How to Deal With Gnats and Fruit Flies in Your Home

It’s so irritating to find fruit flies in your kitchen hovering around. No matter how hard you swing that broom or dustpan to make them go away, they will always gather again at the same point in less than a minute. This also applies to gnats as spotting their eggs could be a bit difficult. The difference between these two insects is that gnats are mostly found around your houseplants or bathroom and sink drains while fruit flies are mostly found around the kitchen or garbage area. Here are some ideas to help you get rid and control these insects.

1. Use the glue trap method.

Get a glue trap, of course, made of glue, to nab the fruit flies. It has a distinct smell that tends to attract the flies and gnats towards it. The smell cannot be easily detected and is not harmful. Be sure to hang it where kids will not bump into it as they are very curious and might try licking it.

2. Take out the trash regularly.

Fruit flies like to be around the trash can as it is one of the places where they find their food. It is therefore advised that you take out the trash before going to bed. If this is almost impossible for you, cover the trash can tightly so that no insect will have to be attracted by the smell from the garbage.

3. Dry out your drains.

Do not leave water on your drains either on your kitchen sink or your bathroom drain. Always leave it dry so that no water is left stagnant since it will be laying the ground for gnats especially for the rarely used bathrooms. Clean your kitchen sink well after doing the dishes and unclog from time to time to prevent blockage. You could also pour slightly hot water mixed with lemon and dishwashing soap just to be sure your drains are clean and clear.

4. Observe hygiene.

Apart from the bathroom, the kitchen and dining room are the second places that hygiene should be highly observed. Gnats feed on the remains of whatever we have eaten. To prevent them from raiding your kitchen, get rid of the food remains which fall on the table or on the kitchen floor immediately after you are through with your meal. Those fruit flies cannot stay in a place where there is no food.

5. Do not overwater your houseplants.

When watering your houseplants, you should be keen so as not to give your plant too much water. The water should not be visible or appear flooding at the top of the plant-soil as it can be laying the ground for gnats. Do not, however, be mean to your plant for the sake of saving yourself from the annoying insect. Put a reasonable amount of water on your plant. If the gnats persist, change the soil in the plant pot.

6. Come up with a home remedy for the insects.

You could use food to trap the gnats and fruit flies. One idea is to put some fruits, preferably sweet and rotten in a jar then leave it open. The insects will get attracted and fly into the jar then immediately you can cover the jar and get rid of it. Do not worry about catching one or two insects as they come in groups after a very short time. Sticky fruits will be effective so that the flies do not escape.

7. Store your food well.

The manner in which we store food could also be one of the causes of infestation in our house. The best thing to do is store food in clean containers and have them sealed airtight. You could store some fruits in the fridge for those that can survive in there. Ensure that you check for any holes or defects in the fruit before storing and be keen on the fruits that ripen very quickly.

8. Use insecticides.

If the gnat and fruit fly problem persists, you can go for an insecticide. Seek professional help and guidance on how and when to administer the insecticide. Also, get to know which one can be harmful to you so that you can keep off. Insecticides help in getting rid of the flies much quicker. It is also a good idea to use insecticides in cases that cannot be controlled by natural remedies.

9. Avoid spillage of sugary stuff.

Sometimes you might be in a hurry to get to work and spill some coffee while running around. It is better to take a minute and wipe away that spillage because it will become sticky after some time and attract a whole army of gnats that fly above the mess which may take almost forever to get rid of after that. Do not to leave sugar or empty bottles of soda out in the open as well.

10. Do not leave your window open for too long.

From time to time, you need a breath of fresh air and have to open up your windows. This is a chance that you give to the gnats to fly in and cause damage to the house. You could decide on closing your windows and not opening them often or if you really need to keep them open, you could think of having one of those fly stoppers on your window.

Stressing too much over gnats and fruit flies will ruin your day for nothing. Have a look at one or two tips that might kick-start your journey to a clean and insect free environment. Above all, observe cleanliness and inspect your home from time to time as you do your general cleaning. The gnats and fruit flies might carry germs to your food which may result in health complications no matter how minor. In very severe cases, seek professional help.