How Can You Get Rid of Fruit Flies?

Jar fruit fly trap

Find a tall jar like a vase, empty wine bottle or an empty pop bottle to use to trap large fruit flies and fill it with something sweet. Some things to use include:

• Chop up over ripe fruit like bananas, strawberries, grapes or peaches.

• Maple syrup, corn syrup or honey.

• Apple cider vinegar.

• Soy sauce.

Once you have your something sweet in the bottle, you want to create a funnel for the flies to enter through. You can use a piece of paper, a page from a magazine or a coffee filter with a hole poked through the bottom of it. Use tape so the funnel will retain its shape and insert it into the opening of your jar. The funnel should not touch the sweet elements in the jar. Place your trap in an area where fruit flies frequent occur, like by the sink and leave it out overnight. The next morning you should see the flies in the jar. If not, try the trap again using a different sweet element or make the opening to you funnel a little bigger. Once you have your flies trapped in the bottle, you can kill them using a mixture of dish soap and warm water. Fill the jar with this mixture and they should die within a few minutes. Repeat this method every couple of days to ensure you get rid of them all.

Bowl fruit fly trap

You can also use a large bowl to get rid of your fruit flies. How to get rid of fruit flies using a large bowl is similar to the above method but not as effective as it. 

Start with a large bowl and add to it over ripe fruit with balsamic vinegar or use a combination of honey, sugar and balsamic vinegar. Then warp the top of the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Create holes in the plastic wrap using a fork. You don't want the holes to be too large because you don't want the flies to be able to easily escape again. Leave the bowl in an infest area overnight. If you don't notice any flies in the trap in the morning, the holes you made were probably too big, so try it again but with smaller holes. Once you have trapped the fruit flies, you should take the trap outside to dispose of the fruit by using a dish soap and warm water mixture. Pour the mixture into the bowl and wait a few minute before dumping the contents out.

Fruit fly sprays

How to get rid of fruit flies? There are a number of sprays you can use to help get rid of fruit flies both, store bought and homemade.

• Fill a spray bottle with rubbing alcohol that is at least 70% and saturate the infested area. This will kill off the flies as well as the eggs.

• Windex will also kill off smaller fruit flies instantly.

• Use a spray that contains Clorox.

• Plain water can also be used to spray down fruit flies, allowing you to smash them once they have fallen.

When using any of these methods, you want to make sure the room is well-ventilated and that you clean the surfaces after you have sprayed and killed the fruit flies.

Fly strips

Just like with standard house flies, you can purchase fruit fly strips to hand in your kitchen. These strips are odorless and can be easily hung on the handles of your kitchen cabinets.

Call a professional

If your fruit fly infestation is out of control and none of the home remedy methods are working for you, it might be the time to call in some professional help. They can treat your home with insecticides that will rid and kill off the fruit flies and give you tips to prevent a future infestation.

Don't let dishes sit

Once you are done eating, you want to make sure you clean up all your dirty dishes. Keeping dishes laying around will only attract fruit flies again.

Keep trash covered

Using a trash can that has a lid and contain the odor can attract fruit flies. If your trash can doesn't have a lid, use newspaper or something else to cover the opening of the can.

Clean up spills

Damp areas in the kitchen or bathroom can attract fruit flies, so you want to make sure these areas are cleaned up. Anything that gets accidentally spilled on the floor or counters should also be cleaned up immediately.

Change the soil of indoor plants

Old potting soil of your indoor plants can be an ideal hiding spot and breeding ground for fruit flies. How to get rid of fruit flies and keep them gone? Use a better quality soil for your indoor plants.