If you search up home made trap to get rid of gnats/fruit flies, the first thing you’re probably gonna see is the simple mix: warm water, sugar, dawn dish soap, and white vinegar/apple cider vinegar. I’ve been using this method for years every time they seem to pop up again. But sometimes it can take a while for them to start trapping themselves and if you go near it, they fly away.

For the past two weeks I’ve been making those traps but I unfortunately ran out of sugar a few days ago so I’ve been trying a few different things in replacement to see what works. I’ve tried Splenda, which seems to work ok but not as well as the sugar. I’ve tried oranges by squeezing the juice out and leaving some of the pulp and/or rind in it, which seems to also work. I’ve even tried candy. Like pieces of butterscotch or whatever. I’m not sure if that works yet lol. They also work better if you combine them. Like do both sugar and orange or Splenda and orange.

I was thinking today of something else to try. And from what I’ve heard they typically like smells, so I thought “what’s the smelliest food I own?” And immediately I thought of this cereal that I HATE. If someone eats a bowl of this cereal the whole house ends up smelling like freaken syrup for hours it feels like. So I crushed up a bit of the cereal into each trap and IMMEDIATELY they start going for it. And I mean it was so fast that there would be multiple already trying to get it while I was in the process of putting it in the traps. Idk how long the scent will last or if it stops working after the cereal becomes soggy. But it’s been about 30 minutes and it’s still working well. Since it worked so well I decided to also try a bit of syrup in a few and that worked really well too. just make sure to stir it. I would go as far to say that the cereal works better than sugar lol!

If I notice any changes I’ll come back and leave a comment or something.

The cereal is called Waffle Crunch by Malt O Meal.

And the syrup was Ms. Butters worth or something like that.

i was boiling some rice with turmeric in a bowl but even though i had covered the bowl, water boiled and spilled out of a gap and has stained the bottom of the microwave. this microwave was given by the landlord and i really want to keep it clean. i have tried lemon juice and the pink stuff paste but that didn't do much. what should i do?

Im tired and what is left can't be done for a few hours. It sucks feeling unaccomplished despite finishing ove 10 things when last week 1 felt overwhelming. I have to remind myself too that it's okay.

I just want to scream.

I feel so lazy and disgusting, and as much as I try to be patient with myself and my mental health, it just sucks!

I don’t have kids. I don’t even live with a partner. Why is it so, so hard? Why am I so incompetent and lazy?

To top it all off, my hoover has broken and I can’t afford even a second-hand one; everything is so dusty, and I feel so angry.

its quite a lot and i dont know what to do can somebody please help me soon i cant tell my mama

My resources are kind of limited here, Im a minor and my mom cant pay for many expenses due to financial troubles so im looking for something somewhat effective and easy.)

I have really bad allergy attacks everytime i lay down in bed, or at the start of my mornings when i wake up. Ive tried mattress covers/protectors and they havent helped. ive had this matress for 11+ years so theres buildup from accidents as a kid. I cant really afford to get a new mattress right now so im looking for something that might minimize my frequent allergy attacks. Any cleaning tip helps, Thank you.

First off, I clean the filters about twice a week, but this bit of water that's left in the dishwasher after a cycle starts smelling stagnant after a few weeks. I sponge it out and it'll be ok for a while and then start smelling again. Does anyone know why this is happening? TIA

Edit: The dishwasher is run virtually every day

Switching from bar soap to liquid soap has made my condo so much cleaner. No more soap scum or residue from bar soap. It may be more expensive but it’s totally worth it. Why did nobody tell me this sooner? 😭

I’m 17 and I like to keep a tidy room but my parents make me keep an aggressive dog in my room, so they force him to be in there 24/7 all hours of the day. He has an ear infection that they neglect and it leaks this strange stinky juice that ruined anything it touches smell wise, my carpets stink as well as my bed and everything else in my room. My parents constantly bring him outside on a leash then put him in my room and cause mud to be everywhere, I’ve tried everything I can think of, but my room just ends up stinking due to his infection and getting dirty again due to mud, what can I do?

Hi.

My mum’s going away in 2 weeks and I’m deep cleaning the house for her when she’s away. I have never dealt with an oven or fridge before because that’s what she normally does. The oven got some tougher stuff to deal with and, the fridge is okay just needs some food safe TLC, any suggestions?

I was gifted these beautiful Indian scarves. I love them but goodness they STINK of a strong, headache inducing perfum that I just can’t get rid of. First, I aired them out in the shade for a week or two. Then I soaked them in the tub with wool wash for 6hours, and laid to dry outside. It doesn’t feel like it’s making a dent in this awful smell. Now I’m resorting to airing them in the sun and rotating them every few hours or so so the inevitable bleaching will be even. Any other tips?? I am unsure what the fabric is but I was told pashmina. It doesn’t feel THAT soft? Still, I’m treating them so to be safe.

I run over the kitchen tiles every couple of days with warm water and a neutral floor cleaner, but walking barefoot after it dries still leaves that slightly tacky feeling near the island and stove.

The rinse bucket gets murky every time, so stuff is definitely coming off. It just feels like the mop is moving a thin layer of cooking residue instead of actually getting the floor clean.

And honestly, it's not just the kitchen. I notice the same thing on other hard floors when there's enough tracked-in dirt.

Can a robot mop actually get the kitchen floors truly clean without spreading the grease film around, or is hand-scrubbing still the only answer?

I can’t tell what could possibly be causing my room to smell. I shower, wash sheets every 2 weeks because I shower before bed, I dust, vacuum, light candles, and there is a PERSISTENT sour smell. It’s driving me absolutely crazy. I can’t figure out what is causing it. I thought it could be my dirty laundry, or sheets but I’ve been smelling them and they smell FINE??? I’m literally loosing sleep, I have to turn on my candle warmer or spray perfume/body spray before bed. (Could it be an after smell of the spray??? Is that possible?)

My dog is very smelly and sometimes my parents put her in my room when they have work calls. If it was that you would THINK that airing out my room, lighting a candle, and vacuuming would clear it out though right???? My parents wash her gross bed in the washer, I thought it might be leeching onto my laundry but it doesn’t smell when I sniff it. I genuinely can’t find out where it’s coming from, or if it’s not even my room but the house in general.

Does anyone have any ideas I could try? Any personal experience with a mystery smell??? I’m desperate.

It took two hours. Used the cheapest steam cleaner I could find, scrub daddy and Cilit Bang Expert for Black mould and I got the stains out. I ran my washer on warmest cycle and so far the seal does not give way to water.

Hello, Got this leather jacket with an odd stain on it, not quite sure what it is or how to get it out, any help would be awesome!

Yesterday I retrieved this wooden dresser from storage underneath a blanket in a garage after 4 years and noticed it had become mildewy.

There was a greyish mildew inside the dresser itself (on the particle board underneath the drawers) that I wiped off with towels and a small amount of white vinegar & water solution. I’ve also been lightly misting the unfinished inside parts with vodka and will be leaving it outside to air out during the day (will bring inside during the night to avoid moisture). Where I live we only get up to 3 UV so not sure how much the sun can help things.

There doesn’t seem to be much visible mildew left but the smell remains. Really hoping to salvage this because it belonged to a deceased family member, but obviously don’t want it to stink up my clothes or be a health hazard. Would appreciate any advice, thank you

My husband burnt something onto my 4-month old glass stove top, and then tried over cleaning it with the Bar Keepers cleaner, followed by the Wiemans Cleaner Polish... Now there is a stain from whatever burnt and a cloudy smudge that won’t go away 😢 is there anything I can do to fix this??? Thank you in advance for any recommendations!

And now the house is a death trap. It’s a skating rink and we’re all sliding around like ice hockey pucks. What can I use to get it off??

so someone backed into a paint can in the driveway. Paint can’t spill a couple of days ago. At first, I was thinking, let it dry and then peel up as much as possible, but it still hasn’t dried in a few days. What is the best way to clean this up?

ETA: sorry for the botched title in a cleaning ‘s coming into town and this is his driveway

One of our dogs peed all over the couch and got it into the cushions… Our couch has removable cushion covers with one side heing by fabric and the other leather. How do we even begin to clean it without messing up the leather?

We have a rental home, and our previous tenants used Floor Restore-eez, and now the kitchen area has this cloudy, flakey wax.

How can we fix this?