OMG I don't know what is wrong with this area! I don't know if it's because we live near a creek or someone's got a compost heap they're not telling us about But the gnats outside our house are unreal, just swarms of them. When we go outside to play I feel like we're camping in the woods
And now the last two weeks they have come inside. I have been keeping the house cleaner than I ever thought possible, but strangely they seem to be attracted to soap and cleaning products. I scrubbed the bathroom last night from top to bottom and literally 5 minutes later there were about 10 in there. The kitchen is just unreal - we've gotten all of our fruit and veggies into the fridge, scrubbed everything, never leave a dirty dish, etc. I have no idea what the "source" is.
We're planning on bombing the house this Saturday but I'm worried that's not going to work. Anyone have any experience with this or advice?
they're really bad here in alberta too. and i swear they can walk through walls! i had my bathroom door closed, bathroom window closed and i walk in there and there are probably 20 on my counter. ick!
we live near a creek too, but i don't think that has anything to do with it, it's been an unusually hot summer in canada, has it been that way in the states? maybe they were just able to have a super breeding year from all the heat? i don't ever remember it being this bad....
I believe it's water that they need to breed. Or rotten vegetation. I know the mosquitoes in my area exploded after a week of very heavy rain after a period of drought.
You could try sticky tape, see if that helps.
But mainly keeping your garbage outside vs inside. And keeping all your food covered. Make sure the kids are not hiding/leaving food anywhere.
You can also get rid of gnats by using products found around the home. Since they are attracted to the scent of vinegar, fill a jar with vinegar and poke holes in the lid with a small nail and hammer. The gnats will climb into the jar, but they won't be able to climb out. For those that remain in the house, try putting vegetable oil around your kitchen sink drain. Gnats finding themselves coated in the oil will be unable to breed. If you're not interested in potentially clogging your drain with vegetable oil, pouring a cup of ammonia down your kitchen sink is said to get rid of any flies hovering around that area. Let it sit for a couple of hours before using the sink again.
Dial hand sanitizer - I had a problem with gnats buzzing around my house and could not seem to get rid of them. I had a bottle of Dial hand sanitizer in my bathroom which had been left open. The entire lid wasn't off just the flip top lid opened. Inside were dozens of gnats which had apparently been attracted by the smell and had crawled through the small hole and gotten stuck in the liquid. I then put the bottle in my kitchen where the gnats were worst and now I have no gnat problem.
Dial hand sanitizer - I had a problem with gnats buzzing around my house and could not seem to get rid of them. I had a bottle of Dial hand sanitizer in my bathroom which had been left open. The entire lid wasn't off just the flip top lid opened. Inside were dozens of gnats which had apparently been attracted by the smell and had crawled through the small hole and gotten stuck in the liquid. I then put the bottle in my kitchen where the gnats were worst and now I have no gnat problem.
We had a bug problem years ago where we put dishes out of soapy water. The bugs were attracted to it and drowned in the water as the soap would cause them to be stuck there. Wouldn't hurt to try.
This is what we did to get rid of them at work when we had them bad...you put a shallow dish out...inside it you put a little lemon dishwashing detergent...we used joy and then you put in a little water or white soda(sprite, 7up), they are attracted to the lemon scent and will go there and drown...it worked faster than using the sticky paper and the sticky paper smells like crap anyway, they were all gone in a couple of days, this also works on fruit flies.
09-11-2007, 12:13 PM
Gnats, UGH!!!! Any ideas??
But the gnats outside our house are unreal, just swarms of them. When we go outside to play I feel like we're camping in the woods 
The kitchen is just unreal - we've gotten all of our fruit and veggies into the fridge, scrubbed everything, never leave a dirty dish, etc. I have no idea what the "source" is.
