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Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,011
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Anyone have trouble with gnats

I have them in the family room and they are so irritating.  I have to keep my cups of coffee and drinks with covers over them or I will be drinking gnats that fall in them. I have tried putting out a bowl with dishsoap and vinegar and only 1 fell in there. I have even tried the dangling sticky strips and catch a few, but they keep coming. Any help?

Valued Contributor
Posts: 932
Registered: ‎11-01-2010

Re: Anyone have trouble with gnats

"Fruit flies"?   @geegerbee I find they come in on my bananas so I always wash them as soon as I bring them home .  To control them, get out some glasses and poor some wine into them. Cover with plastic wrap and poke some holes with toothpicks.  The pesky guys can fly in but they don't fly out. 

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Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,749
Registered: ‎03-15-2014

Re: Anyone have trouble with gnats

Can you tell, or where do you think, they're coming from?  There are many things that can be done to control fungus gnats.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 37,847
Registered: ‎06-11-2011

Re: Anyone have trouble with gnats

@geegerbee  If they are fruit flies, which I was plauged with for a while: this worked. 

Put out bowls of apple cider vinegar.  They are attracted to it, fal in and die.  I threw out bowlfuls of them over the summer and finally got rid of all of them.  You trap them, throw them out, and there eventually are no more left breeding in your house.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,256
Registered: ‎05-11-2012

Re: Anyone have trouble with gnats


@Pearlee wrote:

@geegerbee  If they are fruit flies, which I was plauged with for a while: this worked. 

Put out bowls of apple cider vinegar.  They are attracted to it, fal in and die.  I threw out bowlfuls of them over the summer and finally got rid of all of them.  You trap them, throw them out, and there eventually are no more left breeding in your house.


@geegerbeeI also used apple cider vinegar placed in mason jars. I punched holes in the lid with an ice pick. Left out for a few days, and no more pesky insects. This stuff really works!!!!

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,356
Registered: ‎01-03-2012

Re: Anyone have trouble with gnats

[ Edited ]

I'm pretty sure we had fruit flies Nov and Dec.  We finally got rid of them by leaving glasses of red wine out.  It will take awhile.  This is the only thing that has worked for us. I have tried using Apple Cider vinegar and it's never worked for me.  You don't need but a half a glass.  We had ours in the family room, too.  

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,520
Registered: ‎03-04-2012

Re: Anyone have trouble with gnats

Are they coming from plants you have in your room?

New Member
Posts: 1
Registered: ‎01-24-2016

Re: Anyone have trouble with gnats

Bleach down the drains help.  Ours seem to come up thru there.

Valued Contributor
Posts: 874
Registered: ‎07-05-2010

Re: Anyone have trouble with gnats

We once had an issue with many insects we thought were regular gnats, but they ended up being Fungus Gnats, which were drawn to unseen mold from an undetected leak in our bathroom pipes.  Once we got rid of that issue, the gnats went away.  If you aren't certain what these bugs are, you might want to have a bug specialist check into it for you, to find out best how to get rid of them, whatever they are.  Good luck!

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Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,010
Registered: ‎08-29-2010

Re: Anyone have trouble with gnats

@geegerbee   Do you have many potted plants, or particularly large ones, in the room?  Wet soil can be a draw for them.

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