Gnats are one of the most common bugs who keeps on annoying USA households. They give your house an unpleasant vibe for visiting guest or neighbors. They an annoy little kids, pets, and even humans. They can disturb your cooking and accidentally get into your cooking. So, overall they are a nuisance which needs to be controlled (or, removed). So, here’s in this article, we will discuss in details about how gnats get into the house, what attracts them, what keeps them, which condition is most favorable to gnats and which things repel them.
So, you’ll get to know more about your little enemies, their strategy and devise a lot of ways to get ride of gnats from your home, shop or office permanently. Scroll down.
How Gnats Get Into the House?
Gnats are tiny, lightweight and are good with camouflage. They are clever little bastards who can find any entry point inside your house and make most out of them. Even if you think you have closed all the entry points, a small half centimeter hole or crack is enough for fungus gnats to get into the house. The little gaps around windows, door, ventilation are their main entry points. Then, they can crawl through sink pipes, drain pipes, etc.
Many a times, fungus gnats get to the house with the items you’re carrying inside the house such as plants pots, some old objects, damp cleaning clothes, etc. and multiple if they find warmth and moisture inside the house. If in some corners, cervixes’, or unused objects have some water in standstill position, that’s the hotspot for gnats to stay & multiply.
Even if you’re careful and you see that the objects you’re bringing home doesn’t have gnats such as wet soil for indoor plants or plant pots itself, they have left larvae or eggs in the wet soil which will multiple once you’ve settled that soil.
What Attracts Gnats?
Gnats are attracted to light and moisture. They also love certain smells. If there is extra humidity in environment, and they can easily find standstill water, decaying organic matters such as food or leaves and warm temperatures, they will make such areas their hotspot both to survive and to breed. They can also detect sugary aromas from a long distance. So, fallen candies, fruit pieces, juice spills becomes fungus gnats invitation cards.
If you have clogged drain issue in your house, plants pots always have standstill water, you have some damped cleaning clothes all things things become the new home of fungus gnats.
Why Are There Gnats in the Bathroom?
Bathrooms are one of the favorite places for gnats to live and move around the house. Bathroom usually have moisture, they are not as airy as bedroom or living areas. They always have some spilled water somewhere or leaked pipes. All these places inside the bathroom are perfect spots for fungus gnats to survive and thrive. They breed there, and increase in count. And, don’t forgot those sink and drain pipes. Those help gnats to move around the house or move from outdoor to indoors and back.
So, also make sure your bathroom doesn’t have any leakeage, standstill water and extra humidity. Make sure it’s ventilation system works properly and, there is no issue of clogged pipes.
Why Gnats Keep Flying Around Me?
Gnats can detect carbon dioxide and warmth. So, if the place itself is clean in a way that they can’t find anything else attracting them, they will start circling humans. Human body heat, sweat, smell or sometimes the fruity flavor shampoo/bodywash, body lotion or perfume that you have used become the cause of gnats flying around you.
Fungus gnats usually try to target human’s highest spot because to call for mating or signaling other gnats to assemble. That’s why try keep circling around your face, ears and hair.
Are Gnats Harmful for Humans? Do They Carry Disease?
Gnats are usually a nuisance and not a major health threat. They themselves are not poisonous but female gnats can bite and their bites can give itch or red bumps. In allergy-prone people, these things become more annoying. You need to be extra careful to avoid gnats from newborn babies, pregnant ladies and sick person because due to weakened immunity, gnats bite can harm them more.
Though gnats themselves are not a threat but they can carry microbes and harmful bacteria because they sit on, survive and exist in dirty environment, rotten food/organic matter, gray water etc. Which can indirectly spread diseases like diarrhea, typhoid, etc.
How to Get Rid of Gnats in the House?
To get rid of gnats permanently, you need to devise omnidirectional strategy to remove factors that’s attracting gnats to the household, trap existing gnats and close their entry points. Here’s through these bullet points, we will address all these factors –
- Throw away overripe fruits and decaying organic matter.
- Seal trash bins properly
- Clean spilled juice, milk or wine
- Clean kitchen counters, drains and garbage disposals
- Check the plant for overwatering.
Trap gnats inside the house –
- To trap gnats, put apple cider vinegar in a bowl, add 2-3 drops of soap solution.
- Apple cider vinegar smell attracts them and soap solution breaks surface tension
- As soon as gnats land on the vinegar, they will sink.
Close Entry point for Gnats –
- Seal the windowsills, door corners and ventilation corners.
- Clean your drains by flushing down hot water + baking soda mix to remove all the gnats eggs and larvas.
How to Get Rid of Gnats from House Plants?
If your house plants have gnats infestation problem, then start by letting the top layer of soil dry. We want to dry top 1-2 inch as gnats thrive in moisture. Also, add yellow sticky trap paper around in the pot soil to trap those gnats who lingers.
Once that is done, mix 1 part of 3% hydrogen peroxide to 4 parts of water and put it in the pot to kill the eggs and larvae safely without harming the plant. Now, all you have to do is make sure the plant has good drainage so that water doesn’t form pool in the pot.
If the gnats infestation in the soil is too much, you might need to replace the top layer of soil or start with totally sterile soil.
How to Get Rid of Gnats in the Office?
To get rid of gnats from office or workspace, you need to keep in mind all the things that attracts gnats. Is your office accidentally inviting them? Check for high humidity, moisture, open bins, wet mop in janitor room, damp clothes, overfilled pots with water, etc. these are the main sources that attract gnats.
Once you’re totally sure that you’ve removed all the places that can host gnats, now work on trapping the fungus gnats. You can put put apple cider vinegar, wine, fruit juice in a bowl, mix it with 2-3 drops of liquid soap and that will be good enough trap to catch gnats. You can cover it with plastic wrap to make it more effective.
After doing this, work on closing/sealing unintended entry points of gnats, such as hole or opening around windows, door, damped walls due to leaked pipes, etc.
How to Keep Gnats Away from the House or Office?
To keep gnats away, you need to prioritize cleaning & drying of your space. You also need to professionally clean drain pipes and plumbing leaks. Don’t overfill plants to avoid water forming pool at the surface. Make sure dustbins always stay covered and organic matters are not thrown away to rot. Avoid putting overripe fruits in the open. If there is a coffee or juice spill, clean it up immediately.
All these things will keep Gnats away from the place of your work as well as place of rest.
How to Get Rid of Gnats (Final Guide / Summary Section)
Gnats are tiny, moisture-loving insects that sneak into homes through cracks, windows, drains, and even potting soil. They thrive where there’s humidity, standing water, overripe fruit, or decaying organic matter. Bathrooms, kitchens, and plant pots become hotspots—especially if ventilation is poor or drains are clogged. While gnats are mostly a nuisance, some may bite and they can transfer germs from dirty environments.
To eliminate them, remove what attracts them: discard spoiled food, seal trash bins, clean spills, reduce humidity, and avoid overwatering plants. Trap existing gnats with bowls of apple cider vinegar mixed with a few drops of dish soap, and seal gaps around doors and windows. For plant infestations, dry the top soil, use yellow sticky traps, and treat soil with diluted hydrogen peroxide. Finally, maintain long-term prevention by keeping drains clean, fixing leaks, ventilating damp areas, and ensuring no stagnant water remains—at home or in the office.
