Keep Mosquitoes Out Of Your Home With This DIY Soapy Water Trap

When a mosquito gets into the home, it can be difficult to get rid of it, and the buzzing and itchy bites can quickly become a nuisance. While trying to swat them with a flyswatter or a newspaper is often ineffective, this DIY hack — designed to attract and kill mosquitoes that make their way into your house — is a viable alternative method. Plus, it's simple: By mixing some dish soap into a bowl of water, you can trap these annoying pests with ease.

Mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water, and prefer to remain close to a water source. These insects are able to land and walk on water because of the thin, lower part of their legs that's lined with air-filled grooves, which allows the water's surface tension to keep them afloat. When you combine soap with water, however, it interferes with the surface tension, and the mosquitoes will become stuck and quickly drown. While the standing water will attract the mosquitoes in your house, the soap will kill them, making this the perfect trick to rid yourself of these blood-sucking bugs.

While any soap will work for this hack, soaps that create more bubbles, like dish soap or laundry detergent, might be more effective. Stirring the water to create a layer of bubbles on the surface will help trap the mosquitoes. Dish soap can also kill mosquito eggs and larvae by suffocation, so you won't need to worry about them reproducing in the water either. You also don't need to use a large source of water for this mosquito trap. Since there usually isn't an abundance of standing water inside homes, a bowl with a few squirts of soap should work just fine in attracting the flying insects.

Certain soaps and essential oils, including tea tree, citronella, lemon eucalyptus, and peppermint, can also be used to repel mosquitoes. The bugs are bothered by these strong scents, so when you use a soap containing these oils or the oils themselves on your skin, the mosquitoes will be more likely to leave you alone.

While the soapy water trick is great for killing mosquitoes inside your home, it can be helpful to discourage them from entering your abode in the first place. By creating an environment that's unpleasant for mosquitoes, you'll notice fewer buzzing around.

One way to do this is with plants. Mosquitoes hate the smell of mint, lemongrass, and marigold, so keeping these plants around your home, either inside or outside, can repel these insects. If you're looking to use something you already have in your house, lemons plus cloves create a great option for keeping mosquitoes away. Simply cut some lemons in half and stick cloves into them to discourage mosquitoes from flying nearby. Strong breezes make it difficult for mosquitoes to fly, so keeping your fans running could help as well.

If, however, despite these measures, mosquitoes still get inside your home and you're sick of them pestering you, then a bowl of soapy water may prove the simplest solution to getting rid of them once and for all.