Once again, stink bugs have been invading our homes this fall. Sure, they really aren’t harmful, but they tend to travel in packs and, obviously, as their name implies they stink.
Getting rid of them indoors can be a chore. If you smash them, they stink. If you vacuum them, they stink up your vacuum and more than likely will escape and come right back. Even methods like making and setting homemade traps, scooping them into bowls of water mixed with dish soap or waiting for them to freeze in a Ziploc bag can be tedious.
Let’s face it, nobody has time for that.
Prevention
The best way to stop an infestation is to keep stink bugs from entering homes and buildings in the first place.
Stink bugs seek shelter when the temperature starts to drop, so they can stay warm during the winter and enter a type of hibernation called diapause.
They have not been known to cause structural damage to homes and they don’t reproduce indoors, bite or transmit disease. They’re simply looking for a place to sleep until they can reemerge in the spring.
The best way to keep them from setting up shop in your house is to locate any opening where they can gain access — cracks around windows, doors, siding, pipes or behind lighting fixtures or chimneys. Sealing the openings is imperative, as preventing them from entering is the best way to keep them out of your house.
Invasion
Once they’ve found a way in and located a site suitable for overwintering, stink bugs will release a chemical to attract others to the area. This is why they are generally found in groups.
Taking care of an infestation can feel like a daunting task — it takes time to capture and drown or freeze them, while being careful not to crush them.
Similarly, stink bugs have shown a resilience to most pesticides. Although you can call an exterminator and pay a pretty penny to have your problem solved, it won’t get rid of them for good. And it’s not always the best idea to utilize pesticides indoors.
Is there no quick, clean, safe and cost-efficient way to get rid of these little buggers? Your problems have been solved. I’ve finally reached that eureka moment.
Cutting to the chase
I recently stumbled on a method that actually works. It’s safe to use indoors, it’s quick, it doesn’t make a mess and it’s inexpensive.
Combining hot water, white vinegar and dish soap in a spray bottle will get the job done with very little fuss.
Supplies
- Spray bottle
- 2 cups hot water
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 cup dish soap
Directions
First, pour 2 cups of hot water in the spray bottle. Then add 1 cup of vinegar, followed by 1/2 cup of dish soap. Combining the ingredients in that order will help you avoid suds. After everything is in your bottle, put the nozzle on and give the concoction a gentle swirl to mix it up.
Spraying them directly will kill them in a short amount of time. All of the ingredients are regularly used for cleaning, so you won’t get your house dirty in the process. You may have some drying to do following the extermination, but it’s a relatively hassle-free process.
Let’s get rid of some stink bugs!
Related Stories
- How to rid your home of boxelder bugs
- How to keep Asian Lady Beetles out of your house
- How to seal Asian lady beetles, stink bugs out of your house
- Solving the stink bug problem
- Growing number of stink bugs could cause problems for farmers
- Homemade stink bug traps squash store models
Resources
- Penn State Extension
- Rutgers Cooperative Extension
- Michigan State University Extension
- National Pesticide Information Center
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Thank u so much ur recipe worked killed them
I dont have vinegar but will it still work without vinegar
Jayceon, it will probably still be effective without vinegar, as long as you put some dish soap/detergent in it so it has bubbles.
Will this recipe work on leaf footed bugs ahta are considered stink bugs?
Really worked
It really does work
A spray bottle of 90% alcohol does fine as well
A product called Bug B Gone works as well. This is a bug spray for plants and the directions calls for water. I used it without water. I poured it in a spray container and sprayed around all my windows and doors inside and out and this is the first year in 4 years that I am stink bug free!
OMG, they’re heeeere!!! I live in a six-unit 100+ year old condo conversion building in Chicago – yes, no where near agricultural areas or nature preserves, smack dab in the city. I have lived in Chicago all my life, and I have never, ever, seen these critters EVER until last year, when they suddenly seemed to be pouring in to the building from everywhere. I spent a month and a half policing them up as fast as I could, then suddenly…no more stink bugs. Peace!
Until now. Apparently they are still here, lurking, and are waking up now. I caught two in the past week, late in the evening, when they flew across the room like drunken June bugs and smashed into a wall and a lamp, upon which they simply fell to the ground and stood there. I scooped ’em up and tossed them out into the still below-freezing temps at night. But from what I’ve read here and elsewhere, this is just the beginning.
Apparently, where there are one or two, there are lots (and lots) more, and they will be coming out of hiding now. OMG, this is creeping me out something awful. Will there be swarms of them? Will they get livelier and be hard to catch or will they continue to just sit there and wait for me to scoop them up? WHY ARE THEY HERE???? Is this a global warming thing? Is this the new normal?
I am going to go mix up a batch of your recipe, Sara, (BTW, can you mix it now and use later, or does it have to be hot to work?) and keep a watchful eye (and ear, because when they fly, it’s LOUD, and then there’s that inevitable SMACK when they hit something). But seriously…WHY ARE THEY HERE, where they never were before???
Lethe,
Here is some additional information on the origin of the marmorated stink bug and why it continues to spread: https://www.farmanddairy.com/news/bugs-aren%E2%80%99t-causing-too-much-stink/9808.html
To answer your question, yes, if you’ve noticed a couple stink bugs already then chances are you’ll start to see a lot more as they emerge from hibernation. The good news is that this solution has been highly effective in controlling stink bugs indoors. You might also try to set some homemade traps, as well. Here is more information on that: https://www.farmanddairy.com/news/homemade-stink-bug-traps-squash-store-models/189770.html
Good luck and happy hunting!
Lethe & Sarah,
I feel your pain! I live in the city of Grand Rapids and they are everywhere. You can’t escape them and they gross me the heck out! As Lethe mentioned, does the mixture have to be hot to work? I would hate to waste all the ingredients if there are only a bug or two I need to kill.
In my experience, it doesn’t have to be hot to work once the ingredients have already been mixed.
They are by far the creepiest insect I’ve had to kill. I freaked out when I lifted up a small blanket and yikes it came out like a Volkswagen. For the past 2 weeks its been every day. So attack plan is lemongrass oil, and eucalyptus oil water spay windowsills doorways screens around the whole periemiter of house. Dryer sheets? Do they help? Any more suggestions? They hibernate?
Thanks so much for the recipe! As someone totally freaked out by them, i would love to have the play-by-play of what happens after you spray them. Do they release their famous stink (that I have yet to experience)? Do they fly even more madly around with that infernal buzz? Do they just gently relax into death? How long till they’re dead-dead? (They sure seem dead before flying randomly at warp speed..) I need to know as much as I can to have any chance of screwing up my courage for the job (the braver members of the house have stopped helping from utter contempt at my shrieks). Thanks so much!!
I use a mixture of water, dish soap, and neem oil, which is also an effective way to control fungus gnats in your houseplants. And it’s mostly water. For every quart of warm water, add 1 tsp neem oil and 1/2 tsp regular dish soap. Make sure it’s not cold water or the neem oil won’t mix with the water and soap. They die within minutes of being misted with the stuff.
I use Cedarcide on every bug i see, and it has not failed me. Then the get carried to the toilet at arms length on some carrier: piece of paper, a box, lol… and they get a wet ride outta here!
I live in RI, I use to see them at my job all the time, this is the first time I have seen them in my home. So far I have seen three and killed all three! I am petrified of bugs! I won’t sleep at night! I get physically ill when it comes to bugs! I’ve been in my house for ten years and this is the first time I’ve seen stink bugs!
Don’t crush them! They let off a scent when they are crushed which summons more stink bugs! Beware of the stink
My problem is that they seem to like me or something lol . They always get on me and not my husband I will definently be trying this tonight
WE LIVE IN A LOG HOUSE IN THE MOUNTAINS. THEY ARE JUST TERRIBLE! THEY GET IN NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO. THEY CAN COME IN ON YOUR CLOTHES. I DO SQUASH THEM IN A PAPER TOWEL, USUALLY, BEFORE THY HAVE TIME TO LET OUT THEIR STINK. WE HAVE BROWNISH ONES. THEY ARE OUT NOW, (SEPT.)THEY COVER OUR DOORS AND HIDE IN THE CRACKS ON THE SCREENS. I HEARD THAT THEY CAME OVER IN BOX CRATES FROM CHINA IN PA. THEY ARE AN EPIDEMIC HERE NOW. OTHER INSECTS OR CRITTERS DO NOT SEEM TO EAT THEM. I JUST HOPE THAT THEY WILL NOT DESTROY ALL OF THE TREES, PLANTS, AND FARMER’S CROPS! THANKS CHINA!
WELL, THEY ARE AN EPIDEMIC HERE! WE HAVE A LOG HOUSE AND THEY GET IN NO MATTER WHAT WE DO. THEY ARE THE GRAYISH ONES. THEY COVER OUR DOORS AND GET IN BY SLIPPING THROUGH THE DOOR WHEN OPENED OR THEY COME IN ON YOUR CLOTHES. I JUST GET THEM QUICK BEFORE THEY STINK AND SQUASH THEM WITH A PAPER TOWEL. WE HAVE NO PLANTS IN OUR HOUSE. I HEARD THAT THEY CAME OVER HERE IN CRATES FROM CHINA TO PA. OTHER INSECTS AND CRITTERS DO NOT SEEM TO EAT THEM. WE HAVE AN EPIDEMIC!
THANKS CHINA!
Will straight bleach kill them?
Would this work on a squash plant? I don’t want to kill or injure the plant.
Was this a stink bug? I was trying to capture a bug speciman in my so have it identified. I dropped it and got it from drain. Put In alcohol with lid thank god. All a sudden i hear a whistling sketch and i see container foll KP with white crap. Omg, i stunk so bad. Immediatly threw it outside a d cloths in wash. Had yo toss the cloths, washing didnt help. It was in a closed container in alcohol and I still got stink up. What the hell was this thing? I thought originally it was a worm or larva. Then thought mayby a stinking was in sink too and it accidentally got in speciman jar. I did not see any large black bugs. I had phone in hand so I did record part of it. I havent been able to even watch it I’m still traumatized. I’m a bug a phone severely. Do stink bugs do this? Spray and it penetrates container to me standing beside it? Alcohol didnt kill it while I saw it….but threw it out within a few minutes. Mayby less than a minute, lol. Excuse typos, I cant see what I’m typing . Phone messed up.
my daughter planted mint plants all around the house and behold I haven’t seen any not one this season. Usually there hear by the dozens but this season I haven’t seen any at all you could try getting some mint plants if you like there fragrance set them by doorways and around your house try it all that can happen is you’ll have a lot of mint for your tea or you can even have it in cold beverages or even a salad kill two bugs with one mint. Aah not funny. I well. Have fun trying it..
It worked! My husband wanted to douse out bedroom with poison. I asked him to give this a chance and thank goodness it worked! However, I did notice that once I sprayed one area they would move to another so I had to spray several areas. Totally worked!
What are the brown spots they leave? I’ve got an infestation in our bedroom, and every now and then, I find dark brown spots around the en-suite basin, on the tiled floor and this morning, on our duvet cover!
Is this safe to use on tomato plants?
Why not just pick them up with some toilet paper and toss them down the stool.
This is an awesome solution! Just tried it today. Worked like a charm. Thank you for passing it along.
I have caught a few of them and flushed them down the toilet. Will they swim back up? Because i feel like i have done that ao many times.
I don’t think they can swim back up after you flush them in the toilet. Stink bugs usually congregate in large numbers. Their scent or “stink” actually attracts other stink bugs and they overwinter together in their natural habitat. When they find their way into a home they mimic this behavior, so where there’s one, there are probably many.
I use isopropyl alcohol, dish soap and boric acid in a one gallon sprayer. I spray them outside as they arrive in the fall. The boric acid sticks to them. When they congregate together and clean each other they ingest the boric acid. It clogs them up internally and they die. After several years I have greatly reduced the population. I have seen large dead congregations or them in their winter hiding spots so I know its working. We see them in the house mostly in the fall and spring. We catch them with a small battery powered vacuum and cover the vacuum opening with plastic and a rubber band until we empty it. This year I’m trying ground diatomaceous earth. Its basically ground glass. You can get it at any farm store. It only works when its dry. You can use it or boric acid in powder form by sprinkling or blowing into cavities where they crawl. Both are less toxic than salt. When they crawl through it it sticks to them, cuts them and drys them out, then they die. I’m going to blow diatomaceous earth into the under eave roof vents this fall and cover the top roof vents with screening. Any slit less than 3mm, or any hole less than 7mm will exclude them. A millimeter is the thickness of one dime.
7-7-23 – I sprayed this on my pink girl tomato plants to rid stinkbugs, and it may have killed the plants. I’m really disappointed. I put miracle grow around the roots today, and will water them tomorrow, hoping I can save them. Soo disappointed!!