If Your Kitchen Is Swarming With Gnats, Find Some Old Wine

Gnats aren't exactly welcome houseguests. Maybe they found their way in through an open window or they're attracted to some old produce you've been meaning to throw out but, no matter how they found their way here, you want those pesky little buggers out of your kitchen. The problem, however, is getting the gnats out without having to resort to using bug spray or any other sort of toxins around your food.

If you're looking to solve your pest problem the natural way, all you need is a bottle of old wine. Beer will work perfectly fine, too. Take the bottle of wine or beer and carefully pour in a few drops of dish soap. You can also pour the alcohol into a cup and then add the dish soap. Put the alcohol-soap mixture close to where you have the most gnats, such as by a window, in corners, or next to a fruit dish.

But what exactly does a bottle of old alcohol and dish soap have to do with getting rid of gnats and fruit flies? You've just built an all-natural bug trap that fruit-loving gnats won't be able to resist.

You may have heard of the old saying that "You'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar." Although the expression is more about good manners, the idea of catching flies with something sticky and sweet is exactly what your alcohol-soap trap is designed to do.

Gnats are attracted to the scent of ripe fruit and will catch the scent of the alcohol in the bottle or the cup. After all, wine is made from crushed grapes and beer is made from fermented grains, so they are prime targets for wandering bugs. The gnats buzz down to get some of that fermented sweet stuff — only to discover that the dish soap has formed a sticky layer on top. If they do manage to break through the dish soap to get to the alcohol, the soap will prevent them from flying back out.

Replace this alcohol trap every so often, especially if the trap is in an area of high gnat traffic. So long as you don't mind using up a little bit of beer or wine each time, you can create an effective, poison-free trap good for nearly any area of the home.

If you don't happen to have any leftover beer or wine laying around, you can achieve the same results using some apple cider vinegar. To prepare your vinegar trap, simply fill an empty jar or glass with apple cider vinegar and mix in a few drops of dish soap as an added precaution. Once the jar or glass is filled with vinegar, cover the mouth of it with plastic wrap and then poke holes in the plastic wrap using a fork, toothpick, or pencil. Gnats will smell the vinegar and climb through the holes in the plastic wrap to get it. The vinegar (and dish soap, if you added any) will make it hard for the gnats to land without getting stuck. Since the entrance is already covered, the gnats can't escape even if they could break free.

After a day or two, you'll likely notice that gnats are starting to pile up in the vinegar. Just as you would with the alcohol trap, make sure to change the vinegar out every so often to keep it fresh and attractive.