How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies: 5 Tricks to Try

Rose Morrison

Jan 25, 2022

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It’s never fun when you’re reaching for a banana, and suddenly, you see a swarm of fruit flies. These bugs are easy to handle when you spot only one or two, but you can’t break out your swatter when you have a full-fledged infestation. This issue requires an in-depth solution.

Here’s how to get rid of fruit flies with five tricks.

What Causes Fruit Flies?

If you pride yourself on having a super clean kitchen, you’re probably wondering how you could have an insect problem. These pests can get into spotless spaces for different reasons, such as overripe fruits, dirty drains and old garbage. But fruit flies can lay 500 eggs at once, so even when you eliminate their food source, they’ll likely still be present.

Keep in mind that fruit flies can be a concern year-round. It’s most common for them to pop up in late summer and early fall, so you should be attentive around August, September and October. These months are the most popular due to harvest season.

Thankfully, you have several options to get rid of fruit flies permanently.

1. White Vinegar and Dish Soap

Fill a small bowl about halfway with white vinegar, which fruit flies are more attracted to than most substances. Add a little dish soap so that the fruit flies drown rather than float. Leave the dish uncovered on the counter for easy access. Feel free to place more than one bowl in different spots around your kitchen.

2. Old Beer or Wine Bottles

There’s no denying that fruit flies love fermented drinks, so you can use the last few drops in a beer or wine bottle as a trap. Place the container on the counter, uncovered. This way, you’ll force the fruit flies into the bottle, and the narrow opening at the top will keep them inside.

3. Apple Cider Vinegar With Plastic Wrap

If you’ve found that white vinegar doesn’t do the trick, you should choose apple cider vinegar instead. It’s sweeter, so you can attract the fruit flies easier. Add a little apple cider vinegar to a cup. Next, you should secure the top of the cup with plastic wrap. Poke holes into the plastic wrap to give the fruit flies an entry point. This technique will leave no room for them to leave.

4. Overripe Fruit in a Jar

Here’s how to get rid of fruit flies while you use up old fruit. Set a slice of overripe fruit and some drops of white vinegar inside of a jar. Then, you can secure some plastic wrap around the top, adding a few holes for a way inside. If you’d prefer, you could use a paper funnel instead. Either way, you should be able to trap and kill them.

5. Store-Bought Products

If you’d rather use chemical store-bought products, you have options. These products should be available at your local hardware store. Look for items like plastic strips, drain treatments, UV lights and pest sprays. Try DIY tricks first so that you don’t spend money unnecessarily.

Fruit Flies in the Bathroom

Have you spotted fruit flies in your bathroom? If so, you can use a quick trick to kill the flies and their larvae altogether. These insects enjoy warm, moist spots, so they frequently find themselves in shower drains, as well as in your kitchen.

Boil a pot of water or white vinegar. Then, you can pour the solution down your shower drain to kill anything living inside. These bugs could also be sewer gnats, but your water or white vinegar trick should work the same.

Other Points to Keep in Mind

Remember that both DIY solutions and store-bought products only address part of the problem. If you really want to know how to get rid of fruit flies, you need to remove their food source. It’s crucial to:

  • Keep sink drains clean and sanitized
  • Store fruits and vegetables in the fridge
  • Wipe down counters frequently to remove spills
  • Cork wine bottles
  • Take the trash out frequently
  • Remove all standing water

There shouldn’t be an issue as long as you don’t give the fruit flies the perfect environment to fester. Otherwise, you’ll just kill the adult fruit flies, while the eggs continue to hatch. These tricks can remedy any remaining adults, but you need to prevent them from breeding altogether.

There’s no way to eliminate fruit flies forever, so you might still see them come back in a few months.

Use These Tips to Solve Your Fruit Fly Problem

There’s nothing more annoying than dozens of fruit flies swarming around your kitchen. Unfortunately, you can’t always get rid of them so quickly. There are numerous tricks to help lessen the amount, but you need to fix your kitchen’s environment to eradicate them completely.

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