You are not alone in your love for seasonal products: annoying fruit flies always seem to find their way to your farmer's market before you even have the opportunity to enjoy them to the fullest. And it doesn't take long for fruit flies to take over your kitchen - once you see one, it's only a matter of time before you feel like you're fighting thousands. Fortunately, you don't have to suffer from fruit fly infestation forever - there are simple and effective ways to get rid of fruit flies quickly using natural fruit fly traps that you can make at home.
What causes fruit flies anyway?
If you want to get rid of fruit flies, you may be wondering how you got them at all. According to Orkin's experts, fruit flies are attracted to ripe, rotting or decaying fruits and products, as well as fermented goods such as beer, schnapps, and wine. Female fruit flies lay about 500 eggs each, and the eggs hatch in just 24 hours. This obviously makes it almost impossible to control these animals.
To cut fruit flies from their food source and prevent them from entering your home, take these preventive measures to get rid of fruit flies.
- Throw away overripe products
- Keep fruits and vegetables in the fridge
- Wash the products as soon as you get home to remove any eggs or larvae
- Take out the garbage regularly
- Clear up spills as quickly as possible, especially fruit juice or alcohol
Can I only use bleach to kill fruit flies?
If you notice fruit flies in your drain, you can pour bleach into the drain. This could kill some larvae, but not enough eggs or larvae are killed to correct the problem. This is because bleach drains too quickly to do a thorough job.
How to remove fruit flies with a DIY fruit fly trap:
- Make a trap with apple cider vinegar and plastic wrap.
- Trap flies with a paper cone, vinegar and old fruits.
- Drown flies by leaving out a bowl of vinegar and dish soap.
- Put out an almost empty bottle of old wine or beer.
- Buy Aunt Fannie's FlyPunch! on amazon.
You may also want to check that your pests are not drained flies lurking around drains or garbage disposal, or fungus mosquitoes that prefer over-watered houseplants. For these animals, you should read our guide to learn how to get rid of mosquitoes. If you are sure that you have correctly identified the animals, try one of these effective tools to get rid of fruit flies in your kitchen.
1. Apple cider vinegar and plastic wrap
For this DIY fruit fly trap, pour a little apple cider vinegar into a glass or simply remove the lid from a bottle. (It doesn't have to be full - almost empty also works.) Cover the opening in plastic film and secure it with a rubber band. Then pierce a few small holes so that the fruit flies can enter. You can't resist the scent of vinegar, and You can no longer walk once you are inside.
To have even better chances of success, make several of these traps, and place them in your kitchen.
2. A paper cone, vinegar and old fruit
Put a little vinegar and a piece of very ripe fruit in a glass. Then roll some paper into a cone, put it in the jar, and put the narrow opening down. (You can then recycle or compost the homemade funnel.) The smell of rotting products will help lure the fruit flies into the mix, but the cone part of this fruit fly trap makes it difficult for them to come out.
3. Vinegar and dish soap
If you find that your fruit flies are impervious to your plastic wrap or paper cone trap, put three drops of dish soap in a vinegar bowl and leave it uncovered. The soap reduces the surface tension of the vinegar, causing the flies to sink and drown.
4. Old wine or beer
Fruit flies love the smell of wine like vinegar. Try to leave out an open bottle with some liquid residue - the thin neck keeps the flies trapped. The Almanac of the old peasant also recommends using stale beer to lure fruit flies into a DIY trap. Add a few drops of detergent for a safer success.
5. Aunt Fannies FlyPunch
The chemists at the Good Housekeeping Institute were thrilled that this product came over their desks, especially lead chemist Sabina Wizemann, who found that it worked better at home than other DIY tools she tried.
The mixture uses the active ingredients sodium lauryl sulfate (a surfactant used in soaps) and malic acid (contained in fruits) and is supplied in a glass jar. All you have to do is open the lid, put it on your counter and "watch the cycle of life".
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