How do I get rid of gnats?

Sheri
by Sheri

I've got these little black gnats or maybe fruit flies throughout my house. I see them mostly in the bathrooms and master bedroom. They need to go!!! How do I get rid of gnats?


  10 answers
  • Margie Younger Margie Younger on Mar 25, 2019

    REMOVE PLANTS OUTSIDE FOR A DAY. THEY MAY BE HATCHING THERE!

    Also play cidar vinegar in a bowl. Place bowl in baggy. Punch holes in bag. Can use wine instead of ACV.

  • Everything Pretty Everything Pretty on Mar 25, 2019

    I tried making traps, but they didn't work. The Flylight traps them and kills them within a few hours https://amzn.to/2V0Bssd

  • a little vinegar and a drop of soap in a shallow dish, they come and drink and get stuck due ot the soap.

  • Chris Chris on Mar 26, 2019

    A neighbor had this problem. We captured them with a glass holding apple cider vinegar and put a cone of paper onset into the glass (small opening at bottom, large opening at top). The flies get in but can't get out. However, the main problem was where the were coming from. An exterminator advised they were likely drain flies that hatch on the dried food, soap, etc that is in the drain. My neighbor didn't use her sink very often, so they thrived. Always run your taps in any sink to keep the drain wet so flies don't use them to lay eggs and feed.

  • Nancy Turner Nancy Turner on Mar 26, 2019

    You can purchase traps that may work better for you. Try putting boiling water down your drains at least daily in case they are hatching there. Check to see if you have them in the soil of the plants you have in your house. If you do, they are fungal gnats and they breed in the soil. The only remedy for that is to repot your plants with new soil. Get all the soil off the roots by gently running tepid water over them. Clean out your pots well with bleach water and give a final rinse with vinegar in case there may be a few spores left on the pots. Throw away the soil and don't reuse it. If you have an awful lot of the fruit flies/gnats, put up a couple of the fly strips you can purchase, one in the bathroom and one in the bedroom. They may be ugly, but they really do work and will cut down the numbers very quickly. I have used them when I get them in the kitchen and I think it is taking too long for the liquid traps to help decrease the numbers. Check in the kitchen for anything edible on the counters that they may have come in on, that is how I have gotten them in the past. Also check where you store your potatoes and onions, my mom got them once in the buckets she stored them in her pantry. One potato had started to go bad and that was enough to do it.

  • Lisas Rexstar Lisas Rexstar on Mar 27, 2019

    I learned that mine were coming from fruit peeps in the garbage. Now I put all peels, especially banana peels, into a Ziploc bag. No more fruit flies. To think we paid money for these for a science fair project in high school! The mind boggles!

  • Chloe Crabtree Chloe Crabtree on Oct 06, 2023

    I had a terrible gnat problem and the vinegar traps worked perfectly! 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. Set your bowl in an area where gnats are prevalent, such as your kitchen or bathroom. This took care of my problem in just a couple of days!

  • Johnavallance82 Johnavallance82 on Oct 17, 2023

    If you have plants, spray the soil!

  • Get sticky traps