Unconventional Mosquito Control: Does This Common Household Item Really Work?

Have you ever heard of anyone burning coffee grounds to keep mosquitoes away? This is the first time I've ever heard about it; so I thought I'd look into it and see whether or not it's even worth trying.

First of all, this all took off recently when a man named Ken Long, who shares home hacks and tips, shared a video where he was using coffee grounds to get rid of mosquitoes on his Instagram and TikTok accounts. He got a lot of views by running this, probably because NO ONE had ever really heard about this hack before. He had approximately 18 million views. Do you think those 18 million viewers tried this hack at home?

The hack is this. Pour coffee grounds into a small glass jar, and then set the coffee grounds on fire, sort of like you would a candle. Ken said that the coffee grounds would burn for hours and since mosquitoes hate the smell of coffee, it would keep the little critters away for hours.

If you are going to try this hack at home, a real pest control person recommended a few suggestions.

• Since glass can break, try using a different type of container to burn your coffee grounds in.
• Keep the flames away from children and pets
• Don't leave your fire unattended, even if it IS in a glass jar or other container.

Although this method might keep mosquitoes away, it might be that mosquitoes don't like the smell of coffee, but maybe they don't like the smell of lots of other things too. We really don't know the answer to those questions.  The best way to keep mosquitoes away is to get rid of any standing water that could be hanging out in your pet's food dish, puddles, bird baths, or kiddy pools, and have the professionals come and apply a pest control treatment.