Katchy Plug-In

I purchased a scratchNdent and found my item had been used and slightly damaged, the top swirl grill was missing a small piece, and one of the sticky disks had been put into the unit already with a gnat stuck to it. Okay. I plugged it in, pushed one of the setting buttons (standard) and the light came on and the little fan makes a little bit of breeze, but wet a finger and hold it at the bottom and it is breezing out. It is also bigger than I expected, but I have such a tiny bug issue in this place, I don't care as long as it works. Something was mentioned about it works better in lower light levels. So. I plugged it in and set it up in a place I have been having issues. Four hours later, I pick it up to look down in. There's a lot more than one gnat on the mat already. It's doing the job. Great. The local little winged wildlife has resisted: letting the pots dry out good between waterings, watering with a mix of hydrogen peroxide and water, top mulching the pots, and the yellow sticky trap things. This seems to be vacuuming them up. YAY! If this works out I will get a couple more as I have plants in a few areas in my house. Trust me, I have at least six different microbugs including fruit flies, fungus gnats (arrgh!), a different gnat, and not sure exactly but a few are like tiny tiny various sorts of beetles... keeping the swarms down would be wonderful, without killing my plants. I will update this as it goes.. The picture isn't quite truelight because it is fairly dark in there, but. That's what it sorta looks like ON in the dark. To the right that is a matte BLACK surface that it's reflecting off of. Edit: my house is large, my buggie collection is way down on one end of the house where I have my first one, but. I just got a second one, also scratchNdent, to deal with the other end. I seen where someone complained that it is a fly-spa. This will NOT work on houseflies. They are too big and strong to be whooshed down onto the sticky pad. There are other ones built ($60-80) as wall sconces that WILL do the houseflies. This isn't built for that. However all the assorted little gnats and such are collecting at alarming rates on my sticky pads. It is nice to sit at my computer in the evening and not kill at least a dozen tiny assorted buggies. And my fungus gnat problem that came in with some potting soil mix, is pretty much gone. I can't say enough, if you have a grow booth and issues with little critters, that putting one of these in the booth at about two weeks for a night will not affect your grow and if there is anything in there it will clear out most of the problems. I have one room where the booth and most of my houseplants live (plus my spring starts as I go into that season as I update this) and the first one is outside the grow booth on the floor where it clears that room pretty well. Second one installed near the kitchen sink and other bathroom on other end of house, as there is a persistent problem there. I don't think it will catch sewer flies but those tend to respond to hot vinegar flushed through a running disposal with hot sink water, then follow with a cut up lemon and some icecubes run through the disposer. I will let you know if I get those little buggers back and if it can catch one or not. On both I am turning them off during the day and on after dark, as that is when the UV light seems to be the most visible to the little winged pests. I also want to see if the kitchen one will draw spiders. There are a few kinds that are drawn to dead prey, and though I have sticky traps for them, if this will be able to stick one down or not if it comes to check it out. Another thing I will update. Edit update. Plant area one is catching mostly gnats, vatloads of them. Kitchen has only a few, but is getting the fruit flies from the bananas. I put spider traps near both and the kitchen catch is up. Could not be happier with both Katchys. Have spring bedding and flower starts going and a new grow in the tent. I’ve put one in the tent a few times and no gnattie problem (last time will be day/ night 18 so as not to mess up auto blooming). No chemicals. Still worth the price. Replacing the sticky pads is super easy too. Edit: very late fall. We are the house servants of two mixed breed part Persian purries. The grey and white one in particular has very fine hair and a very full coat despite daily brushing/grooming. So we have slightly pre-used fur all over. Plus lots of house dust-joys of where we live. I have to take a q-tip to the top of both my Katchy’s weekly to keep the house glorp from obstructing airflow (also have to do it to our tower fans). Still catching the tiniest no-see-ums, fungus gnats and fruit flies. With fall garden harvest, the fruit flies moved in. I added a capful of apple cider taped off with a few holes next to the kitchen one, and it was literally carpeted with fruit flies in the bottom. The plants that came in brought micro buggies, and those numbers are quickly dropping as well. A Katchy doesn’t instantly get your population but in days you should have a disgusting collection on the bottom pad… I purchased a no- zap UV/sticky pad catcher meant for houseflies and installed over the toilet at the ceiling. It also does the job with a little time. So. Katchy do their job well, are easy to use and maintain, and paired with a true flycatcher, really helps keep you unbothered. $40 well spent.

The item arrived broken :( I am SUPREMELY disappointed because I was so excited at the thought of having an effective method to combat my nemesis that is the mischievously thriving fruit fly colony which plagues me, and this item arrived this morning broken. :( The blades of the fan internally are not connected and are banging about inside. Though I don't normally pay full price for things unless necessary (I either wait for a good sale or use applicable coupons/promo codes), I took the plunge on this purchase due to my need for a competent and efficient resolve combined with it's GLOWING reviews! First, I had to wait 9 days to receive the item, which I wasn't happy about, but not upset either. I have literally been checking tracking daily and looking forward to it's arrival. Then it arrives *HAPPY DAY*. I opened the package, removed the unit (felt/heard something odd but didn't think too much of it at that moment), reviewed the directions, plugged it in and although the light came on, the fan did not. I thought maybe I need to press a particular button or what-have-you, so I re-read the directions. Nope, it should be automatic. So I then began inspecting the unit and realized the fan blades were not connected. I then even looked for a way to open the unit without busting it so that I can fix it myself (I'm incredibly handy and that's how much I wanted this to work!). No go. I could probably open it up, but then it wouldn't be returnable. Ok, so THEN I go to the item link on Amazon and as of earlier today, it said "This item is currently unavailable" followed by something to the effect of 'and we don't know if or when it will become available'. I attempted to contact the seller to no avail. My only viable option was and is to return it. I don't want to return it for a refund or leave a bad review. Rather, I want the working unit I paid and patiently waited for. Errrrr. I decided to go about my day knowing I'd come back to this later and here I am. ... I pull the item up this evening, it is in fact available again, but instead of the $39.79 price I paid 9 days ago, it is right now (6/15/2018) listed at $54.49. Whaaaa?? So I am leaving this review in hopes that the seller will contact me and make good on my purchase, at which point I would update my review to reflect the working conditions of this seemingly enigmatic device. In summary, this 1 star review encompasses only that the item arrived broken and therefore did not operate as intended. A working unit may very well be worthy of all it's positive reviews. And maaaaybe even the new $54.49 price. I hope I am a unique case. I also hope this review was of help to you. Update 6/17/18: The seller contacted me today apologizing for my inconvenience and explaining that Amazon is responsible for the damage done during the shipping of this product. I responded immediately that I appreciate the response and although I completely understand that Amazon assumes the shipping responsibility, I am also concerned that I cannot repurchase a working unit at the price I paid 2 weeks ago. I inquired how this can be rectified, stating that I fully intend to update my review according to their level of service and the actual benefits of a working unit. And now I await their response. Honestly, if I have to repurchase at the higher price, I won't and I'll leave my review star at 1. It's not the price as much as the principle. Products can be damaged in shipping, that's understandable. But the seller is also responsible for commitment. So I'm really hoping they come through with a reasonable resolve that honors the price I paid for a working unit. I'll keep you posted. Update 7/1/18: The seller not only replaced my originally bought unit, but included extras as well. They have been extremely diligent in correspondence and I can honestly say that I am not only satisfied, but impressed. With that said, I would not have altered my review to 5 stars for customer service alone. ...these units works amazingly! The home I live in was built in 1924 and does not sport insulation the way a new home would. So pests are/can be/were a problem. The units do in fact attract flying things very well! The sticky pad of results had 2 bugs I didn't know I had and don't recognize. I am extremely happy with my purchase! And may very well buy more. The unit itself is aesthetically pleasing and is relatively quiet. Night is the best time for results since that's when it's darkest and the bugs can 'see' the light. The blue light transitions in brightness, which is even more effective in attracting it's prey. I'm changing my review from a 1 star to a 5 star. I saw other reviews stating it was a flimsy design. I do get what they're saying, but how thick must this unit be to rectify that?? It works as intended and looks good doing it. The bottom is easy to open to check and/or replace the sticky pad. There are only 2 buttons so it's super easy to operate. And it doesn't look like a bug catcher at all. No one would know. So I feel it's 'flimsiness' (is that a word?) is of no concern. As long as it performs, who cares how heavy or thick it is? This is 5 stars from someone who had to work for it. I hope this review helped you! Happy bug hunting :)

I live in an area where, apparently, flies and fruit flies/gnats are just part of life. I HATE them!!! I'm trying all the things, including this. After 2 weeks, it caught a good many of these annoying things (see pics). However, this is not "the answer" to the entire issue. Has it reduced the number of bugs? Yeah. Has it eradicated the issue? No. There was a situation that gave a sudden rise to these things in my house and I've been fighting them for days. I also put bleach in/on all the water source areas (sinks, bathtubs) in my house. Anytime someone leaves a door open, flies get in as well, so I'm always fighting those. In the first week I had this, it didn't catch flies at all. The ones it caught were just in the last couple days, so I guess it works on them as well. But I've also been killing a TON of them - way more than this machine caught. The gnats are not *gone* and there are still the occasional flies. I end up doing most of the work to get rid of these things and they are STILL not gone. Does it catch some? Yeah, and that's nice. But don't buy this thinking it will solve the problem. The pics are after a couple weeks of leaving this thing on ALL day long! I have put it in kitchen and near a window. Both were about the same number caught. I'm glad to have help in the fight against these horrible things, but it has not solved the issue. It does seem to be more directed at gnats, than other bugs. Which is fine. But don't expect this to catch any and all bugs, or to get rid of them entirely. I'm told I don't have a lot of these bugs in my house (the pics beg to differ!), but I honestly don't see a massive difference. Less? Yeah. But get a hot day and suddenly there is zero difference. They're still thriving, somehow, no matter how much I clean and bleach and make sure nothing is left out, change the rubbish bins often, even keep food in the fridge well and tightly covered/wrapped. I don't even buy fruit for my counter any more. I'm not mad, just a little disappointed that it hasn't solved the issue I bought it for. But I'll accept the help in this war on these vile bugs.

TL;DR Buy a hand vacuum for $20 and a $20 present to yourself so you can put up with hunting the bugs yourself (instead of buying this item... if the bugs in question are moths). My picture misleadingly shows a lot was caught, but this was a span of over 21 nights. (Arguably I should change trap out often, but you’d have to read on before you try making that point.) So I’ve got a moth problem. Lots of moths + kitchen area x many weeks = annoyed me. (Sorry, pun was just there.) I’ve tried a variety of ways to have this product work well. Left it near food or problem areas, kept the place dark so only light source is the UV, stuff like that. I even tried shoving a live one above the fan (after a while you learn how to catch them by hand) and clasping my hands over it so the only way the moth can move is where the fan is sucking in... I peeked in from the gaps between my fingers and it was just chilling on the plastic fan guard. If it chose to fly it would probably get sucked in but it just started crawling on the guard trying to escape without flying. I had to startle it into flying a couple times before it finally got sucked into the trap. (The first attempts had it land back and grip onto that fan guard so maybe it wouldn’t get caught even if it did try to fly) I tried giving it over a week to see how effective it was at catching anything (Manual says it is effective with moths), checking periodically. After a few nights I had about 4 or 5 caught moths. I resorted to using my dirt devil hand vacuum ($20) and within a span of 3-5 hours with occasional 30 second vacuuming, I caught more than 4 times the number of moths than the trap did (in ideal conditions for 3 days). I kept observing the next few weeks. And no, I don’t have those large moths that won’t fit through the guard. The product concept is sound on paper but actual execution falls short. This is probably ideal for smaller-lighter insects like gnats, but “can still catch” stuff like moths from time to time. If this item was for like $20, I’d try to self-argue the efficiency issue with the device being a passive way to catch things. Maybe even get a second one in hopes of bettering the catch rate. But at $40 for one with this abysmal success rate... Here is the math: My picture has 25 moths, caught in more than 3 weeks of nights, generously averaging to a little above 1 moth caught per night. (That’s about the same rate as the first 3 nights as described before.) I’ve tested the adhesive after taking the picture and it is still quite sticky and some of the recently caught moths are still moving so it’s not as if it can’t catch anymore due to poor adhesion (but I’d probably toss it after a few more days tops, just in case). Some baby fruit flies were also caught but even the manual says the device can’t be used for adult ones. The rating system is also pretty bad. Easy to use, thickness, and adhesion. Easy to use is deceptive; still gave it a 5 since it was simple but as mentioned, does the intended job poorly. Thickness? Really? Maybe it means how visually discreet it is? I don’t want to give good/bad ratings over a misunderstanding. Adhesion, small bugs that get stuck stay stuck, but only if caught; 5 rating, but again, kinda moot if things aren’t caught often. (The only thing I didn’t follow in the manual was changing the sticky trap frequently. If I did, I’d be going “Woo, 3 moths... time to change the trap”) The manual claims this to be effective against moths but that seems to be a lie... or they had the gnat sized moths forcibly crammed into the trap in their testing facility.

While this does work well for catching fungus gnats, it does not do a great job of catching fruit flies. Also, the light in mine started malfunctioning after less than a year of use. Overall a good product, but I’d recommend looking for something with higher quality build that will last longer.

7 days later update: flies are nearly gone in the house! We think we found the source in my son’s room so I’m sure that had a lot to do with it, but catching fewer every day and hardly any flying around. Been running on auto mode only last 3 days. The Duo came with 4 traps which I was changing daily until the last one I left until today. Their replacements said product size 4.3 inches on the listing so those the replacements I bought, but they are too big. IMO their replacement glue traps are too expensive - looks like they are actually 3.4”. I just cut down the larger ones since I already had one, and I also have the yellow butterfly shaped ones for houseplants I saw others use before I get more. I did try without soap in the bait cup and noticed specks of wine on the top of the bait cup - wondering if that’s from little fly feet dipping in and landing when it’s off so I went back to using soap. Does work slightly better putting the bait cup on after filling and then putting on the lid but it spins a little. You have to really press and twist to get it on but the sides are high enough that it seems hard to spill anyway. Overall still very happy with the purchase and glad we got in white to stay out in our kitchen. Original: Overall, I’m satisfied with this purchase. I was skeptical of some of the others I looked at - one was more expensive and had a ton of reviews that were all 5 stars so I was skeptical and skipped that one. Others didn’t have the bait cup, auto mode, and/or only came in black. I also wanted one with a more universal size and shape for the sticky traps so I wasn’t limited to more expensive replacements. We are dealing with fruit flies that probably came in with the garden vegetables over the summer and recently multiplied with kids leaving dishes and cans in their bedrooms. We started about 5 days ago putting bowls out with apple cider vinegar and some dawn dish soap. They were definitely attracted to them, but there was a disappointing number of fruit flies around the edges of the bowls and on the cabinets and lamps nearby instead of in the liquid. Dumping them out the next morning we got more than I expected, but seeing some around the edges creeped me out so I got this and it came the next day. I like that this one has the bait cup so you have more than just the light to attract them. Others I looked at said to put a capful of vinegar next to the device to attract them but I question how it would trap them if it’s on the counter at base level when the fan and suction are at the top. This arrived in the middle of the day so I immediately filled the bait cup with some old Christmas wine and dawn dish soap (not sure it has to be dawn, that’s just what we had). By 5pm there was a satisfying number of fruit flies on the sticky trap. We turned off the lights and put it in auto mode in the kitchen overnight - I don’t think we got many more than we had already. I changed the trap and by the afternoon it was about as full as the day prior. Not like I counted them so there may have been more, but makes me think that even though the trap wasn’t full, there’s a limit to either the effectiveness of the sticky trap or the bait. I refreshed both today. We’ve used this product for 2 nights now and the fruit flies are noticeably and significantly reduced. While I doubt that this device is solely responsible, I think it’s better than watching them on the edges of the bowls and not going in. It was satisfying to see one of the edge of the light I went to squish and when it tried to take off it got sucked into the fan. It’s not 100% perfect but still giving 5 stars because I feel it’s better than the comparable options I was looking at. Most are black and I wanted white for our kitchen - I have a garden and plants and we plan to leave this on auto mode to use nightly on a regular basis. I also chose it for the bait cup - seeing how crazy they went for the apple cider vinegar and wine we tried in the bowls we wanted to keep using that. It came with only a handful of traps and this brand’s replacements appear to be expensive. They say they last long but I’m changing daily right now while we are dealing with the problem. As there gets to be fewer caught, I can see going longer between but probably not months. I bought another brand’s 4.3 round traps - there are a lot of inexpensive options. I haven’t used yet but appear they will work. There was another device like the katchy I looked at that had a triangular base and I didn’t see as many options for replacements so I avoided that one. I wish the lip to pull out the sticky trap tray was a little taller - it’s low to the counter so you have to tip the device back a bit to get under it and pull it out - makes me worried I’ll spill the bait cup that sits on top but haven’t yet, just have to be careful not to tip too much. When pulling out the sticky trap, some fruit flies flew out of the base so they aren’t getting 100% driven into the trap and stuck. When I turn on the Kitchen lights in the morning, I am switching it to manual mode to keep the fan going while we deal with the problem. While I think it only catches a little bit more than the bowls we were using, we aren’t seeing the significant number of flies nearby hanging out. That could be just because the numbers are being reduced after several days of working at this, but it’s nice to see. The fan definitely sucks them down when they get close so there aren’t many nearby. I had read one review that the bait cup is a little difficult to open and close, and I agree. There are three little internal tabs. You have to press on the lid and sort of twist to get it to stay. The bait cup itself is small - it says to only put a tablespoon of liquid in there. What’s nice is that the lid has holes, so nothing is getting in the cup. The dish soap created a bubble on top when I took off the lid - my understanding, the dish soap is to break the surface tension on the liquid so the bugs can’t get out. Not sure what the point is of using the soap if the holes are so small the bugs can’t get in so I may stop using the soap. Yesterday I left the bait cup on the device and just removed the lid to top off the wine in and I spilled a couple drops on the fan. Didn’t seem to be a huge deal so I just left it but there’s always a worry about liquids and electronics. This morning I took the bait cup off to dump and rinse and then refilled on the counter. The best way to get the lid on and off is to pick it up and hold the cup in one hand and the lid and the other and twist together, but you don’t want to do that when it’s full. Because the bait cup is tapered and not very tall, and the edge of the lid is very short, it’s harder to get a grip to hold the cup still so you can put the required pressure on the lid to twist it. When we first got this, it seemed like you had to rock the bait cup to get it seated, but now it’s more of a firm press straight down. I think I’ll take it off to rinse and fill it, and then put the bait cup back on the device so it’s holding the cup in place while i put on the lid. The wine I’m using is red and it doesn’t appear to be staining the white plastic, even where I spilled it. Even if it does, it’s not seen from the outside. Auto mode works very well - comes on instantly with low light. I like that you can adjust both the fan and light levels. I don’t think this device will solve the problem by itself, but any pest probably you have to attack with multiple approaches. We made the kids deep clean their rooms, put sticky traps in the house plants (although they don’t seem to be around them), and we aren’t leaving fruit on the counter right now. Hasn’t been a week yet but the numbers are going down each day and hopefully the issue won’t be noticeable in a few more days. We will probably keep using this on auto mode in the kitchen nightly as preventive maintenance - it’s also supposed to work on mosquitos which we get in the kitchen as it’s right near our main entrance and has 2 other doors to outside we use in the summer.

This review is specifically for the Katchy Duo 2 in 1 (because Amazon combines reviews for similar products but you need to know for an exact one.) For the last few years since I had moved into my apartment. Every summer (It can get over 90F and 100F here) specifically about a couple weeks into summer and carries on until it starts getting cold outside in the fall and the insects die out because of the cold. I get these annoying little Fungus Gnats, or as I call them the drunken idiot of the Gnat species since they can't seem to fly a straight line and randomly bump into everything. But they especially love to hit you in the mouth and eyes. They are worse right after a rain. I think they are coming in through small cracks under the door as I think the pine tree needles around my apart are part of the reason they are so bad here since I do not have any plants in my apartment. I deliberated for a couple of summers about buying something like this because $50 is not cheap. The first couple of summers I tried every home remedy trick I could find. From apple cider in a jar with plastic wrap, to sticky fly catchers hanging in several places one in the room with me. I even tried spraying bug killer around my apartment entrances. All of this to no avail. Nothing seemed to work. These tiny pests make you want to rage as they constantly hit your eyes and land in your drink (I literally had to stop using a cup to drink from and had to start using a sealed container.) I was always getting angry as they hit me in the face every few minutes. So this summer just a couple weeks ago as it started. I decided it's time to give this a try. I had very little expectation this would actually work for Fungus Gnats as there aren't very many people mentioning their effectiveness. And it's the only bug that seems to get into my apartment aside from the occasional fly and spider. I thought, well this is likely a waste of money but nothing else seems to work. Wow, was I wrong. It is incredibly rare that will buy something I think is expensive and assume it won't work all that well. Only to be so incredibly happy with how well it works. While yes it does not catch every single gnat right away as new ones find their way into my apartment. They don't fly around long before making their way into this bug catcher. As for how loud it is. I would say on the lowest setting it is quite than my gaming PC fan. In a totally quiet room with nothing else running you can hear it. But it's quite enough that it is easy to ignore. On the highest setting, it's only slightly louder. But still, nowhere near that of a PC fan under load. I was leaving it on automatic setting so that it was only on at night and when I am not home (blackout curtains in the room it's in). But on my days off I set it to manual and leave it on. In the picture, I am adding. You can see the sticky trap on the first night, one week later, and 2 weeks later. To think all of those gnats would be constantly hitting you in the face if they were left to fly around in your home. After using it for 2 weeks now. I can not overstate how well I like this product and how well it works. It is definitely worth the money if you have an issue with Fungus Gnats every year like I do. As for how long this product will last or how long it takes for the fan bearing to wear and become louder. Only time will tell. If you are like me and are looking for something to help get rid of these pesky rage-inducing nuisances but were having trouble finding a review that explains how well it works for this pest. Then look no further as I hope my review helps you. And no, I am not a paid reviewer, nor was I given this. I try to be frugal which is why it took so long for me to risk spending money on something like this.

If you live out in the country then you already know the bugs are MANY (different,) kinds and PLENTY (of them.) We live surrounded practically in a forest of acres. When the weather starts to warm I turn our whole house fan on and when the air gets sucked through the windows to cool the house off with the air outside the tiniest insects get sucked in with the air -straight into the window screen holes.. , it’s along the lines of the window being wide opened …. Fruit flies or smaller insects… which a couple of them are fine , however when there’s so many of them your window seal is black from the amount of them on it that’s TO many for me. Problem is that some of these insects are so small you can hardly see them to catch and if you do they’re so lightweight because of how tiny they are that they’re hard to suck down the vacuum!.. I spent close to 2 hours trying to clean up these little bugs but they just kept coming,,, I finally remembered I had this bug catcher (I forgot I had it even though I use it every time this season when I use our whole house fan because I can’t use it if I don’t use this the night of or my house would be I fested with these tiny bugs getting sucked into my house from the window air being sucked in from the house fan. I could not survive with out this!!.. not only it sucks them in but once there in they can’t get back out and then eventually fall to the bottom where you place a sticky bug trap. (I read someone else’s tip to purchase the larger squares and make a sample to use to cut out everytime you need to replace. This thing works and works WELL. The very second I turned it on these little bugs saw the led light and they all started walking towards it and then shortly after were gone! … it’s like an outside bug zapper but without the zap and smoke lol. It’s SO worth it especially if you live in the country!!!

The charger provided with the item is not EU compatible. When I use some other charger that I have, UV light and fan works but couldn’t catch a single mosquito in a dark room with more than 10 mosquitoes for several days.

This works perfectly, it actually helped us get rid of our fruit fly problem in our kitchen. When I opened the device after 1 week, I knew where all the fruit flies disappeared to hehe.

Works as expected and does the job as expected. This is my 3rd Katchy, now have one in every bedroom.

Doesnt work

Great for small flies