8 Effective Methods To Get Rid of Mosquitoes From Home/Indoors

Praveen Kumar
13 min readJun 6, 2021

--

In this article, We will cover 8 simple and effective methods to rid of mosquitoes Home/indoors. The methods we use are all tested by our team and can be used easily by anyone, so there is no need to hire a specialist.

Among all the insect bites, Mosquito bites are the worst. They not only suck blood but also expose you to the parasites that cause you the most dangerous diseases like dengue and malaria. It is very important to get rid of these mosquitoes from your house especially if you have children in your home.

There are many different methods to get rid of these dangerous mosquitoes from your home or indoor area. Let us discuss each of them in brief. But as you know prevention is always better than cure. Before you start killing mosquitoes in your indoor space you should prevent them from entering in the first place.

Table of Contents

Prevention is better than the cure:

Finding the root cause of mosquito population near your home or indoor area is the first step in eradicating or reducing the mosquito population. Preventing the mosquitoes from breeding is very cheap and easy than killing them after they invade your house or indoor space. Below are the main reasons why the mosquito population around you never stops increasing.

Stagnant water around the house:

Stagnant water is the best breeding ground for all kinds of mosquitoes. They lay eggs in this stagnant water and produce more off-springs. The eggs hatch into larvae and these larvae grow into adult mosquitoes. They suck blood from the humans again and lay eggs in the stagnant water. The cycle continues. Once you break the cycle, you can control the mosquito population in and around your house.

To Do: Dislodge all the stagnant water around the house or the indoor area. Empty the buckets or water tanks with dirty rainwater. These are the places where these mosquitoes lay their eggs. If the water cannot be drained, you can spray or spill over the water surface. The oil reduces the surface tension of the water and drowns all the larvae that are floating over the water (Scientifically proven and practically used method). This kills the mosquito larvae at the earliest stage itself.

Else you can use Mosquito dunks or Mosquito beater granules. You need to use them in the stagnant water body.
Mosquito Dunks / Mosquito Beater Granules:

Dunks Mosquito Killer

Mosquito dunks look like a donut and float in water. When you put them in the water they slowly dissolve by releasing a bacteria that is very harmful to the mosquito larvae. These bacteria kill the larvae and make the water mosquito-free. They are completely non-poisonous and also bio-degradable.

Check the Best Mosquito Dunk For Pool

Buy on Amazon

Mosquito Beater Granules:

Mosquito Beater Granules are similar to mosquito dunks, but they look like small granules. These granules contain dried BTI bacteria which is dangerous only to these small mosquito larvae. You can also use it in wetlands like grass and under the plants. It kills the larvae and prevents mosquitoes from overgrowing in population.

These Mosquito Dunks and Granules can last for more than 30 days and dissolves very slowly killing all the larvae in the process. It can cover an area of up to 100 sq. ft. You have to increase the pellets depending on the area of stagnant water.

Best Bonide mosquito beater

Buy on Amazon

Mosquito Nets for Doors and Windows:

However, you try to kill all the mosquito larvae, some escape from all the attempts and grow into adult mosquitoes. Better not let them inside the house. You can cover your windows and doors with proper mosquito nets. This will mostly prevent many mosquitoes from entering your room. But still, some can get inside when you open your front door or backyard door.

Also, they will enter through the ventilation holes. A mosquito net that is properly installed prevents many mosquitoes from entering the home.

Ways to Kill Indoor Mosquitoes:

Electrical Traps / Mosquito Lanterns

Sticky Pads

Repellents

Trap and Dehydrate

Mosquito Magnet Trap

No matter how hard you try to stop the mosquito from entering your house, they will still enter your home somewhere. Don’t worry we can still handle this. A lot of mosquito trap models are available to use indoors. You can use these traps to catch the mosquitoes indoors and have a peaceful sleep. Let me explain to you some of the methods to get rid of mosquitoes indoors.

Electrical Traps / Mosquito Lanterns:

When it comes to indoor traps, electrical traps are the best. Besides mosquitoes, they also kill other insects and pests. You have to turn on the electrical traps for few days to get the best results. The UV bulb inside the trap attracts insects, mosquitoes, and bugs into them. Outside the UV bulb, there will be a power grid where electricity runs through it. Mosquitoes that touch these grids are instantly electrocuted and die.

All the dead insects are collected in the removable bottom of the trap. You can easily remove the bottom and dispose of the dead insects. But these take up a lot of electricity. Also, most people prefer electric traps because they are chemical-free and non-toxic.

Recommended Electric Traps to Try: Senca Electric Indoor Mosquito Trap

Read the complete review about Best Mosquito traps

Sticky Pad:

Sticky pad-type traps are used in small indoor spaces or personal rooms. The efficiency of the sticky pad type traps is relatively low compared to the electric traps but it is better and cost-efficient when you need a trap for small rooms.

Like the electric traps, this trap also has a UV bulb that glows and attracts mosquitoes. Once the mosquitoes enter the trap the suction fan inside the trap will suck these insects and trap them on the sticky pads. Only small insects can be trapped by this method. Also, you need to replace the sticky pads in the trap very often else the trap won’t work efficiently. But sticky pad traps are child and pet-friendly. They are not as dangerous as electric traps but you still need to keep them out of the children’s reach.

Recommended Sticky Pad Traps to try: Fenun Mosquito trap

Read the complete review here

Repellents:

Mosquito repellents provide an instant, inexpensive solution for the problem. There are different types of repellents available in the market. Repellent-type traps create a safe protection area by heating the repellent pellets inside them. No smoke or flames will be created. But these traps are not as effective as the electric traps.

If you are determined to use repellents then try to use natural repellents. Don’t go for any repellents that use DEET as an ingredient. DEET products are very effective in controlling mosquitoes but it is very harmful to humans. DEET products that contain more than 30% are already banned in the United States.

The most used chemicals in the repellents are:

DEET

DEET or diethyltoluamide is one of the most common ingredients used in insect repellents. It can protect for around 10 hours based on the amount of DEET used. In the US, however, DEET products exceeding 30% have been banned. So choose products that contain DEET below 30%. Lesser the DEET better the product.

Picaridin

Picaridin is a synthetic version of the natural compound piperine which is found in plants. Picaridin can be applied to human skin to prevent insects like mosquitoes, bugs, ticks from biting. Human skins have the capacity to absorb more than 6% of the picaridin applied to them. Though they are non-toxic and harmful, it is better to use products with less picaridin content.

IR3535

Unlike DEET and Picaridin, IR3535 has an excellent record. Although it has some side effects, it is less severe than DEET or IR3535. It is completely non-toxic and environmental friendly. Many studies have found out that using IR3535 will not cause any long-term effects on humans. In rare cases, some side effects like mild skin irritation and eye irritation can be caused.

Natural OLE

Natural OLE means Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus. This oil is marketed as natural but this Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus can be prepared synthetically also. Most of the repellents that contain 30% of these OLE perform well in killing mosquitoes. But don’t use the repellents with OLE on children under the age 3. It might cause some itches on the skin.

Repellents may be allergic to some children. So use wisely. Also being a natural repellent doesn’t guarantee that the repellent will be 100% effective. So you have to be careful while choosing the best repellent for you.

Recommended Repellent to try: Bug Soother Spray

Trap and Dehydrate:

Traps like AICase Electric Mosquito Killer don’t electrocute the mosquitoes they capture. Instead, they suck the mosquitoes in a box where they are locked and left to die. The dehydrated mosquitoes or bugs will die eventually. You can open the box below the trap after a few days and clean the dead insects. No electric grids and no chemical sticky pads are present in this trap. Completely children and pet-friendly.

But they are not effective as electric traps. You can use these suction traps if the indoor space is very small.

Recommended Suction traps with UV lights: AICase Electric Mosquito Killer

Read more about AICase Electric Mosquito Killer

Mosquito Magnet Trap:

Among all the other mosquito traps this one is very efficient and can kill more than 20 thousand mosquitoes in a single day. Traps like “Mosquito Magnet MM3300B Executive” are powered by complete science and technology.

Mosquito Magnet trap is also known as Propane Mosquito trap works just like a suction trap, but the small difference is that it generates CO2 which is perceived by mosquitoes as human exhaled CO2. Not only CO2 but they also release heat and liquid which attracts more mosquitoes in this case. All these attracted mosquitoes are sucked into a closed chamber under the trap where they are left to dehydrate and die.

You need to use these traps for more than a week to see good results. But if you don’t control the breeding mosquitoes will keep going. So breaking their breeding cycle is also very important.

Check on amazon

Worst Indoor Mosquito Traps/Repellents:

Not all the available indoor mosquito traps work like charm. There are some poor performers and fake ones too. Better not waste time in trying them. To find the better mosquito trap our team has tried all the available repellents and traps. We found some of the worst ones and thought to share them with you. Don’t get fooled by their fake advertisements.

Wrist Bands

When wrist band repellents entered the market everyone loved them not because they were effective but they hated applying repellent creams on their body. Wrist bands promised that if they wear them no insects will bite or harm them. They advertised that it is an effective solution for mosquito bites. As a result, no noticeable effects were observed. Mosquitoes still bite them. At least the creams saw little success. But the wristwatches were a complete failure. They were kicked out of the market eventually. Even if they are available, never bother to buy them.

Clip-On Fans

You may have heard about these clip-on fans already. Clip-on fans are a combination of both wrist bands and repellent sprays. Clip-On fan’s advertisements claimed that when the clip-on fan is connected to the wrist bands they spread the repellent chemicals into the air forming a protective layer around the person using it. But in reality, they never did. They are absolutely a waste of time and money. You can better refrain from buying them.

Citronella Candles

Citronella candles are another form of repellent trap. Citronella candles advertised that when these candles burn, no insect will dare to touch you. But this thing failed miserably. Our experimentation with this candle yielded some results, but they were not impressive. Still, we got bitten by a large number of mosquitoes. The scent/repellent smell from these candles is very weak and is not enough to keep the mosquito army away from your personal space.

Tick & Insect Repellent Wipes

Repellent wipes like “Off! Deep Woods Insect Repellent” can be used for the baby’s protection. They are non-toxic repellent wipes that are specially designed for babies. These wipes protect babies, not from mosquitoes but also from other insects such as gnats, chiggers, ticks, and fleas. Since these are specially made for babies they have to be less toxic. Since they are less toxic they cannot actively repel mosquitoes. Very less powerful and only suitable for babies.

Sonic Repellents

Sonic repellents are very unique in operation. They don’t electrocute, spray chemicals, use sticky pads but they emit high-frequency waves that cannot be heard by humans but keep away mosquitoes and other insects away from humans. The companies advertised that these high-frequency supersonic waves are very powerful and can shoo away all the mosquitoes. But in reality, no consumer gave a positive review. They don’t work. Just another gimmick.

Homemade trap to get rid of indoor mosquitoes:

Need an immediate natural solution to kill the mosquitoes inside your personal space? Then let’s create a mini CO2 trap.

Working method: Mini CO2 trap will release carbon dioxide, which mimics human breath. The mosquitoes that are attracted to this CO2 will get trapped and die.

Requirements: Big plastic water bottle, little sugar, yeast, water.

  1. Cut the bottle into equal half.
  2. Fill the bottom portion with water and add sugar to it.
  3. Stir well and add little yeast to it.
  4. Now this solution starts to produce Co2. Now close the solution with another half of the bottle upside down.
  5. Place it in the place where you want to get rid of the mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes get attracted to the CO2 and enter into the bottle. They fell in the water and die. Replace the water once every few days. When you have a small indoor room and want to get easily rid of the mosquitoes then this DIY mosquito trap will surely help.

If you need help selecting an indoor mosquito trap, then please read our complete review on Top 10 Best Indoor Mosquito Traps

General instructions for Mosquito traps and repellents usage:

While choosing mosquito traps for indoor use, there are some serious things that you need to consider before buying.

  1. If you have children in your home, make sure that the mosquito trap or repellent you are going to choose can be used around them and they are not allergic to it.
  2. Avoid using skin creams on children younger than 3 years. Even adults can avoid them because they won’t use them anyway.
  3. Consider buying a mosquito trap with less weight that can be portable so that you can carry it along with you to the other room, patio, or even while camping.
  4. The trap must consume less electricity and also should have a decent cord length.
  5. For chemical repellents, the DEET/OLE percentage should not exceed 30%.
  6. Try to avoid electric grid traps if you have kids in your home. Even though these traps have protective plastic outer covering to prevent accidental touches, accidents can still occur.

The following tips can help you avoid mosquito bites:

  1. Try to seal all the gaps in the windows and doors. Mosquitoes usually lurk in through those holes.
  2. Try not to wear a black or dark-colored dress cause they make you warm. Mosquitoes are mostly attracted by CO2 and warm bodies. So try to keep your cool to avoid attracting mosquitoes.
  3. Mosquitoes hate garlic. When you eat more garlic, your sweat and body will smell like garlic. Mosquitoes dislike the smell of garlic, so they are less likely to attack you.
  4. Never use mosquito chemical sprays and skin cream on children and infants. They might be allergic to it. Use foldable mosquito nets to prevent babies from mosquito bites. Check them here.

Most Frequently Asked Questions with Answers:

You might get a lot of doubts regarding the methods to get rid of these mosquitoes. We have answered some of the most frequent questions here.

  1. Which is the best natural way to control mosquitoes indoor?

The most natural way to get rid of mosquitoes is to prevent them from breeding. As we have discussed earlier, quickly get stagnant water bodies around your home or office. Those are the primary breeding ground for mosquitoes. You can use grains to attract birds into your surroundings. These birds will also feast on the mosquitoes.

  1. Is the Vinegar mosquito trap efficient?

We’ve talked about making our mosquito trap using yeast. Vinegar traps use vinegar instead of yeast. But vinegar is not effective in producing CO2 like yeast. So they attract only fewer mosquitoes in the process. So our suggestion is to use yeast traps for better mosquito hunting.

  1. Can we use anti-mosquito gels on babies?

Absolutely no. Most of these anti-mosquito gels have harmful chemicals in their composition. They might be very harmful to the babies and cause itches in their skin. Kids over 5 years of age can use them but for babies, it is not recommended. Try to use foldable mosquito nets. They are harmless and non-toxic.

  1. What are the most dangerous diseases caused by mosquitoes?

Diseases like Chikungunya, West Nile, Yellow Fever, Zika Virus, and Dengue Fever are caused by mosquitoes. They are responsible for more than 4 hundred thousand deaths each year around the world. Most of them are infants (Less than five years of age). It is very important to keep children safe from these dangerous mosquitoes.

  1. Which mosquito species is the reason for most diseases?

Aedes mosquitoes are the main transmitters of diseases to humans. Diseases such as Chikungunya, Yellow fever, Malaria are transmitted to humans by these mosquito species.

Final Words:

In this article, We have explained in detail about all the possible ways you can use to get rid of mosquitoes indoor. We have also discussed about the composition of chemicals in the mosquito repellents. Step by step instructions to make your own mosquito trap are also discussed. One final instruction from our side is don’t be careless about the mosquitoes. Try to get rid of them from your personal space as soon as possible.

If you have any doubts on the facts that we have discussed here please let us know in the comments below. Also if you have any new methods to get rid of these mosquitoes feel free to share them in the comment box or reach out in the contact form.

--

--

Praveen Kumar
Praveen Kumar

No responses yet