OT - Insects living in my sinks

Re: OT - Insects living in my sinks

JohnV

tape over the overflow holes and put about 1/2 cup bleach down the drain. plug the drain. might take a few hours but this a fairly benign way to get rid of them and clean out the drains at the same time. Most likely they are living in the organic slime that builds up over time in bathroom sinks.

Re: OT - Insects living in my sinks

JL

Sounds like fruit flies. The bleach will work.

If you want to trap them and let them drown...

1 cup water

1 tbs sugar

1 tbs vinegar

Several drops dish detergent

Mix well and leave in a glass jar. They land on the water surface and drown.

Re: OT - Insects living in my sinks

paul in AZ

First clean out the sludge in the trap with Drano (or equivalent).

Hydrogen peroxide -even in the grocery store concentration- is an effective insecticide.

I think they are called drain flies

Dick Coers

Not fruit flies. But they were described as being the size of a pinhead. Drain flies are much larger than a pinhead!

Re: OT - Insects living in my sinks

Don Stephan

My plumber (also high school classmate) told me years ago of customer who called him to clear clogged drain. He always asked first, and the customer assured him no Draino or similar had been poured down the drain before calling him. Except it had, and he got quite a burn on his hands as a result while opening the drain.

Hot water might help dissolve any sludge buildup. Or take apart the stopper mechanism and wipe the buildup off everything.

Re: OT - Insects living in my sinks

John McGaw

Definitely clean the stopper mechanism! You will be amazed (and appalled and disgusted) by the nastiness you will find there.

Re: OT - Insects living in my sinks

david weaver

Ditto to this. My basement bathroom and shower get these guys and sometimes drain flies. I'm sure they're finding the organic material in the drain lines to be a favorable environment. Gassing them with bleach solves the issue for quite a while. I'm sure lye would do it, too, but I've never had a clog issue. Just down the line from my basement bathroom is a wye that comes from the kitchen sink, so the idea of eliminating organic material is a bit of a lost cause.

If bleach doesn't solve the issue, it may be a bigger problem further down the line like a breach somewhere, but I'd bet that's low probability.