They’re invading my house, but at least I got a post out of the whole ordeal.
I realized today that I forgot one of the ways in which I use my bottle of hydrogen peroxide sanitizing spray.
We have fruit flies. Bad.
Real bad.
I’ve never seen so many in one poor little kitchen.
Luckily my grandma just showed me a super-easy (like, you won’t even have to print this out or refer back to it, you’ll just remember) method for capturing them. Not that I don’t want you to come back. Maybe you should click around a little to find some other, more complicated posts that you’ll have to bookmark. This isn’t one of them, unfortunately for me!
How to Kill Fruit Flies
- Put something sweet in a small bowl. This could be corn syrup, fruit peels, a piece of banana, or my grandma used red wine vinegar (but I’m not sure why).
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, very tightly.
- Poke a series of holes (10 or so) in the top. The fruit flies can get in, but they can’t figure out how to get out.
- Simple, simple, simple.
- UPDATE: An even BETTER idea popped up in the comments! I tried it and it works just as well, if not better. Thank you, Jean!
I've already caught 4 or 5 of the little buggers after only an hour!
Of course, the most effective method is still manual extermination. This causes my kiddos to run around the house clapping and smacking things to mimic me, but it’s worth it. Gross, though. I have fruit flies all over my counter and hands. It was then that I was reminded of my stand-by bottles under my sink, and the fact that I forgot to mention the “squirt-the-counter-when-you-kill-an-insect” use. We’ve battled ants, too, and the occasional spider. It’s nice to have something that I can quickly grab, squirt, and be germ-free in seconds.
I totally bleached out a (new, of course!) shirt spraying my old bottle of bleach water on the counter after killing a spider, then leaning against it without thinking. Hydrogen peroxide could still kill a shirt, but cut 50/50 with water is a bit safer. Be sure to check out the three simple natural cleaners that I use for all kitchen cleaning!
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More that works for me:
- Kids’ Responsibility for Unpacking the Lunch
- Aluminum in Antiperspirants: Hazard or Hoax?
- My BEST Kitchen Time-Saver
This is a fabulous tip! Thanks for sharing. Can’t wait to trap the little buggers tomorrow!
.-= Kara´s last blog ..Meatballs in Cream Sauce =-.
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Unfortunately, we too suffer from the dread fruit fly thanks to an always-full fruit bowl. I’m definitely giving this a try today!
.-= Kelly´s last blog ..WFMW: Backyard Composting =-.
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Great tip! We get fruit flies when we let the bananas get too ripe. I’ll have to try this!
.-= Melissa´s last blog ..A Cheaper Sweeper (Works For Me Wednesday) =-.
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I like just leaving the trap on the counter while I am asleep, and when I wake up we have so many caught!
I just dump mine out in the compost pile, so they probably find their way back in…
.-= Staci´s last blog ..Food Revolution Part IV – The Juice Wars =-.
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I have an even easier foolproof way that is very “green”! Use a shallow saucer, or plastic cover like one from cream cheese or similar. Place enough apple cider vinegar in it to cover the bottom and come up the sides just about 1/4 of an inch. Place ONE DROP of dish liquid in the vinegar and set aside. Voila, within an hour you will have tons of dead fruit flies floating around! They are lured by the vinegar and once they hit the surface, they are killed by the soap film! Its really amazing how this works, but I have kept fruit flies at bay in my house using this method (usually each evening I put one out). Hope this helps! You don’t even have to cover with saran wrap and poke the holes! It helps if you cover your fruit bowl with a towel so the flies don’t have any other places to go.
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Katie Reply:
September 16th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Jean,
Awesome. Katie
It works! I love it. Thank you so much for the comment; I’ll update the post to say I shouldn’t have bothered writing it and to just use this method.
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jean Reply:
September 17th, 2009 at 5:31 am
I’m so glad! Fruit flies are such a bother and probably very unsanitary! And I really love it when I find another “green” way of keeping pests at bay!
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I’ve done something similar to Jean, but with some fruit juice (like the drips from inside a muskmelon) instead of vinegar. The vinegar sounds even better, because I don’t always have the juice on hand. I believe it would work because the fruit flies try to get at my kombucha, which I have to keep tightly covered.
.-= Laurie N´s last blog ..Beanie Goodness – Wrapping up the Season =-.
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I hate flies. But we have mosquitos. Which is twice as bad and ten times as annoying.
.-= Jenny´s last blog ..Enjoy the Silence? =-.
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Going to try this today!
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Great post! I’ve always used those horrible looking fly tapes. This will have to be tried very soon!
.-= Yanic A.´s last blog ..Day 3 – 100-mile Diet : A wonderful discovery! =-.
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so glad to see this! I have about 15 ladies coming over tomorrow and a small cloud of fruit flies hovering in my kitchen. I remembered seeing something once somewhere that said to put something (I thought it was vinegar) out at night with a light on to attract them. Now that I read this, I’m thinking that was the solution they recommended. I’m going out there right now to set the trap…blasted fruit flies!
.-= dawn´s last blog ..My First Guest PostCheck it Out- =-.
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I use a tall container(like a cup) with a small funnel in it to close the top and bait the trap with a piece of a banana peel,or for a more powerful attractant use a combo of the banana peel, cantaloupe rind with a bit of cantaloupe attached, and a smashed ripe raspberry. then watch the fruit flies gather and get trapped. I like the container with a plastic bag (I reuse produce bags from the grocery store). You can leave this for weeks.. as the fruit decays it continues to attract the flies. I just leave it next to the fruit on the counter. There is no smell.
.-= Virginia´s last blog ..A Kitchen Aid mixer from one of my Favorites- =-.
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Virginia Reply:
June 30th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
oops should have reread…. I line the container with a bag.
.-= Virginia´s last blog ..A Kitchen Aid mixer from one of my Favorites- =-.
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Thanks for the tips! Last year we had so many fruit flies that I ran around the house vacuuming them off the walls and ceiling with the hose attachment. My dog and toddler were not fans of this approach.
.-= Julie´s last blog ..Multi-grain Tortillas =-.
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Bridget Reply:
July 10th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Julie, I did the same thing today. I got frustrated that my vinegar/soap trap wasn’t winning with kombucha, over ripe bananas AND wet cat food hanging around!
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I too have successfully solve a (massive) fruit fly problem using Jean’s method. —I forgot about my composting container!—
I use a combination of home remedies at once but also have a NEW “NO FAIL” METHOD which KILLS THE FLIES INSTANTLY!
FYI: Combination uses will resolve the problem faster. a) I use an empty soda can as a trap for the tips listed by others: fill with ripe fruit and/or juice. wine works very well also as will water and sugar.
b) I too place container lids with vinegar on the counters. The drop of DISHSOAP is crutial to both methods. (don’t stir)
c) NEW: You’ll need a SPRAY BOTTLE, WATER and LEMONGRASS ESSENTIAL OIL. Add 10 drops of oil to every cup of water. Spray the flies and they will drop and die. Have a paper towel handy to swipe them away:)
Added bonus: The oil makes the house smell clean!
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Hurray! I now have three solid methods to try!!! While we are away at fair I will set all three and see how it goes! Thanks!
Teri
.-= Teri @ Sustainability: How sustainable can we be?´s last blog ..Fair time and crazy days - =-.
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Accidental discovery! I left out a bit of balsamic vinegar & olive oil from a salad – next am, FULL of dead fruit flies! I’m going to keep that along with my vinegar & soap traps, which work, but never seem to get them *all*.
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A handful of thick dish washing suds waved around in the air traps the fruit flies and washes them down the drain. Happy Trapping
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