The Ultimate Guide on How to get rid of fruit flies

How to get rid of fruit flies in house

Fruit flies can be removed from homes in a variety of ways, especially if you don’t want to purchase store-bought traps. We asked housekeeping professionals to provide their best advice on how to quickly kill fruit flies with items you might already have in your kitchen.

These little (and obnoxious!) insects are drawn to fruits, vegetables, and trash, just like gnats are. On overripe produce, female fruit flies can quickly lay hundreds of eggs, which can quickly take over the kitchen and dinner table with maggots and an overwhelming quantity of bugs. They might even be visible in drains.

Let our professional advice help you get rid of these bugs from your home once and for all. You’ll discover how to make different types of handmade traps with beer, old wine, and apple cider vinegar. You may also use dish detergent and vinegar to trap and drown plants in a mason jar or bottle, or you can make a spray to spritz on them. Some of these methods even instantly kill fruit flies and work overnight.

Following our advice can help you keep fruit flies out of your house once you’ve managed your infestation. This entails removing overripe fruit from your fridge, washing produce as soon as you come home, and routinely emptying the trash. Bid farewell to these creatures who adore sweets!

What are fruit flies?

If you notice little black beetles flying around your kitchen, it’s critical to correctly identify the creatures. Fruit flies typically have red eyes and a bright or dark brown appearance. Make sure the bugs you’re experiencing aren’t drain flies, which hide near garbage disposals and drains, or fungus gnats, which like overwatered houseplants. View our instructions on how to create a DIY fly trap and how to get rid of gnats if you want to deal with those bugs.

What leads to infestations of fruit flies indoors?

According to the Orkin pest experts, fruit flies are drawn to ripe, rotting, or rotten fruit and vegetables as well as fermented foods like beer, liquor, and wine. If there is enough food available, they also enjoy buzzing around garbage disposals and trash cans. Regretfully, because of their ability to reproduce, two small fruit flies can soon grow into an infestation that can be nearly impossible to eradicate.

Ways to avoid fruit fly infestations in the future

Begin by giving your kitchen a thorough cleaning and discarding any bad food. Use these preventive steps to safeguard your property from future fruit fly infestations by cutting off fruit flies from their food source:

Throw out overripe food;
Keep fruits and vegetables refrigerated;
Wash the produce as soon as you come home to get rid of any possible eggs or larvae;
Empty the trash regularly; and clean up accidents as quickly as possible, especially those involving fruit juice or alcohol.

Then, you’ll need to quickly figure out how to catch the fruit flies that are now in your kitchen. A simple and efficient fix is a homemade fruit fly trap, according to our Cleaning Lab specialists. Furthermore, you may make these DIY fruit fly traps with materials you probably already have in your pantry. You can also purchase pre-made fruit fly traps if you’d rather not take the DIY approach.

How to quickly catch and kill fruit flies

Pest experts have determined the most effective methods for eliminating fruit flies.

A plastic wrap trap and apple cider vinegar

Sweet apple cider vinegar (ACV) works better for this homemade fruit fly trap than white vinegar. The smell of vinegar is too strong for them to refuse, and once inside they won’t be able to get out. Make more of these traps and set them around your kitchen for even greater success. How to accomplish it on your own:

Fill a glass with a tiny amount of ACV.
Use plastic wrap to cover the opening and fasten it with a rubber band.
Create a few tiny openings for the fruit flies to pass through.

An ancient fruit trap, vinegar, and paper cone

Fruit flies are drawn into the combination by the aroma of decaying food, but they are impeded from leaving by the fruit fly trap’s cone-shaped design. How to accomplish it on your own:

Fill a jar with a small amount of vinegar and a piece of extremely ripe fruit.
With the narrow entrance facing down, roll some paper into a cone shape and insert it into the jar. After using it, you can recycle or compost the homemade funnel.

A related notion Use a plastic bottle cap that has been cut apart to create a small aperture (cone) that the flies can pass through. To trap them, place the ripe fruit and vinegar at the bottom.

3. Vinegar and dish soap trap

If your paper cone or plastic wrap traps aren’t working for you, try putting three drops of dish soap in a cup of vinegar and keeping it uncovered. Dish soap lowers the vinegar’s surface tension, causing the flies to sink and drown.

4. Aunt Fannie’s FlyPunch

Product analysts at the Good Housekeeping Institute, particularly senior scientist Sabina Wizemann, were thrilled to see this product arrive on their desks. She discovered that it performed better at home than other do-it-yourself cures she had used. The premade mixture comes in a stand-up jar and contains the active components malic acid, which is found in fruit, and sodium lauryl sulfate, a surfactant used in soaps. To use it, simply open the lid and place it on your counter.

5. Old wine or beer trap

To keep the flies contained, try keeping an open bottle with some remaining liquid outside. Stale beer is another method suggested by The Old Farmer’s Almanac for drawing fruit flies to a homemade trap. For better results, add a few drops of dish soap to either.

Spray alcohol

Put some rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and give any insects you observe about your house a quick spray. Avoid dousing fruit with alcohol as this could lead to rotting and an increase in fruit flies.

Can I kill fruit flies with bleach?

You might be seeking for a quick remedy if you see fruit flies in your drain, such as pouring bleach down the drain. However, experts claim that this isn’t the best course of action. While some larvae may be killed in this way, not enough eggs or larvae will be destroyed to solve the issue. The reason for this is that bleach evaporates too quickly to provide a complete cleaning.

Here’s how to keep your garbage disposal fruit fly-free and clean if you have one:

Run cold water for a few seconds after stopping the food grinder and before starting the disposal again. Food that has exited the disposal will pass through the pipes more easily thanks to the water flow.

About once a week, add a handful of ice cubes, a tablespoon of baking soda, a few thin slices of lemon, and a teaspoon of bleach, both with the faucet and the disposal turned off. Until you hear the grinding cease, turn on the disposal without running water. Next, flush the machine with cold water for approximately a minute while the motor is still running.

How can I exterminate fruit flies outside?

Use Spinosad insecticide to get rid of fruit flies if you see them buzzing around your homegrown fruits and veggies in the backyard. Apply the mixture around the foundation of your house with a garden sprayer. To eliminate any flies that may have come onto your fruits in search of food, you can spray the liquid straight on them. Although using spinosad insecticide near humans and animals is safe, you should restrict your exposure because it might irritate your eyes and trigger allergic reactions. Before consuming your fruits and vegetables, make sure to rinse them.

How to Trap Fruit Flies Five Ways Without Vinegar

There are other methods besides using apple cider vinegar to draw fruit flies. Here are FIVE more items to use with our Fruit Fly Funnel in a mason jar to attract those bothersome fruit flies.

BANANA

Ripe fruit, especially those that are overripe, attracts fruit flies. Thus, enticing fruit flies into a trap with a piece of fruit can be rather effective. Although bananas are the best fruit, other sweet fruits can also be used.

But there’s a risk involved in luring fruit flies with ripe fruit. Since fruit flies lay their eggs in fruit, leaving fruit out too long could result in fruit flies reproducing! We advise replacing the fruit in your trap frequently if you choose to use it to repel fruit flies.

WINE

If you want fruit flies to stay in your trap, you can use alcohol as a potent inducer. Fruit flies enjoy fruit, thus some alcohols will work better than others. Wine and other fruit-based alcoholic beverages will function best; the sweeter, the better.

BEER

Beer can attract fruit flies because it ferments similarly to wine. Dessert beers are better because they smell and taste sweeter, which attracts fruit flies.

BERRY JUICE

Fruit juice can be used as a temporary solution to entice fruit flies if you don’t have any full fruit or alcohol. With orange juice, we’ve had success. However, bear in mind that some fruits may mold if left out for an extended period.

YEAST

Yeast with a little sugar water has the potential to attract fruit flies as another form of fermentation. Fruit flies will enter your trap if you add a teaspoon of basic bread yeast and a teaspoon of sugar to the water. Yeast is a good bait, but it seems to take a little longer to start working than other baits.

To Catch Fruit Flies Without Using Vinegar, Use Culinesco's Fruit Fly Funnel.

You need an easy-to-use, environmentally friendly solution to catch fruit flies, regardless of the strategy you choose to lure them away from your favorite fruit. The easiest solution is our Fruit Fly Funnel, which only requires a mason jar and one of the supplies listed above.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are fruit flies?

Fruit flies are small insects that are attracted to ripe or fermenting fruits and vegetables. They are commonly found in kitchens, particularly around garbage cans, sinks, and fruit bowls