A fruit bowl with very ripe bananas, a half-full food waste caddy, an open bottle of wine and, suddenly, a cloud of tiny flies buzzing around the kitchen. If you're wondering how to get rid of fruit flies, the good news is that you don't need any insecticide. All it takes is cutting off their food supply, setting a homemade trap and giving the kitchen an extra-thorough clean for a few days. Here's what really works and how to stop them coming back.
Where fruit flies come from
Fruit flies are drawn to the smell of fermentation: ripe or overripe fruit, leftover juice, wine or beer, and peelings in the food waste caddy. They often come into the house with your shopping, because the eggs may already be on the skin of the fruit. Each female lays several hundred, and in a warm kitchen an egg becomes a new adult fly in around 8-10 days. That's why a few quickly turn into a cloud, and why catching the adults isn't enough.
How to get rid of fruit flies step by step
- Remove the source. Check the fruit bowl, the vegetable basket (especially potatoes and onions) and the bin. Throw out anything soft, open or starting to ferment straight away, and take the bag outside.
- Fruit in the fridge. For a few days, keep ripe fruit in the fridge or in a tightly closed container. The flies lose their main source of food.
- Wash fruit when you get back from the shops. Rinse it under the tap and dry it before putting it in the fruit bowl. This removes some of the eggs on the skin.
- Check the sink drain. Food scraps and grease build up in the U-bend, and fruit flies can breed there too. Clean the drain cover and the drain with a brush, then pour hot water down it. To find out whether they're coming from there, cover the drain overnight with clear sticky tape, sticky side down. If there are flies stuck to it in the morning, you know where to look.
- Food waste and containers. Empty the food waste caddy every day and wash it at least once a week. Rinse juice, beer and wine bottles and jars before taking them to the recycling bin.
- Cloths and scourers. A damp scourer with food scraps on it is another feeding station for them. Replace scourers often and wash cloths at a high temperature.
Apple cider vinegar fruit fly trap
Once you've removed the source, it's time to catch the adults. The simplest homemade trap:
- Pour a few centimetres of apple cider vinegar into a jar or glass.
- Add a drop of washing-up liquid and stir gently. The soap reduces the surface tension, so any fly that lands on the vinegar sinks.
- Cover the container with cling film and poke a few small holes in it with a toothpick. The flies get in easily but struggle to get out.
- Put the trap where there are the most flies: next to the fruit bowl, the bin or the sink.
- Every two or three days, throw away the contents and add fresh vinegar.
Instead of cling film, you can roll a sheet of paper into a cone and put it in the jar, tip pointing down. No apple cider vinegar? A drop of leftover wine or beer works, or a piece of very ripe banana. White cleaning vinegar works less well, because it doesn't smell of fruit.
Why they come back
The trap catches adult flies, but not the eggs or larvae that may be left in fruit scraps or in the drain. That's why the first few days can be disappointing. If you've removed the source and keep the traps out for about two weeks, the next generation has nowhere to develop and you'll see fewer every day. If after a week there are still as many as at the start, there's a source somewhere: a forgotten potato in a cupboard, juice spilt under the fridge, the compost bin on the patio or an unwashed bin.
Flies around house plants aren't fruit flies
If the small, dark flies are mostly hanging around your house plants, they're most likely fungus gnats. The vinegar trap is of little use against them, because they breed in damp soil. It helps to water less, letting the top layer of compost dry out between waterings, and to stick yellow sticky traps into the pot.
How to stop fruit flies coming back
- Buy fruit in smaller amounts and keep any that's already ripe in the fridge.
- Keep preserves, homemade vinegar and kombucha tightly closed.
- Wipe up spilt juice, wine or soft drinks straight away.
- Take out the food waste every day, especially in the warmer months and in autumn, when there's more fruit in the kitchen.
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