How to Get Rid of Mosquitoes in Your House

Mosquitoes are no joke. These biting pests can quickly become an infestation if they aren’t properly managed. 

Getting rid of mosquitoes outside is important, but you also need to keep them out of your house. 

Here are nine ways to get rid of mosquitoes in your house without using potentially toxic insect repellents! 

• Fix Broken Screens on Windows and Doors

The first step to getting rid of mosquitoes in your house is making sure they can’t just fly right in! 

It only takes a tiny rip in a screen or a small gap between the window for a mosquito to fly right in and make itself at home. The best mosquito prevention here is to keep all of your windows and doors closed but if that’s not feasible, make sure you’ve at least repaired any broken screens, cracks, or gaps on all windows and doors. 

Purchase a repair kit from your local hardware store to fix any holes in your screens, or take the DIY approach. 

In addition to repairing any broken screens, use caulk to seal up gaps on windows and doors. 

• Prevent and Kill Mosquito Larvae 

Prevention is the key to a mosquito-free home, especially when it comes to killing mosquito larvae. The first step to prevention is getting rid of mosquitoes in your yard, and the next step is keeping them out of your house. 

Prevent Mosquito Larvae in Your Home

Don’t give mosquitoes a place to breed by eliminating or frequently cleaning all sources of standing water, such as: 

1. 1. • Plants with saucers that collect water 
      • Pet water bowls
      • Puddles in a porch or sunroom 
      • A puddle formed from a plumbing leak under the sink, under an appliance, or in a crawl space

Kill Mosquito Larvae in Your Home

If there is standing water somewhere in your home where mosquitoes already laid their larvae, the best thing to do is to get rid of the water. If you’re unable to eliminate the water for any reason, try one of these natural ways to kill mosquito larvae:

1. 1. • Dish Soap: Add a little bit of dish soap to the water containing mosquito larvae. Technically any soap will work, as the bubbles will suffocate the larvae. 
      • Oils: We’ll delve more into the best essential oils to use to repel mosquitoes below, but putting a few drops of either vegetable, olive oil, or cinnamon oil can kill mosquito larvae in standing water. 
      • Apple Cider Vinegar: You need about a 15% vinegar to water ratio to kill mosquito larvae, and it could take up to 24 hours. While it’s not as effective as fatty oils or essential oils, it’ll work if it’s all you have at home! 

Natural Remedies to Get Rid of Mosquitoes in Your Home

Now that we’ve covered how to prevent mosquitoes from getting inside your house and how to kill existing mosquito larvae, here are household items to repel mosquitoes in your home. 

• Use Essential Oils to Repel Mosquitoes

Easily one of the best smelling options on the list, studies have shown that certain essential oils are effective against repelling mosquitoes. You can either diffuse them in your home using an essential oil diffuser or dilute them with a carrier oil (such as coconut oil) and use it topically. 

The best essential oils that get rid of mosquitoes in your house are: 

1. 1. • Cinnamon oil 
      • Eucalyptus oil 
      • Orange oil 
      • Neem oil 
      • Peppermint oil 
      • Citronella oil 

• Keep Mosquitoes Away with Dryer Sheets 

Some people swear by the use of dryer sheets to get rid of mosquitoes inside. Some dryer sheets contain ingredients that are found in natural substances known to repel mosquitoes, such as basil and lavender.

Tuck some dryer sheets into furniture or keep them in your pockets to keep mosquitoes away.

• Kill Mosquitoes Inside with a DIY Mosquito Trap

You can actually put together a homemade mosquito trap with a few household items. While there are all different kinds of DIY mosquito traps online, this one seems to be the most effective. 

You’ll need: 

1. 1. • An empty two-liter soda bottle
      • 4 cups of warm water 
      • 1 cup of brown sugar 
      • A tablespoon of yeast
      • Scissors to cut the bottle 
      • Tape 

This video walks you through the process, but it’s pretty easy. You’ll start by cutting the bottle in half horizontally. Remove the cap, flip the top upside down, put it inside of the other half of the empty bottle, and tape the upside down top to the bottle. 

Next, pour in the sugar and yeast. Then, pour in the warm water so the sugar and yeast melt together. Shake the bottle up to mix it around, and that’s it! Put it wherever you’re having issues with mosquitoes in your house. 

This DIY mosquito trap is designed to catch mosquitoes because, when mixed with sugar and water, the yeast is supposed to produce carbon dioxide, which is what attracts mosquitoes to humans. The mosquitoes will fly down into the bottle and be unable to escape, drowning in the water. 

• Grow Mosquito-Repelling Plants 

If you’ve ever wanted to grow herbs inside on your windowsill or out on your porch, take this as your motivation to start a little garden inside your house. 

Specific plants have been proven to work well as mosquito repellents, including: 

• Basil – Add a fresh herb to your pasta dishes while keeping mosquitoes at bay by growing a basil plant. Proven to provide nearly 80% protection from mosquitoes, basil grows nicely inside on a windowsill. 
• Catnip – Grow this plant on an extra sunny windowsill or shelf. Catnip has actually been shown to be comparable to DEET at repelling mosquitoes and your cats will love you for it (if you don’t have any cats, you can still make a fresh catnip tea!)
• Thyme – Another herb that thrives on a sunny windowsill, thyme is great at repelling mosquitoes (and seasoning potatoes!) 
• Marigolds – Marigolds are a great way to brighten up your landscaping. In addition to their great looks, they contain a chemical compound called pyrethrum that make them naturally mosquito-repellent!

• Burn Sage

Despite no scientific evidence that sage is an effective mosquito repellent, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence it works. We can say for certain, though, that mosquitoes hate smoke. This is not to say you should smoke yourself out of your home, but the residual scent of sage smoke could be enough to keep mosquitoes away.

• Use Fans to Keep Air Moving

If you can’t seem to get rid of mosquitoes in your house, try to keep them from biting you by turning on ceiling fans or box fans. Mosquitoes aren’t that great at flying, so a strong airflow will prevent them from flying close enough to bite you. 

This trick also works outside on a patio where mosquitoes typically bother you. 

• A Good Old Fashioned Fly Swatter 

There’s a reason fly swatters are one of the best methods for killing mosquitoes inside — they just work. Purchase an electric fly swatter if you want to instantly kill mosquitoes on contact, or opt for a regular plastic fly swatter if you prefer to kill mosquitoes the old fashioned way. 

Why Are Mosquitoes in My House? 

Mosquitoes breed in standing water. If your house seems to have some kind of mosquito infestation that isn’t getting better by eliminating mosquitoes from your yard or killing the mosquitoes that are already in your house, you probably have standing water somewhere in your home currently serving as a breeding ground for mosquitoes. 

Check every source of water for leaks, including sinks, appliances, toilets that aren’t used often, and drainage pumps. 

Get Rid of Mosquitoes with Our Natural Mosquito Repellent

Our Mosquito Magician concentrate was formulated as an effective mosquito repellent made with essential oils. It contains ingredients such as lemongrass oil, garlic oil, and citronella oil and is 100% safe for children and pets (when used as directed)! 

Our mosquito-control product gets rid of mosquitoes in three ways:

• Kills adult mosquitoes on contact
• Suffocates mosquito larvae in standing water (where they breed)
• Long lasting formula repels mosquitoes away from your property

You can apply Mosquito Magician with a hose attachment, backpack sprayer, or hooking our Sprinkler Magician machine up to your property’s existing irrigation system. 

Mosquito Magician creates a bubble around your property that is safe for you and your pets but is extremely unfriendly toward mosquitoes and other targeted pests.