drain gnats?

[nswef]

We were away for a week and now have gnats in the bathroom. I think they could be drain gnats- I've used boiling water and vinegar in the tub drain but they are still coming around. I think they are in the drain. I will put tape over it tonight as suggested on a website, but wondered if any of you had had them before and what you did to get rid of them. I want them gone NOW but of course don't want to use any poison. Thanks .

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[Tussiemussies]

Hi, I remember Tradd having some problem with drain flies, you might want to see how she got rid of them...

[Tradd]

My landlord actually solved the problem by pouring a mixture of Pine Sol and water down the drain. A few came back and I did that and it worked. Not sure why, but it's cheap enough and no chemicals.

[nswef]

I'll try that. Thanks.

[lessisbest]

With fresh fruit and a compost container sitting around, and some potted plants that harbor them (providing a place to drink), we occasionally get fruit flies (aka gnats) as a natural coarse of things. The sink drain probably was a place for them to get water. I keep a tiny bowl of apple cider vinegar with a shot of liquid dish soap in it (mixed together and filled to the rim) sitting out in the areas where they seem to congregate. The vinegar attracts them and the viscosity of the dish soap keeps them from flying off again once they get close to the liquid, and they drown in the mixture.

[iris lilies]

With fresh fruit and a compost container sitting around, and some potted plants that harbor them (providing a place to drink), we occasionally get fruit flies (aka gnats) as a natural coarse of things. The sink drain probably was a place for them to get water. I keep a tiny bowl of apple cider vinegar with a shot of liquid dish soap in it (mixed together and filled to the rim) sitting out in the areas where they seem to congregate. The vinegar attracts them and the viscosity of the dish soap keeps them from flying off again once they get close to the liquid, and they drown in the mixture.

I don't mind a few fruit flies at the height of summer, but I've lived with open compost buckets too long and I'm sick and tired of having them for months. So this year, after seeing fruit flies in the kitchen in February (umm, we are in a place that has actual winters) I declared that the compost bucket will live outside. Now, I dump the indoor container into the actual compost bucket multiple times daily and keep it washed out. I am not an advocate of composting here, that's DH's schtick. I am indifferent. And while he does empty the compost bucket regularly, he never emptied it multiple times daily. The fruit flies will now hover over the compost bucket on our patio.

I guess you could say that we have multiple compost buckets: the indoor one that is emptied 2X daily and the outdoor one which DH empties perhaps 1X each 2 days.

I get my garden compost from the city's composting program so I don't feel a need to do it at home, but DH wants to do it.

[nswef]

Wow, Iris, February gnats. Our compost doesn't get them until August. I have stuck it in the freezer- the compost bucket- if I don't feel like going up to the garden promptly. Still seems to compost OK. I think our gnats are in the drain...maybe the toilet? The pine sol seems to have lessened the infestation, but I had read on line of course that it could take up to 3 weeks to get rid of the adults who have hatched, but the treatment will stop the larvae. Hope so. Tired of smashing them into the curtain or window-they are fast little critters!