# My apartment is full of gnats **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 22, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apartment-is-full-of-gnats/214710 "2003-11-22T18:03:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![snermy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@snermy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snermy)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apartment-is-full-of-gnats/214710/1 "2003-11-22T18:03:05Z")
Or fruitflies, take your pick. I’ve been away for a week, got home last night. Didn’t notice anything unusual what with the dark and the sleeping. Went into the kitchen this morning and flipped on the lights, noticed many many little black dots all over the counters. Especially that 5 lb bag of apples I left out. Then they took off. There are _clouds_ of fruitflies in my kitchen. I’m estimating about a kajillion. How do I kill them? I don’t really want to bug bomb my entire apartment. Anything I might have around the house that kills fruitflies dead? I sucked some up with the vaccum. That was entertaining, but now there’s at least half a kajillion of the quicker ones left. ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apartment-is-full-of-gnats/214710/2 "2003-11-22T18:47:49Z")
Fruit flies are pretty easy to eliminate if you remove their food sources. Take out the trash, keep it taken out. Clean up the counters, get rid of standing fruit. Don’t let water sit around, either…they require moisture. They’ll die off rapidly without easy access to food…that’s where they lay their eggs. Just clean them up as the kajillions of them start dropping. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apartment-is-full-of-gnats/214710/3 "2003-11-22T18:54:51Z")
Mine is full of gnus. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Fox\_Paws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/85e7bf/32.png) [@Fox\_Paws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fox_Paws)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apartment-is-full-of-gnats/214710/4 "2003-11-22T18:57:50Z")
There is a strong correlation between presence of a food source (dirty dishes in the sink, food on the counters, etc) and presence of those annoying little insects. Remove the food source and you remove the insects. It can happen surprisingly fast, too. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apartment-is-full-of-gnats/214710/5 "2003-11-22T23:06:36Z")
I used a can of Glade. So it smells nice too. ---
**Author:** ![dave316](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dave316](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dave316)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apartment-is-full-of-gnats/214710/6 "2003-11-23T14:45:52Z")
fill a glass halfway full with apple cider vinegar add some water than put in a couple drops of dishwashing liquid set glass in kitchen ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apartment-is-full-of-gnats/214710/7 "2003-11-23T14:57:20Z")
If you have any houseplants, use a systemic poison designed for houseplants. Otherwise, despite all of your other efforts, as mentioned above, the fruitflies will settle into your houseplants. It takes about 2 weeks or so for the poison to work its magic. It also doesn’t smell very nice. Keep your houseplants up if you have cats or dogs who are likely to try chewing the leaves. I also would spray the little suckers out of the air with air freshner, hairspray, whatever is handy. (I brought in a contaminated batch of blueberries this fall, and we went through about a month before they finally all died off). Good Luck!! ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apartment-is-full-of-gnats/214710/8 "2003-11-23T19:58:29Z")
My. APARTMENT. Is fuuuuuulllllllllll. of GNATS! Cigarette! Ja, ja! ---
**Author:** ![AquaPura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AquaPura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AquaPura)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apartment-is-full-of-gnats/214710/9 "2003-11-24T02:20:18Z")
This technique has always worked for me, and is non-toxic. Obtain a clean spray bottle, fill with common household white vinegar. (I suppose you could use the expensive balsamic kind but only if you feel like treating the gnats) Turn the spray to a fine mist and spray the bejeebers outta the beasts. Even if they just get wet the vinegar eats through their wings or exoskeletons or something (I don’t know if this is true or not, just what I was told). All I know is that it works and they PERISH! Hose the fruit down too, or just throw it away as that is where they came from. Clean up all food. It takes a few hours to work, and you might need to zap the ones that you missed, butit stops them dead. ---
**Author:** ![guy\_from\_wpa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@guy\_from\_wpa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guy_from_wpa)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apartment-is-full-of-gnats/214710/10 "2003-11-24T04:32:21Z")
Suck up the fruit flies with a vacuum cleaner–hopefully you can use just the hose. Works great on the suckers. The grocery store I work in has problems with them in the summer time. The Terminex guy put out these sticky boards that we use for bees and regular flies, but they fruit flies are not attracted to them. But they are no match for the Hoover! Works great on swarming termites also. ---
**Author:** ![peri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@peri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peri)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apartment-is-full-of-gnats/214710/11 "2003-11-24T05:05:44Z")
[PIC Fly Stick](http://www.pic-corp.com/www/consumer/flystik.htm) Place a bit of apple or banana in the reservoir. Most of the fruit flies will be stuck within 24 hours. It’s non-toxic (basically a cylindrical glue board) and it works. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apartment-is-full-of-gnats/214710/12 "2003-11-24T07:07:05Z")
If you have a dishwasher, open the door and place a bit of ripe fruit inside. (Cantaloupe works well). Wait an hour or so. When all the fruit flies have gone into the dishwasher, close it quickly and turn it on. Ha! Death to fruit flies! I suppose a microwave might work as well. The dishwasher has the advantage of being self-cleaning. ---
**Author:** ![Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raymond_luxury_yacht/32/4099_2.png) [@Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raymond_Luxury_Yacht)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apartment-is-full-of-gnats/214710/13 "2003-11-24T07:42:33Z")
My hovercraft is full of eels. ---
**Author:** ![lurksfromwork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@lurksfromwork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurksfromwork)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apartment-is-full-of-gnats/214710/14 "2003-11-24T10:15:39Z")
I have wildebeast in the bathroom a donkey in the dinning room a spider in the dunny a crocodile in the laundry rabbits in the rumpus leopards in the living room occasionally there is a tiger in the bedroom the gnats have been forced into the shed by the bees and my fridge is full of cow my hovercraft is full of cheese… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-apartment-is-full-of-gnats/214710/15 "2003-11-24T14:27:57Z")
CALL THE RAF! The Gnatzis are attacking by air! 😃