Gnats are tiny pests that can attack the mouth, ears and eyes. They can easily get around your hands or other things you may use to keep them away.

Though these gnats are harmless their presence can be disruptive and unpleasant. They may try to fly in your face and around your food, which could raise questions on hygiene. Before you get to know how to keep gnats away, it is important to figure out why do gnats fly in your face.

What to Know About Gnats

Gnat is a general name for tiny insects that can fly to certain places. These creatures can move towards your face, around fruits and other organic materials. They are consistent in flying around eyes or ears and it can be highly disturbing.

These tiny flying pests or insects can grow and multiply within a short span of time. Gnats may include house flies, black flies, biting midges, fungus gnats, fungus flies and eye gnats. Sometimes fruit flies also exhibit similar behavior, which is why they may also be classified under the same category.

Why Gnats Fly in Your Face?

When trying to move away, you may think about why these creatures fly around your face. Well, most people have the same question and are looking for the answer as well. There are quite a few reasons why these gnats become attracted to your house and fly close to people.

Rotten Food Items

The intense moisture and odor of organic material (food and fruits) attract these tiny invaders. Some species among gnats are attracted to indoor plants and others look for decaying food material in the trash cans or dumpsters. A few of them are attracted to ripe or rotten fruits that have been in the house for many days.

Weather

As your face sometimes becomes oily or wet due to a change in weather, you may face difficulty in keeping these creatures away. In fact, this is one of the main reasons why the tiny creatures keep on hovering around your face. They keep on flying around unless you take measures to get rid of them.

Moisture

Moisture or dirt inside a house can attract gnats quickly and may lead to an infestation as well. Once they manage to get inside, gnats might be very difficult to handle. They keep on multiplying quickly due to the favorable conditions that can help them thrive.

How to Keep Gnats Away From Your Face

As you are now familiar with the reasons behind gnats flying around your face, you can take measures to prevent that from happening frequently. You can try several useful tips and solutions to keep these creatures at a distance and make sure that they do not irritate a peaceful sleep or walk.

Scent

You can keep them away from your face by masking the scent of your face by adding lemon, vinegar, diluted vanilla extract, or cedar wood oil.

Be careful while using these lotions and products on your face. Your skin might be allergic to any of them and it can have adverse effects. Try using a small amount first on a small part of your face and test it. If your skin is sensitive, you can apply these to your hat or colors. This will also help to keep gnats away from your face.

Pine Trees

If you are hiking on a mountain or walking in a park, there are other solutions to repel gnats as well. In case you don’t have these things with you, search for a pine tree. Rub the inside of a young branch of a pine tree and it will keep gnats away successfully.

Using coconut oil, vegetable oil, olive oil or simple cooking oil sprays can also help people prevent gnats from flying around the face. These will help mask the natural scent and confuse the creatures.

How to Keep Gnats Out of Your Home

If gnats invade your house, the first things to do are empty your trash cans, clean your laundry, drain cleaning and try to keep things dry. Keep in mind that moisture creates favorable conditions for gnats to reproduce. Dry places can curb their population and prevent them from growing.

Apple Cider Vinegar

You can make a trap of apple cider vinegar to catch gnats. This is a very common DIY trap for gnats that includes adding apple vinegar into a bottle or jar with a few drops of dishwashing soap. This bottle or jar is covered with a wrap that has holes in it. Gnats get attracted to this and fly into the trap and may not be able to get out easily.

Traps with sticky components can work efficiently to capture and kill gnats as well. These traps are used especially for insects hovering around houseplants. Place sticky traps around these plants and inside your house where you see gnats.

Lightning

Apart from such solutions, you can also use a lightning trap used for mosquitos or gnats. This can include a colorful light which can be directed towards the gnats to suck them in. Some people add a sticky material at the bottom so that the creatures can get stuck and get caught easily. These types of traps are safe to use both indoors and outdoors too.

Repelling Gnats From Outdoors

Many people have outdoor places such as farmhouses, yards, or patios and they like to enjoy spending time there. These general outdoor spaces are more common to be a home for gnats and they can ruin your party. Before visiting these places, keep the fans running to prevent gnats from flying in.

Some plants can repel gnats and having them indoors or outdoors can greatly help. Plants such as geraniums, lavender and marigold work best for this.

It is very important to know what has attracted them to your home and why do gnats fly in your face. Look for certain changes in the house that may be suddenly attracting them. This can be because of a specific smell of rotten food, persistent dampness or moisture in the kitchen or any other area.

Look for odors in your house or certain rooms that might attract gnats. Once you find the reason for their presence, you can easily take measures to keep them away. It is not difficult to get rid of gnats; however, you do want to make sure that they do not come back. Try following some of the tips mentioned above and track the results as well to see if the gnats keep on flying around or disappear quickly.