So, is there no way you can stop them from irritating you in the kitchen or contaminating your food? Well, there are indeed proven ways to get rid of fruit flies. But for that, you would need to know why they have actually made your kitchen their home. While these fruit flies like to feed on rotten fruits, trash cans, drains and more, overripe vegetables and fruits are also their breeding ground.
So it’s essential to employ multiple techniques to fight these little bugs. Here we discuss 13 ways that can help you overcome the wrath of fruit flies and make your home fruit fly-proof.
13 Natural and Effective Ways To Get Rid of Fruit Flies
1. Trap Fruit Flies by a Paper Funnel
You can create this easy fruit fly trap using household products that you would be already available at home.
You would need a soda bottle, wine bottle, or any such tall jar which will act as the base of the trap. The next step is to choose a sugar bait for which you would have a host of options as fruit flies attack all sorts of sugary items.
You can use sliced fruits, honey, and maple syrup, soda, squash, fruit juice, etc. You can even use leftover beer from last night’s party as flies get attracted to sugary alcohol.
Then you would need to roll a piece of paper over the opening of the bottle. Leave a small hole at the end of the funnel and tape it so that it remains intact.
Now look for fruit fly-infested areas around the house. You would usually find fruit flies near the kitchen sink, garbage bins, etc. Use more than one fruit fly traps if you have fruit flies in several parts of the kitchen. Leave the trap overnight for the best results.
2. Make a Vinegar Trap
You can easily find vinegar in your home, but keep in mind not to use white vinegar. Red Wine or Apple Cider Vinegar will be your best bet to attract and trap a fruit fly.
Pour some vinegar in a bowl or cup and cover it with a plastic wrap. Poke some small holes in the wrap using a toothpick.
The idea here is to make the holes big enough for the fruit flies to enter. Just like the previous method, fruit flies won’t be able to come out of the same hole they entered from.
Once you have trapped flies inside the trap, pour some warm water mixed with dish soap. Rinse the jar thoroughly, and you can reuse it afterward.
3. Use a Candle Trap Setup
Trying out this candle fruit fly trap would surely make you feel like a silent assassin. You can employ two ways to kill the flies in just one trap.
Moreover, this trap only requires a solitary candle, which makes it an inexpensive option. Pour some water in a tray or bowl and place the candle directly in the middle of it.
Turn off the lights and place the candle on the fly-infested area. Make sure you completely block the passages of light inside the room by closing the blinds.
Now, this trap will kill the flies in two ways. Some flies would linger around the candle and burn in flames. Then there are other flies that might escape the flame but fall inside water. Mix a little soap in the water to prevent them from getting away.
4. Freezing Fruit Fly Trap
Do you want to get rid of fruit flies completely but are an ardent procrastinator? Well, this freezing fruit fly trap is made for you. You just have to make two of them and rotate among each other to eliminate fruit flies for a long time. Get two smaller jars and rinse them up thoroughly.
Put some rotten fruit or fruit scrap into the jar. Instead of covering them with a lid, cover them with a stretchable clear plastic wrap. Press a finger to make a dent on the wrap and pierce a single 1mm hole into it.
Once you notice flies in a trap, keep the jar in the freezer to kill them. Rotate the jars in and out of the fridge, and you won’t have to clean them up.
5. Use A Bowl Trap
Although the funnel and bottle method is more effective, this one is simpler to create. You will use a bowl to trap the fruit flies.
Fill at least an inch of the bowl with a mix of sugary liquids. As per the availability, you can use either honey, balsamic vinegar, and sugar mixture or a white vine and coriander seeds blend for this purpose. You can also add some fruit peels over the liquid.
Seal the bowl with plastic wrap and poke several holes with a fork. Place it in a fly-infested area overnight. Through the flies outside your home by pouring warm water and soap into it. Rinse the bowl and use it again until the fruit flies altogether leave your home.
6. Natural Gnat Repellent Spray Using Essential Oils
Who doesn’t love sprays that can instantly kill fruit flies and gnats on the spot? And what if the repellent spray is entirely natural and bereft of any toxic substances.
Fortunately, many essential oils have gnat repellent properties, and you can easily extract them from herbs, trees, and flowers. The best part is that you can grow most of these in your garden.
These oils include Tea Tree Oil, Clove Oil, Cedarwood Oil, and Cinnamon Oil. Dilute such oils in water and pour them in a spray bottle. Spray them wherever you see gnats or fruit flies in your home. The strong fragrance of these oils also makes your house feel fresh.
7. Vodka-based Repellent Spray
This vodka-based repellent is more reliable than the previous but it is a little more expensive. You would need to mix a few natural oils along with vodka and use this repellent spray to kill fruit flies. Add 2 tbsp witch oil to 2 tbsp of grapeseed oil, neem oil, and jojoba oil. Pour some vodka into this mixture and add 50ml essential oils like clove or Peppermint oil.
Attach a nozzle and spray this solution in the sink, corners, around the dustbin, and other such fruit fly-infested areas. You can additionally use this spray as a room freshener, which comes in particularly handy in summer times.
8. Rubbing Alcohol Spray
If you want to eliminate the fruit flies from your home, you need to prevent their infestation and eggs from breeding. Their eggs take about four days to hatch, and if you kill them along with the eggs within this time, your house will become free of gnats for a long time. Use 70% rubbing alcohol in a fine misting spray bottle.
Catch the fruit flies astray and shoot them with the spray bottle. They will instantly fall on the ground. If fruit flies severely infect your house, you should try 91% rubbing alcohol, which further saturates the eggs in the air. The 91% alcohol is expensive but all the more effective in acting as a disinfectant. Another benefit of using rubbing alcohol is that it’s less poisonous than an insecticide or pesticide.
9. Use Market-Bought Fruit Fly Traps
Are you tired of dealing with fruit flies in your home, but don’t get time to make your own fly trap? You can buy these fruit fly traps from the market. The apple-shaped traps look quite beautiful to see and come with a liquid refill that you have to pour in to trap flies.
You just have to place the trap overnight and see fruit flies get trapped in the small jar in the morning. Rinse the jar and refill it with the liquid to reuse it until you don’t find any fruit flies at your home.
10. Sticky Fruit Fly Traps
These are sticky tape-like traps that have a strong and sticky adhesive on them. Place on the garden window and wait for the gnats and fruit flies to come and stick to them.
They have a delightful and fruity fragrance that attracts fruit flies. Once the fly sits on it, they won’t be able to get up and run away.
You would need to hang several sticky traps on the windows that open to the yard. Additionally, they are inexpensive, so it’s easy to use a lot of these sticky traps at different places around your home. You don’t need to worry about refilling them as they are use-and-throw solutions.
These sticky traps are also good to store in the yard, the soil, and other places where you can’t keep the jar. The best thing is they are super cheap at about 50 cents/piece.
11. Treat The Drain
Drains are the hotspots for fruit flies and gnats to lay eggs because of the presence of moisture and humidity. If you suspect fruit flies to be breeding inside the drains, attack the enemy’s Bootcamp like a true warrior.
Check for fruit flies breeding in your drain by spreading a thin layer of honey over the opening. Observe if fruit flies stick to the layer of honey. You can use hot boiling water, drain cleaners, and soaps to clear the passage.
If that doesn’t work, you have the option of using a drain gel. These gels are available in home improvement stores as well as stores online. Read the manufacturing instruction carefully and reapply it multiple times as per requirement. It also might be a case of rotten peels of fruits sticking in the drain, which is attracting gnats.
Avoid bleaching down the drain, but you can add warm soapy water down the drain. Use a brush to clean any solid matter stuck in between.
12. Maintain Hygiene In The Kitchen
If being careless and reckless is your attitude, you need to change it. Of course, it does look cool and feel comfortable just to throw things away, leave them uncovered, forget throwing out the garbage for days, and so on. And this is the primary reason why fruit flies have made your kitchen their new home and breeding ground.
Leaving out crumbs and spilled drinks along with peels of fruits in the kitchen will attract a truckload of fruit flies in hours. Figure out their breeding spot first. Check for bowls of aging fruit, compost pits, open bag of recyclables, dam sponges, etc. Get rid of all these as a first step.
Carefully cover food items if you keep them in the open and try to make it a habit to keep cooked food in the fridge. Rinse fruits and vegetables thoroughly to wash away invisible eggs, or you should instantly put them in the refrigerator after bringing them from the market.
Try to wipe down countertops with a disinfectant or dish soap frequently. Moreover, keep the kitchen dry since fruit flies love moist areas.
13. Prevent Flies From Returning
Check for old sponges, mops, and microfiber cloth that are dirty and moist. Wash them with hot water in the machine or dispose of them since fruit flies lay eggs on such dirty and damp places. You need to be a bit more proactive in cleaning up washing the recycle bin, compost, and other waste receptacles.
Rinse water and liquor bottles with warm water before throwing them in the bin as these bottles can invite fruit flies. Look for rotten fruits in your basket and discard them immediately. Keep a fruit fly trap near the fruit basket if the problem persists—additionally, close windows and doors to keep fruit flies from entering your kitchen.
Since natural repellent sprays smell good along with shooing away flies, you should spray them once in the kitchen every day. Maintaining hygienic habits would further help you keep other insects away from your kitchen. This would, in turn, decrease the risk of disease and ensure proper health in your family.
So, these were the 13 ways to get rid of fruit flies that help you overcome the wrath of fruitflies.
