The only thing more annoying than being harassed by a swarm of hungry mosquitoes while you enjoy outdoor activities is being harassed by a solitary mosquito buzzing around your ear while you try to sleep (you can hear that sound right now, can’t you?). In this article we will discuss the best ways to get rid of mosquitoes indoors.
Reduce Mosquito Habitat
The first step in getting rid of mosquitoes indoors or outdoors is to make your surroundings less attractive for mosquitoes to live, dine and breed. Start by making your outdoor areas less hospitable to mosquitoes. You can utilize the methods for reducing mosquitoes that we provided in our Step By Step Guide. Then focus on making inside your home inhospitable to mosquitoes.
- Remove standing water sources used for breeding like plant saucers, watering cans, vases or other objects that hold water around or inside your house. Change your pet’s water bowl water frequently.
- Check under sinks or in the bathroom for leaks and/or standing water.
- Check for gaps around doors or windows where mosquitoes or other insects can get inside. If you can see daylight around the opening then insects can get in. Replace the weather stripping and/or spray the opening with an insecticide.
- Replace any broken or missing screens or patch with a screen repair kit.
- If you have children who are in and out and in and out all day consider a door screen to add an extra barrier between the outside of your home.
- For patios or balconies consider using mosquito repelling plants such as rosemary, basil, or lemongrass as decor as these varieties are less appealing as hideouts for mosquitoes.
Natural Solutions for Controlling Mosquitoes Indoors
If you are concerned about using chemicals inside your home there are several options available for a natural way to get rid of mosquitoes indoors.
Use essential oils to create a spray. The spray can help mask your scent and make you less noticeable to mosquitoes. Use oils such as eucalyptus, citronella, vanilla, tea tree or lemongrass as these scents seem to be effective. You can spray the repellent on yourself or spray the area where you will be spending the most time.
HOW TO MAKE A MOSQUITO REPELLENT SPRAY WITH ESSENTIAL OILS
- Fill a 4 oz (120 ml) amber glass spray bottle 1/2 full with distilled or boiled water. A glass bottle works better for use with essential oils as the glass will not retain the oils as much as a plastic bottle. The amber coloring also protects the spray from degrading due to UNV light.
- Add witch hazel to fill almost to the top. Essential oils require a carrier to dilute and make it easier to spray and apply.
- Add 1/2 tsp vegetable glycerin. Helps with the mixing of ingredients and keeps skin soft.
- Add 50 drops total of the essential oils listed above to achieve your desired scent. You can mix and match to get a scent you like and the mosquitoes hate.
There are also ready made options if you don’t want to make it yourself.
Please consult with your doctor before using essential oils if you have sensitive skin or allergies. Also, do not apply to children. There are options specifically formulated for children here.
Camphor has known mosquito repellent properties. You can leave tablets in the room to evaporate over time. You can also burn camphor in an empty room for 15 to 20 minutes to eliminate any mosquitoes in the vicinity. Be advised that the smell is strong and it’s not recommended if you have breathing issues or allergy issues.
Many people swear by Listerine. It contains eucalyptus oil which does repel mosquitoes. So you can gargle with it and dab a drop behind your ears to help defeat gingivitis and the skeeters.
Fend Off Mosquitoes By Hand
For a more traditional approach you can utilize hand to legs combat on the biting fiends. These methods are a time consuming but satisfying way to get rid of mosquitoes indoors.
Add the Bug-A-Salt bug killer to your mosquito killing arsenal. This tool is effective on spiders, flies, mosquitoes and other creepy crawlers. It works by propelling common table salt at a high rate of speed towards unsuspecting insects.
Another option that allows you to get up close and personal as you deal death and destruction to the mosquito population is an electric hand held zapper or bug killing racquet. These zappers are shaped like miniature tennis racquets with a handle and large head area. The racquet head is criss-crossed with horizontal and vertical wires that deliver an electric charge when an insect comes into contact with them. It is effective on mosquitoes, flies and other insects. An extra benefit is that it provides a satisfying zap as it does its business.
If you really want to go old school you can use the old standby fly swatter.
+ Odor free, pesticide free
+ Can improve your hand to eye coordination and provide exercise
+ Gives you something to do if still under quarantine for COVID
– Kind of messy
– Time consuming
Low Tech and Less Lethal Methods For Avoiding the Bites
If chasing mosquitoes is not your idea of a good time you should consider sleeping underneath a mosquito net. Mosquito nets are essential household items in many parts of the world to help being bitten by disease carrying mosquitoes.
Look for nets that have an extra layer of protection such as a coating of permethrin. Permethrin is a nature based insecticide that disrupts the insect’s nervous system preventing it from biting you. Nets can provide that refuge you need for a good night’s sleep. If you can’t find a net with permethrin already on it there are several products available that you can use to treat the net yourself.
Finally, another low-tech but effective way to avoid becoming a mosquitoes midnight snack is to sleep underneath a ceiling fan or in front of an oscillating fan. Mosquitoes can only fly up to 1.5MPH so having a nice breeze will keep them from landing on you while you sleep.
Mosquito Repellents and Sprays for Indoor Use
Although not optimal you could consider using insect repellents to keep the mosquitoes away while you are inside. We know repellents work but obviously the scent of the products which makes them effective is probably not something you want to smell while binge watching The Boys into the wee hours.
You might consider a repellent that uses other ingredients to avoid the strong smell you find in DEET based products. Look for products with picaridin, lemon eucalyptus or lemongrass oil which are effective without the heavy chemical smell.
Insecticides are perhaps the best way to get rid of mosquitoes indoors. There are specific products designed to work for indoor spaces. They emit a penetrating fog that kills most indoor insects including roaches, moths, ants, fleas, spiders and mosquitoes among many others. These foggers are fast working and kill on contact. Improvements in technology have produced foggers that are safer to use, leave less residue after use and don’t have a lingering odor like their predecessors.
Foggers are a safe and affordable way to de-bug an entire home if a pest problem isn’t severe.
How To Use An Indoor Fogger
- Determine what your needs are. A 2oz can will typically cover over 2,000 cubic feet (15’ x 15’ x 8’ ceilings). You’ll want to treat most rooms at once to eliminate most of the insects. Do not use it in a room 5’ x 5’ or smaller.
- Place a chair, table or other stand in the center of the room to be fogged. Cover the stand and the floor with newspapers or paper towels. Shake the can well. Tilt the sprayer part of the can away from your face.
- Press valve all the way down to hook the clasp. Do not inhale the spray mist as you put the fogger on stand and exit the room immediately.
- Close the door to the room being fogged and hang a warning sign on the door that a fogger is in use. Keep the treated area closed off and do not reenter for at least 2 hours. Leave the house for two hours to allow the fogger to work.
- Before reoccupying the area, open all doors and windows, turn off air conditioning and fans and allow the treated area to air out for two hours.
Be sure to follow all manufacturers instructions and safety warnings for best results.
Best Products For Quickly Killing Mosquitoes
If time is of the essence, many insecticide manufacturers offer aerosol sprays that kill insects quickly and effectively. These sprays are particularly handy if you have a large swarm of mosquitoes or other flying insects that are visible and moving about.
These sprays are typically permethrin or pyrethrin based which quickly paralyzes and kills the insects by damaging their central nervous system. The sprays are generally multipurpose in that they kill a multitude of insects including ants, centipedes, cockroaches, fleas, flies, fruit flies, millipedes, moths, silverfish, sowbugs, spiders, stink bugs, ticks, wasps, and yes mosquitoes among many others. The products can be used both indoors and outside. Newer sprays on the market also utilize essential oils that have been proven effective on insects.
When you need bugs dead and you need them dead fast..insecticide sprays can get the job done.
Indoor Mosquito Traps
Finally, we come to indoor mosquito traps. These devices are a great way to get rid of mosquitoes indoors. Like their outdoor counterparts they provide a non-toxic method of controlling mosquitoes. Although they will be a little more expensive than some of the other options we discussed, they will pay off in the long run with the effectiveness in which they kill mosquitoes. They are also simple to use in that you can set them up and let them go to work controlling mosquitoes.
What is an Indoor Mosquito Trap?
A mosquito trap is usually an electrical device that lures a mosquito or other flying insect to their doom with an ultra-violet light or other attractant where they are forced by a fan into a holding container where they expire. They differ from bug zappers in that zappers electrocute any hapless insect that it attracts. You can learn more about bug zappers and how they work here. While primarily used outdoors there are several mosquito traps that are suited for indoor use.
We are fans of DynaTrap and their line of mosquito traps for outdoor use. They recently introduced a couple models that can be used inside quite effectively. Like the outdoor model it uses an ultraviolet light to attract mosquitoes, flys, gnats, moths and other flying insects where they are then trapped on a sticky glue card. It’s a non-toxic less disgusting option for use indoors. Plug one in around doors where mosquitoes or other insects enter your home and another in your bedroom or bathroom to attract them to their doom.
+ Each unit can cover up to 600 Square feet
+ You can replace sticky pads once you reach your bag limit on dead bugs.
+ Works on several types of insects
+ Bulb last 3000 hours
+ Odor free, pesticide free, and somewhat not messy
+ Doubles as a nightlight
– Sticky pads need to be touched an replaced
A useful product from DynaTrap is their model DT-150. This item has the same features of the effective outdoor uits. It utilizes a UV bulb that emits a warm blue light attractive to mosquitoes and other insects. The surface of the trap is coated with titanium oxide which when warmed produces carbon dioxide which is irresistible to mosquitoes. The trap has a quiet yet powerful fan that vacuums the insects into a retaining cage where they dehydrate and die. While I don’t recommend it for use inside the house due to its size it can be used on covered patios, screened in porches, 4 season rooms or garages to provide an extra line of defense.
+ Covers up to 300 square feet
+ Has extra features to attract more mosquitoes
– Bulb is long life but can’t be replaced
– Requires an outlet for power
Another option is an indoor style mosquito trap that utilizes an ultraviolet light to lure the mosquito within range where a fan creates a vacuum to capture and trap them in a holding basket fitted with a stick glue board. You can use this where you’ve seen mosquitoes or in rooms where you’ve been bitten. A good way to jump start the trapping process is to keep the room or area dark and let the trap run continuously so it can lure and trap any insects in the area.
+ 3X trapping power with uv light, fan and capture basket and sticky board
+ Attracts other flying insects
+ Works best on smaller flying insects like mosquitoes, gnats and fruit flies
– Glue board needs to be handled and replaced
– The fan while quiet is still audible
Disclosure: a company with a similar name to Buzz-Be-Gone has been marketing and selling a similar device on the internet. In fact, that may be why you ended up here. However, we are not affiliated with them in any way.
We hope you found these tips on how to get rid of mosquitoes indoors helpful!
If you need to know how to get rid of mosquitoes in the yard read our comprehensive guide here.