9 Ways to Get Rid of Gnats Once and for All

Sometimes gnats hang around the drains in your kitchens due to food residue and moisture. If this is your problem area, this method is definitely the one to try.

5 Homemade Gnat Traps That Really Work

Ashlyn is a freelance writer with 6 years of experience covering home-related content. She holds an English degree from Appalachian State University, and loves blending her passions of writing and home decor into binge-worthy reads.

There’s nothing more annoying than realizing your home (or kitchen) is being overtaken by gnats. If you’ve started to see these pesky creatures making an unwanted appearance, you’re probably wanting to get rid of them.

Here are five homemade gnat traps that are easy to make and provide quick results. The good news is that you probably already have most of these materials lying around your house—all that’s left is setting them up.

Method #1: The Vinegar and Soap Trap

The most popular homemade gnat trap is combining vinegar with sugar and dish soap into a container that lures them to this mixture.

1. Mix together vinegar (white or apple cider) with sugar and several drops of dish soap in a bowl.

Why This Method Is Effective

One of the smells gnats are attracted to is overripe fruits or fermentation. This concoction mimics that smell for gnats and lures them in. Once the gnats find the mixture and dive into the slits, the mixture causes them to drown since the trap makes it hard to escape.

Method #2: The Candle and Water Trap

Here is a super useful homemade gnat trap that takes hardly any effort at all to set up. Odds are, you already have a candle lying around ready to help.

Why This Method Is Effective

Similar to mosquitos, gnats are attracted to lights. The flame of the candle will catch the gnat’s attention and lure them to one of two things: the flame or water. If the gnat hits the flame, it will burn. If they go to the water, they will drown.

When using this method, it’s important to remember to blow out the candle once you’re finished or once you go to sleep.

Method #3: The Stale Wine Trap

This method is very similar to the first, but don’t worry, we won’t ask you to throw out any good wine. For this method, stale wine is perfectly fine.

1. Pour stale wine into a glass or jar and mix with a few dashes of dish soap.

Why This Method Is Effective

The smell of red wine is attractive to gnats as they love the smell of anything fermented. When you place an open jar of stale wine out, the gnats will be attracted to the smell and fly to it. Since the wine is mixed with a few drops of dish soap, this makes it impossible for them to fly away, thus drowning them in the concoction.

Method #4: The Diluted Bleach Trap

Sometimes gnats hang around the drains in your kitchens due to food residue and moisture. If this is your problem area, this method is definitely the one to try.

1. Mix together ½ cup of bleach and a gallon of water in a bowl.

Why This Method Is Effective

Since bleach is a powerful chemical, it’s strong enough to kill the gnats within a few minutes to a few hours (depending on how large your buildup is). To see the best results in removing your gnat problem, monitor your drains after using this method to ensure the gnats are gone. It may take a few days of using this method before you see them gone for good.

Method #5: Buying a Trap

If none of these homemade bug traps seem to work, or if you don’t have all the ingredients present, there are plenty of premade gnat traps available to purchase. These traps vary in how they work from zapping the gnats to hanging an odor strip in problem areas.

The best way to get rid of gnats is with the vinegar method since the acid mimics the smell gnats are most drawn to means it has a higher rate of success. Prevention is also an option—gnats are mostly attracted to kitchens and bathrooms, which means keeping these rooms sanitized and as clean as possible will reduce the chances of an infestation taking place.

Gnats are attracted to the sweet smells found in the garbage and overripe fruits, attracting them to kitchens. Gnats also live and reproduce in sinks or drains since these contain the moisture and food residue these bugs like, making your bathroom another potential hiding place. Always try to keep your drains clean and sanitized to prevent gnats from coming in, and remember to toss out fruit quickly once it starts to go bad.

There are several different insects your kitchens and bathroom may see, which doesn’t necessarily mean gnat traps are universal. Every insect is attracted to different scents or scenarios, so traps for fruit flies, ants, or other bugs may be different. Although, if your home has a case of fruit flies, the red wine method has been known to work since fruit flies also like the sugar and yeast from the wine like gnats do.

9 Ways to Get Rid of Gnats Once and for All

If you’ve ever spilled sugary juice on the counter and didn’t wipe it up right away, overwatered plants inside or outside, or waited a day too long to take out the trash, you know this feeling. One simple household mistake, and all of sudden your house seems to be covered up in bugs—tiny gnats, to be exact. Here are eight ways to help you get rid of gnats once and for all.

Before killing gnats, the first thing to do is make sure that they are, in fact, gnats. There are many different types of itty-bitty flying insects, and each requires a slightly different elimination tactic. You may actually find yourself needing to know how to get rid of fruit flies or how to get rid of drain flies instead. If you know what to look for, it’s easy to distinguish between bugs. Fungus gnats look black and feature long legs while fruit flies are typically brown and rounder in shape. Drain flies have a fuzzier appearance and larger wings, and as the name suggests, they hang out around sink drains.

Once you’ve correctly identified what bug is, well, bugging you, you can start to take the necessary steps toward getting rid of gnats, flies, and any other bugs once and for all with vinegar solutions, store-bought remedies, and even rotten fruit (really!). For longer-term success, invest in one of the best bug zappers on the market.