How To Kill Bugs With Vinegar

Vinegar is a handy household staple that was first used for preservative and medicinal purposes when it was created thousands of years ago. Now, you can use this fermented wonder for many purposes, including cleaning, cooking, and even ridding your home of specific bugs. While this acetic acid and water mixture won't kill cockroaches, it's an excellent solution for fruit flies, gnats, and ants when used appropriately.

Apple cider vinegar is a great option to eliminate flying insects in your home, like gnats, drain flies, and fruit flies. If gnats or drain flies are fluttering about your kitchen or cupboards, grab a bowl and fill it halfway with apple cider vinegar, a couple of drops of water, a squirt of dish soap, and a tablespoon of sugar. Leave the bowl near the bugs' hangout and soon enough, they'll be drawn to the vinegar and sugar but will be trapped by the sticky dish soap, helping to rid your house of them.

If fruit flies have overtaken your home, create a trap using a small cup filled halfway with apple cider vinegar and a drop of dish soap. Then, cover the cup in plastic wrap and poke tiny holes in the top. Make sure to leave this trap on your counter near where the fruit flies have congregated. After a day or two, you should notice more fruit flies trapped in the enticing mixture and fewer (hopefully none) flying about your home.

If ants are marching into your home, forgo the ant traps and reach for vinegar instead. Ants leave a scent trail for other ants to follow them into your home, so removing this scent is the best way to stop them from coming inside.

Grab a spray bottle and fill it with 1 part distilled vinegar (you can also use apple cider vinegar) to 3 parts water and then give it a good shake. Keep an eye out for ants and spray them with the mixture whenever you see them. The vinegar and water mixture should cover the ants' scent and stop more from invading your home.

While an insect's home is usually the great outdoors, they sometimes move into an already claimed domain: your garden. If your outdoor plants are experiencing unwelcome visitors, don't despair; make an outdoor vinegar trap. Grab a container and fill it with 1 cup of apple cider vinegar, 1 cup of sugar, and small slices of banana peel and then top it off with 1 cup of cold water. Shake it up and then cover the top with plastic wrap and poke holes in it. Place it near your garden or hang it on a nearby tree branch to catch intruders.