Say "Gno" to Gnats

Summer comes with happy, heat-seared tidings: weekends by the pool, tons of fresh seasonal fruits and veggies, catch up on overdue reading, sundresses, and the excuse to actually shave your legs and paint your toenails (good bye, pants!).

But the new season also brings plenty of unwelcome little guests, and I'm not talking about your friend's bratty kids off from school for the summer. No, at least those rugrats will eventually leave (you hope). I'm talking about the gross little buggers with wings and four legs or more. (Again, still not talking about the kids here.)

Nah, y'all... I mean BUGS!

I live in an old, tiny apartment; the windows and doors aren't sealed very well, and there's some general wear-and-tear that comes with an early twentieth century building -- the kind that insects just seem to figure out well enough to wreak havoc. As I bring in more fresh produce and the rising heat pushes bugs to cooler areas, I get the pleasure of spending more time trying to keep them at bay. The ants were fairly significant, but I tamed those with the good old-fashioned ant traps found at the drug store.

The worst of them all were the nasty gnats, or "fruits flies," buzzing and flying in scattered patterns -- usually with the uncanny ability to go straight to my eyes. GROSS. After a few days of scrubbing my kitchen and sealing my fruits and veggies, they were still bad. I immediately went out to see what remedies there were. Costing anywhere from $8-20, the options were exhausting - powders, strips, sprays, fumes - not to mention laden with weird chemicals and suggestions to be replaced every couple of weeks. Not willing to spend that much money on stupid bugs, I went home empty-handed to my lab of an apartment.

Reading reviews about which product would work best, it all boiled down to one conclusion: they all sucked. Finally at the point of giving up, I tried a quick Google search for "home gnat removal"; a plethora of things popped up for easy ways to safely and economically rid your house of gnats using things you already have. I clicked on a couple of links that all basically called for the same 'ingredients':

Dish soap

Apple cider vinegar

Glass jar

Paper

I had all of them on hand and it took me approximately 2min to search for them. What took me the longest, really, was rolling the piece of paper into the cone that would eventually go in the jar (and because I'm a 4-year-old, I decorated it with some markers so it'd at least look pretty in my kitchen).

Pour in the apple cider vinegar, enough to cover the bottom of the jar (used about a half cup in mine). The vinegar, though less than appealing to us, is incredibly attractive to gnats.

Place the paper cone inside the jar, but make sure you've tested that there's a little bit of room between the vinegar and the paper. The cone keeps them from flying back out (they're too stupid to figure out which way they came in - ha!).

Putting just a little dish soap (about what you'd squeeze on a sponge to clean a medium load of dishes), it makes the liquid a little more thick - and makes the vinegar smell a little less funky.

And you're done!

I was a little skeptical it wasn't going to work. The smell was definitely weird and the gnats didn't seem instantly attracted. I left it out on the kitchen counter for about 24hrs, close to where the trash is located, and turns out it worked like a charm.

Here at about 12 hours.

And here at about 24.

DIE, LITTLE SUCKERSSSS, DIE!

My kitchen, though it smelled a little odd, was almost completely free of the "gnastsy" gnats, all but for a few rebels fighting the urge to jump into the cone of shame. I replace the vinegar and soap every 3-5 days, and thus far it's been a wonder. It cost me absolutely nothing and took all of 5min to make. Even better? It's totally safe (for everyone but the gnats, that is), no chemicals, and dang cheap -- soap and cider vinegar cost about $3 at the grocery store and I used an old salsa jar. It inspired me to look up other easy eco- and economically friendly ideas for household needs; I'll be sure to let you know how they turn out.

As far of getting rid of the bratty kids?

Sorry, bubs, y'all are on your own.

(Though a splash of vodka in their Kool-Aid might calm them down REAL quick...)

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Do you have any similar ideas or strategies for simple household remedies? Don't be a Scrooge - share!