I would think the sweet would attract them, but I guess not, huh? Does it keep mosquitoes away too?
Charity - We're twins! :)
Rachel - Very possibly! I failed most forms of science, so I don't know much about insects and such. Maybe these really are fruit flies. They're annoying! I can tell you that much!! I also did not know that thing about the drains. That's freaky!!! I like to think of drains as EXIT ONLY!!!!
I am thinking your gnats might be fruit flies too. Do you keep bananas around? Do you buy produce from Walmart? Those are the two culprits for us usually.
I figured it would attract them too but it does help them stay away. It does not repel mosquitoes. Although I have been meaning to try a natural remedy I seen with peppermint oil.
Christina - We don't keep produce out {and we rarely have bananas at all, because I can't stand them}, so I'm not sure why they like us so much!!
Odie - I do a concoction with oils and witch hazel and water and it works SPLENDIDLY!!!
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