Gnats? In my apartment? It's more likely than you think.

TwoQuestions

Does anyone here know how to get gnats out of an apartment? It's a pretty small place, just a kitchen/living room, bedroom, and bathroom. I was suggested to pour bleach down the drain, as that's where he said gnats live, but that sounds like a bad idea. They're not bad, just embarrassing when I invite guests over.

Anyone got any ideas?

happy cabbage

We have had gnats really bad as well. What we did was get a container with something sugary in it, put a plastic bag into it, poke a hole in the bag and rubberband the bag to make sure it stays on container. gnats go in cant come out.

saltiness

I had fruit flies pretty bad in my apartment this summer for some reason. They're a pain to get rid because you have to be super-vigilant but it's possible.

Don't leave any food out, especially anything with a lot of sugar. Never leave dishes in the sink. Pour some bleach down the drain (that really is where they breed). If you get rid of their food and their home they will disappear. You can also use a wine bottle with about an inch of red wine left in it as a trap for the lingerers. They will fly in and drink it and get too drunk to get out and drown in it.

starmanbrand

Are you sure you know where the gnats live? One time my mom bought some potting soil for indoor plants and the stuff was filled with gnat eggs. Repotting fixed the problem.

JebusUD

They are probably fruit flies. Clean everything, take out the trash, don't leave dirty dishes in the sink, and clean under the fridge and the stove.

Then they should be gone.

JebusUD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosophila

also, if you brew things or make wine you need to keep that closed up with a vapor lock. That attracts fruit flies like crazy and they carry the bacteria that makes wine into vinegar.

Sos

Don't do bleach. That's silly.

Gnats come in during the summer because its getting hot. They're probably coming in now because its getting cold. Make sure they aren't coming from any potted plants. Clean everything up and don't leave anything out. Put a couple pieces of ice in the drain every other hour. That usually does the trick.

MetroidZoid

Another note on the potted plants: gnats are attracted by humid areas. So for any indoor plants you have, keep the top of the soil clean of dead leaves and such, and if it's a plant that likes being moist more often than not, cover the soil with a surface of decorative bark or gravel or something like that. I'll still get gnats in some of my plants though, the ones that need a high humidity level (like my venus fly traps), so around them I use these sticky pads you can get in a garden supply store for gnats and whiteflies.

NotYou

There are special liquids you buy to kill fruit flies in drains. Buy those.

happy cabbage

Don't buy all that fancy crap. Just use bleach. It works wonderfully well.

Six

I had fruit flies a few years ago. This worked really well for me:

- Take a small glass and fill it with 2-3 fingers of apple cider vinegar
- Cover the glass tightly with plastic wrap
- Cut small hole sin the plastic. The flies will crawl in and not be able to get out.

2 days later, they were all gone.

JebusUD

Six wrote: »

I had fruit flies a few years ago. This worked really well for me:

- Take a small glass and fill it with 2-3 fingers of apple cider vinegar
- Cover the glass tightly with plastic wrap
- Cut small hole sin the plastic. The flies will crawl in and not be able to get out.

2 days later, they were all gone.

I approve of this plan. Throw out the vinegar after day 2 max, or it will stink up the place.

guar

Any type of vinegar should work at attracting them. I left a few bowls with a vinegar/dish soap blend throughout my apartment, and it cleared them out pretty quick.

CrossBuster

I've had pretty good success with the vinegar method. Just get a few small, cheap Tupperware containers, poke a couple small holes in the lid, put a little bit of vinegar in the bottom, and watch the little bastards die.

Slider

F**k these fruit flies!! They're pissing me off. Always in my face, trying to eat my food...

Thanks for the advice.

Raggaholic

The best possible advice is to find out where they are breeding and get rid of that. My girlfriend had them in her place about a year ago and we did the apple cider vinegar thing. That was great, but they kept on coming. We battled those things for weeks. One day I noticed there eggs in an old dried wine bottle in a room that was never used. Found out later they were in a trash in that room that had some old fruit in it that was forgotten about.

Trash went away and so did the flies.

Doctorstrongbad

Lower your a/c and then take out the trash at least every day. That should help with your problem.

The LandoStander

I had these really bad when I first bought a Bread Box and put bread in it. In the years following that I have always kept any food that is not in a box, can or ziploc bag in the fridge and haven't seen more than the random fly/gnat that gets in through a window or door. Also I keep my bread in the fridge now too, I've found that it even lasts longer that way, so bonus there.

The vinegar plan is proven effective, if you put a bit of dish soap in there with it I think it helps mitigate the smell slightly and also I think it messes up their wings to the point where they are unable to fly out of the liquid and they just drown.

While the gnats are tiny I think that those old school fly tape things are pretty cheap and may be worth it depending on just how bad the problem is. You just stick one end to the ceiling and let it dangle, just be sure you don't walk into it as that can be really gross.