With flying insects around the home, all of them are a nuisance. You spot fruit flies to drain flies and other small flying insects when you leave dirty dishes out. They are all a pain, yet you can see them, so you know where to get rid of them.
One of the biggest annoyances comes from small creatures. For example, gnats can’t harm you, yet they are among the most annoying because you can’t see the little buggers. Wondering how they made their way in can be puzzling, yet rotten fruit is a common culprit, but not the only one.
Spoiled food on old dishes tempts more than regular houseflies, and even the moist soil of your houseplants can attract fungus gnats. While you may think things are lost, there are many ways you can attract gnats and get rid of them. (Read Fruit Flies Vs Gnats)
In our guide, you can learn more about a gnat solution using vinegar and dish soap for gnats and essential oils, among other household items.
By the end, you’ll find more than one effective mixture for gnats, which also works for other types of flies.
Will Dawn Dish Soap Kill Gnats?
Here’s a quick overview of ways to kill gnats:
- Attract and kill gnats using a gnat trap: vinegar, dawn dish soap, water, and sugar. You can also use a combination of red wine and dish soap to get the same result.
- Pour diluted bleach down the sink or tub drain when you spot any gnats close to your plumbing fixtures.
- Mash rotten bananas into a small bowl. Stretch plastic wrap across the top, and poke holes through the plastic. Gnats can get in, but can’t get out.
- You can kill individual gnats with a spray bottle filled with water, vinegar, and dish soap mixture.
What Are Gnats?
Gnats are small flies with long legs that bother humans. Gnats have certain common characteristics:
- Gnats Swarm in clouds
- They hover around the eyes of humans and animals
- Gnats may or may not bite
Gnats and Plants
Gnats can harm indoor plants. In the garden, predators control gnats; although indoors, they have fewer predators and can easily thrive if not controlled.
Gnat larvae eat indoor plant roots and stunt plant growth. Leaves can yellow and fall without a solid root system; young plants are especially vulnerable.
What Are Gnats Attracted To?
Before getting rid of gnats, it’s vital to understand what attracts them.
- Gnats are attracted to humans and animals, mainly through body heat and sweat.
- These pests are scent-attracted. Fruit and sweet scents attract gnats.
- Check your soaps, moisturizers, and laundry detergents for sweeter scents if you find them attracting gnats.
Get Rid Of Flying Gnats Using Dawn Dish Soap
You’ll find many methods using Dawn dish soap to get rid of gnats.
First, make a solution they can’t resist. Mix apple cider vinegar, dish soap, sugar, and water.
Here’s the full recipe:
2 x tbsps. of apple cider vinegar (double to make bulk)
1 liter of water (Use two liters for a larger batch)
1 or 2 tablespoons of sugar
2-3 drops of Dawn dish soap (add more in a larger batch)
Directions:
- Add the solution to small jars and cover with plastic wrap.
- Poke holes in the covering.
- The scents produced from vinegar and sugar are enough to lure gnats and other flying insects.
- Once they touch the Dawn dish soap solution, they get stuck and inevitably drown.
What Kills Gnats Fast?
Using dishwashing liquid around the kitchen is effective for killing gnats in your vinegar trap.
Suppose you have problems in other rooms. Here’s more on how to get rid of gnats. (Read Hydrogen Peroxide To Kill Fungus Gnats Guide)
Remove Gnats from Dining Room
Set out an additional glass if you detect a gnat while sipping red wine at dinner.
- You’ll see Gnats attracted by the sugary, fermented liquid, so use it to kill them.
- Pour a little wine and liquid soap into a glass, and flying gnats get trapped by the dish soap and alcohol.
Remove Gnats from Bathroom
Gnats surrounding sink or tub drains are incredibly annoying. Unfortunately, apple vinegar or wine isn’t always enough.
- Try this approach to get rid of gnats near a drain: Mix bleach with water and pour it down the drain.
- One half cup of bleach per gallon of water should do. Repeat until no gnats remain.
Removing Pantry Gnats
Rotten fruit attracts gnats, but you can use it to get rid of them.
- Next time you have a couple of rotten bananas, mash them into a mason jar.
- Cover the jar with plastic wrap and puncture it.
- Gnats can get to the fruit through the perforations, but the clear cover keeps them from flying out.
Removing Gnats from Living Room
This strategy is used when you have minor pest problems in your living room:
- Combine one cup of water, one tablespoon of vinegar, and a few drops of dish soap in a spray bottle.
- Spritz a gnat in the air the next time you see one flying about.
- This gnat remedy will not harm your indoor plants.
How does Dawn detergent eliminate gnats?
Combine 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 2 cups water, and 2 tablespoons sugar to make an attractant. Pour the solution into many glasses and add a few drops of dish soap.
What home remedies kill gnats?
- Use a mixture of apple cider vinegar, water, sugar, and dish soap to kill fungus gnats and fruit flies.
- (You may get the same effect by mixing red wine with dish soap.)
- If you spot gnats swimming near plumbing fixtures, pour diluted bleach into the sink or tub.
Does dish soap kill gnats?
Combine one spoonful of dry lemon dish soap and two liters of water in a large mixing bowl. Pour a spray bottle halfway through the mixture.
Spray the soap mixture liberally on the sick potted plant, ensuring the soil, stems, and leaves are fully covered. This kills adult gnats on the plant or in the pot.
Where do gnats come from?
Fungal illnesses are attracted to wet soils and frequently enter the home via flies or diseased potted plants carried indoors.
Fungus feed on the roots of rotten or damaged plants and fungi already
present in the soil.
How do I get rid of gnats in my bathroom?
With a couple of cups of warm water, combine 2 tablespoons vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, and roughly 20 drops of dish soap.
Everything should be dissolved after thorough mixing. Wherever you notice gnats flying, spray this gnat repellent. The smell of apple cider vinegar and the drink will entice them. (Learn How To Get Rid Of Carpenter Bees With Vinegar)
How does hydrogen peroxide repel gnats?
- Mix four parts water and one part hydrogen peroxide, and then water your plant.
- The solution will kill the larvae but will not harm your plant. Once a week, spray the hydrogen peroxide solution on the gnats.
Yellow sticky traps can also be placed around the damaged plant.
What do you pour in the drain to kill drain flies?
To get rid of gnats in the sink naturally, pour a dish soap, baking soda, vinegar, and water down the drain, which usually kills gnats immediately.
You can undertake treatment with just baking soda and vinegar for a thorough cleaning.
How to prevent gnats and fruit flies.
- Don’t leave dirty dishes out.
- Make sure your trash is well covered.
- Get rid of wet spots in pot soil.
- Remove decaying organic matter from plant pots.
Will soapy water kill gnats?
Add a tablespoon of dish soap and a teaspoon of white wine vinegar to each pour.
The larvae are eventually killed. Fill a deep basin halfway with apple cider vinegar or combining red wine with a few drops of liquid dish soap.
How Do You Get Rid Of Gnats In Water And Dish Soap?
In a small bowl, combine a half cup of warm water, two tablespoons apple cider vinegar, a spoonful of sugar, and around six drops liquid dish soap.
The sugary mixture will entice gnats in, but the sticky dish soap will trap them once they drink.
Does Dawn dish soap kill gnats?
Every other time you water. Add a tablespoon of liquid dish soap and a teaspoon of white vinegar to your water. It will eventually destroy the fungus gnat larvae.
What does dish soap do to gnats?
The gnats will be attracted by the scents produced by the vinegar and sugar, but when they contact the solution, the Dawn dish soap will cause them to become trapped, and they will drown.
How does Dawn dish soap keep flies away?
Add 2 cups of warm water into the sprayer, shake and squirt, and add white vinegar for more killing power.
Will dish soap kill houseplants?
Soaps and detergents poison plants. When a powerful solution of soapy water is thrown on foliage, it dissolves the waxy layer on the leaves, causing water loss and the plant’s eventual death from dehydration.
Soap will linger in the soil, becoming poisonous and potentially fatal.
Will Dawn dish soap kill drain flies?
To kill drain flies fast, add 7 drops of dish soap with 2 cups of warm water and spray directly on them.
What can I spray on my houseplants to get rid of gnats?
- Combine two liters of water with one tablespoon of lemon-scented dish soap.
- Fill a spray bottle halfway with the mixture.
- Using the soap mixture, liberally spray the diseased houseplant.
- Make sure the soil, stem, and leaves are all well-coated.
5 Ways to Get Rid of Gnats
- Make a trap with apple cider vinegar. Combine a few tablespoons apple cider vinegar, a few drops dish soap, and a spoonful of sugar in a mixing basin.
- Construct a fruit trap.
- Pour diluted bleach down the drain of the sink or tub.
- Construct a candle trap.
- Make a vinegar trap. Cut the top off a plastic bottle and invert it like a funnel. Insects can fly in because of the sweet smell but can’t get out.
What smell do gnats hate?
Fruit flies and fungus gnats, both known as ‘gnats,’ rely primarily on their keen sense of smell to get about.
Use scents like peppermint, lemon, eucalyptus, vanilla, lavender, citronella, and DEET to take advantage of this feature and repel gnats.
