How to Kill Gnats?

After writing articles on how to kill ants?, how to kill fleas?, how to get rid of wasps? and how to get rid of cockroaches?, Here is another useful article on how to kill gnats? In this article, we will be discussing various remedies in order to kill gnats, but first of all, let us know about the gnats and the reason why they congregate in our houses and nearby areas. Gnats are basically varied species of various pesky insects that are a common problem to deal with throughout the world. There are a vast variety of species and very hard to differentiate with naked eyes.

They are generally very common and faced by almost every property owner in the United States. If you reside anywhere nearby a water body then you will surely face the trouble because that is the place where gnats mostly congregate and breed. They are mostly evidenced during warm weather and the count of Buffalo gnats also increase in the month of June and July. Unlike fruit flies, gnats do bite and cause harm to your skin. The area is swollen after they bite and sometimes it is even painful.

Types of Gnats:

• Buffalo Gnats: These are 2-5 mm in length and have black or grayish color bodies with the shiny thorax, short legs and clear wings without any scales. They have a hump on their back and do bite humans and are harmful as they can spread infectious diseases to humans.
• Fungus Gnats: These are 2-5 mm in size and have a blackish gray color body with long gangly legs and multi-segmented antennae. They get attracted to light and do not cause any harm to humans.
• Eye Gnats: These are 1.5-3.5 mm in size and have a shiny black or gray color body. Their legs are yellow or brownish orange in color. They get attracted to eyes and do not bite.
• Sand Gnats: These are 1.5-5 mm in size and yellowish or brownish in color. They have a hairy head, thorax, abdomen, and legs, also hairy wings that are in a shape of “V”. They also bite like buffalo gnats.

Sources of Gnats in the House:

• Indoor Sources include Drain sinks, food remains, wet floors and rotten fruits.
• Outdoor Sources include Pets, stray animals, houseplants.

Natural Remedies to Kill Gnats in House

1.) Homemade Vinegar Trap 

Vinegar is an ingredient that is easily available in every kitchen and an easy remedy for every housewife to implement. We obtain vinegar by fermenting the base fruit and the smell of fermentation attracts the gnats, which is why vinegar is the most effective remedy.

• Place a small dish filled with vinegar to the places, where gnats congregate the most.
• Cover it tightly with a plastic wrap and poke small holes in it using a toothpick.
• The gnats will get attracted to it and get inside the dish.
• The plastic will prevent them from coming out after they are over with the feast.
• Alternatively, you can also use a mason jar instead of a dish, it is deeper than a dish, allowing more space for the water to fill in and drown the gnats.

2.) Pest Spray to Kill Gnats

Other than the chemical sprays, a few natural sprays are also available in the market that can help to kill gnats in your house. This will immediately show its effects and kill all the gnats including other pests in the house.

• You need to spray it to the areas where gnats and other pests congregate.
• Reapply after few intervals to get effective results.

3.) Petroleum Oil to Kill Gnats

You can also use petroleum oil as a remedy to kill gnats by spraying it to the gnat affected areas like sinks, garbage disposal areas, damp areas like restrooms, loo, etc. It will kill the pests including gnats in the area and prevent them from reentering your home.

4.) Ammonia Sprays

You can pour a cup of ammonia to the areas where gnats are mostly found or sprinkle on them directly. It will immediately kill gnats and any other pests present in your house and prevent them from reentering again. NOTE- Make sure to let the ammonia dilute itself, for a few hours, before using your sink again because ammonia is very harmful to human body.

5.) Soap and Vinegar Mixture

This is another DIY Gnat trap recipes that will easily trap and kill gnats in the house.

• Pour liquid soap and vinegar into a container in equal quantities.
• Apple Cider Vinegar with the “mother”works better than any other vinegar.
• Mix the ingredients well, so that the dishwasher is completely dissolved and the mixture is now soapy.
• The pungent odor of vinegar will attract the gnats and the soap will not let them float on the surface, hence they will drown.

6.) Gnat Stix Remedy

This stix traps the fungus gnats as soon as they emerge from the soil and prove very effective to kill gnats and get rid of them quickly.

• Garden soil is a common source of house gnats and if it is similar to your case, then use gnat stix to kill them off.
• Place gnat stix in fresh pots and you will see all the fungus gnats disappear.
• They also do not involve any toxic chemicals that can harm your skin.

7.) Pour Bleach in the Sink

Gnats sometimes breed in the sink drainage pipes so, to kill the gnats you can pour diluted bleach solution into the sink.

• Dilute powdered bleach with water to form a solution, mix it well to not let any granules escape.
• Then pour this solution into the drainage pipe.
• This will kill gnats and any other pests in the pipe.

8.) Electric Fly Exploders

Electric Fly Exploders kill insects with an ultraviolet light source emitting device. The light attracts the gnats towards itself and then they get stuck on the sticky surface as soon as they approach the light. They are also easy to use and need only a constant source of current to keep on working. They electrocute the trapped insects, thus killing them and reducing the number. It is a proven remedy for various users that help to kill gnats and other unwanted insects.

9.) Apple Cider Vinegar to Get Rid of Gnats:

This is one of the effective, convenient and easiest remedy to get rid of gnats. The smell of apple cider vinegar attracts gnats due to which they drown in the vinegar. All you need to do is fill small containers with apple cider vinegar and keep it in the gnats prone areas. Another thing that you can do is fill a jar with apple cider vinegar and place a funnel over it. Once the gnats enter the funnel they will not be able to leave the jar.

10.) Fruit Trap to Kill Gnats:

If you are looking for an Eco-friendly, easy and inexpensive method, then this is the right choice for you. It is also a good method if you have small kids in the house. Gnats are attracted by banana a lot, so you just have to take advantage of it. All you need to do is keep banana peels in an empty plastic container. With the help of a round toothpick make 3 to 4 holes on the container. Now, place this container near a fruit bowl. Within 24 hours, you will see that 99% of the flies are captured. This trap is 100% useful and safe.

Harmful Effects of Gnat Breeding in the House:

• They can contribute to various infectious skin diseases.
• Their bites are painful.
• They cause peskiness and the unhygienic environment in your kitchen, also and all over your house.
• The constant buzz causes annoyance and gives the illusion of your house being dirty even if it’s not.

Gnat Bites:

Unlike mosquito, gnats do not insert the “snout” in the victim’s body to suck blood. Instead, they use “mandibles” that cuts a whole in the skin and then feed on the blood. While biting, gnats release anticoagulants in the victim’s blood, this can cause skin allergies ranging from mild to severe, depending upon the sensitivity of every individual.

Usually, gnat bite occurs in 4 stages:

• Stage 1: It starts with the penetration of the skin by mandibles.
• Stage 2: Here the positioning of the mouth parts takes place on the wound. This is done by anchoring the “syntrophism” into the wound using a barbed “laciniae”
• Stage 3: The actual active feeding starts from this stage. Here the blood is pumped by the three groups of muscles that form two functional pumps. The pumps are separated from each other and other areas of the food canal. It is a very complex and a well-synchronized process.
• Stage 4: This is where the feeding process ends and the “laciniae” is now removed from the wound.

Diseases Caused Due to Gnat Bites:

All gnat bites are not harmful, but some can transmit harmful diseases into the victim’s body while feeding on the blood. This include:

• River Blindness where the victim loses its sight.
• Leishmania that can result into cutaneous sores on the victim’s body.
• Oraya or Sandly Fever.
• Carrison’s Disease.
• Toscana and Punta Toro Virus.

Preventing Tips to Get Rid of Gnats:

The dirt and other fuss in the house attract the gnats, so if you evidence the presence of gnats around you, this means that something is definitely in your house that is attracting gnats to linger over it. Below are a few steps to prevention that you can implement in order to keep them away from your house.

• Maintain cleanliness in the house.
• Dispose of rotten food items and trash bags daily.
• Fill all the holes and crack on the walls and the floor if any.
• Clean the dirty dishes and utensils regularly or after every meal.
• Nail anti-gnat nets to the windows and doors to prevent their entry.
• Always draw the curtain over the doors and windows during the day.
• Consume fruits and vegetable before they rot.