Tuesday Cleaning Tip--Shoo fly, shoo!

Anyone else ever have a little gnat problem? Those tiny boogers can be a real pain in the hiney to get rid of. Here are a few suggestions I found for ridding yourself of these uninvited houseguests.

Mix apple cider vinegar with baking soda, it makes a very intoxicating aroma, and if you set it on the counter for a day or two, all the gnats get in there and die! Be careful, as the baking soda will react with the vinegar and foam up, add very little at a time!

You can also try mixing 1/2 cup of vinegar and 1 tablespoon Dawn dish detergent. The gnats will be drawn to this, eat and die.

Also, if you have a bottle of wine, leave about 1/4 inch left in the bottom. Then leave the bottle on your kitchen counter for a day or two. They are attracted to it, drink it and die! The bottom of your bottle will have a ton of dead gnats in it!

Ray's daughter, Aimee, told us recently that she was having a problem with them too. She was getting so annoyed with them and she had a bottle of Windex close by so she grabbed it and sprayed the nearest gnat. She said the little thing dropped to floor and kind of turned an ugly red and died.

I tried my generic window cleaner and it didn't seem to work as well as she said the Windex did. So I got to thinking the generic probably has more water than alcohol. Hm, so I poured some alcohol into an empty mini-bottle and tried that. Yep! Them little boogers dropped to the floor.

I still kept a tiny glass with cider vinegar in the kitchen and bathroom to attract the gnats. When I would see them all sitting on the edge of the glass I'd spray it with the alcohol and down they would go.

The gnats seem to be drawn to windows, mirrors and the television...all of which are usually brightly lit areas. So be sure to keep you Windex handy, but out of the reach of small children.

You can also put these clear sticky things up on your windows and mirrors if you'd like to. I found them at Wal-Mart. I can't remember what they are called, but I found it in the bug spray area. They come in a package of 3 and are clear plastic strips with a sticky side that has an aroma that attracts fly's. You just pull off the sticky covering and hang them on your windows or mirrors. They'll just pull right off when your done using them.

I kept one on the bathrooom mirror as I saw a lot of them in there. It got covered with those little boogers. Every morning I'd go in and take a "dead gnat count". I never did think of it at the time, but the gnats are really attracted to tomatoes. I wonder if I had put a dot of ketchup in the center of the sticky area, would I have gotten a lot more and more quickly?

By the way, yes you will get these nasty lil bugs if you have trash sitting around, or fruit sitting on the counter too long. However, they will also come in via your plants if you bring them in from outside at the end of the summer. I wasn't sure how I kept getting them and then I read that little bit of information and it all clicked. Apparently they get in the dirt and will just come in with your plants.

I found an article and video on how to get rid of gnats if they've made a home in your plants soil. You can check it out here How to get rid of gnats/eHow.

Have a happy Tuesday!
Jill Marie