Got little bugs buzzing around your kitchen? Congrats, you may have fruit flies! Don’t fret – these annoying pests are pretty common. Luckily, it doesn’t take much money, effort, or supplies to get rid of them. In fact, you can probably find everything you need in your cabinets! So after several days of testing different methods, here’s our guide to the best way to get rid of your fruit flies!
Each of the DIY methods we tested uses natural ingredients that we already had around the house, keeping everything chemical-free. But we did test them against some storebought traps for good measure (results below!), and we’re also sharing tips for preventing a fruit fly infestation in the first place.
What Are Fruit Flies?
Fruit flies are small flying pests that are attracted to sweet fruits and some vegetables. They’re also drawn to sugary or fermented beverages like beer, wine, or juice. You may spot them swarming around fruit bowls, garbage cans, and even kitchen drains. They’re about the size of a grain of rice and look like small, tan houseflies with red eyes. They tend to show up in the summer or late fall when many fruits are in season.
Fruit fly problems usually begin when one hitches a ride home on a piece of storebought fruit. Females can lay hundreds of eggs in their short lives, each hatching within as little as 12 hours. They reach adulthood in just a few days, meaning a few pests can quickly turn into a swarm. That’s why it’s important to get rid of fruit flies as quickly as possible.
Fruit Flies Vs. Fungus Gnats Vs. Drain Flies
Fruit flies are easily confused with other common household pests, especially fungus gnats and drain flies. Correctly identifying your bugs will ensure you pick the right way to get rid of them. The easiest way to distinguish them is by where you spot them and what larger insect they resemble.
- Fruit flies look like small flies. They’re found near fruit bowls, trash, or other smelly food sources.
- Drain flies look like small fuzzy moths. They’re typically found near sinks and drains.
- Fungus gnats look like small mosquitos. They’re typically found near houseplants, since they breed in damp soil.
If you’re unsure, you can try one of the traps below – if it attracts the pests in your home, you’ve got fruit flies!
Easy DIY Fruit Fly Traps
Getting rid of fruit flies isn’t complicated or expensive. All you need are some household supplies and a little bit of patience. Every trap follows the same basic formula:
- Lure: Attract the fruit flies into a vessel
- Trap: Keep them from escaping
We found several effective lures and trapping methods, giving you lots of good options depending on your available supplies. Some work faster than others, but all may take several days to fully eradicate your issue.
What Attracts Fruit Flies Best?
Fruit flies love the sour smell of rotten fruit or fermented liquids, like beer, wine, or apple cider vinegar (ACV). In our tests, we found that rotting fruit was the most effective lure – specifically banana peels and strawberries.
Our apple cider vinegar traps were still effective, but the fruit scraps worked faster. When we tested 3 fruits on our counter for 24 hours, the banana peel started off strongest (it was the most rotten at the start). But the longer the strawberry rotted, the more flies it caught. The apple slices didn’t catch a single one!
You can also supercharge an ACV trap by adding some banana peel to it. Just be sure to swap out your fruit every day or so to avoid unwanted odors.
The Best Homemade Traps
Luring a fruit fly into your trap is only half the battle. How do you keep them from escaping? We tried 3 different DIY methods, ranking below in order of ease & effectiveness:
- A plastic wrap trap
- A funnel or paper cone trap
- A dish soap trap
Here is how to create each of those traps:
#1: Plastic Wrap Fruit Fly Trap
This trap works by attracting fruit flies into a container through small holes in the plastic-wrapped top. Once inside, they have trouble finding their way back out.
Materials needed:
- Small clear jar, cup, or container
- Rubber band
- Plastic wrap or plastic bag
- Toothpick
- Rotten fruit or ACV
Instructions:
- Choose your container. Find a small clear, jar, cup, or other glass container. Using something clear makes it easier to see the flies you’re trapping. An old soda bottle or beer can works too.
- Add your lure. Add rotten fruit, apple cider vinegar, beer, or wine to the container.
- Cover with plastic wrap. Wrap the opening tightly with plastic wrap and secure it with a rubber band.
- Poke small holes. Use a toothpick to poke a few small holes in the top of the plastic. You don’t need a lot. Just make sure they are big enough for a fly to fit through.
- Wait and release. Every day or so, bring the trap outside carefully and remove the plastic wrap to release them. Replace your lure with fresh ACV or fruit.
This technique can also be done by poking a hole in the lid of a metal jar lid. You can use a mason jar or old food jar for this. Use a hammer and nail to puncture the top.
#2: Funnel Fruit Fly Trap
This trap attracts fruit flies in your container through a homemade paper funnel. This method was as effective as the plastic wrap trap, but we found it to be more error-prone. A couple of times, we accidentally knocked the funnel off and released all of our captives!
Materials needed:
- Small, clear container with a narrow opening
- Piece of paper or cardstock
- Tape
- Scissors
- Rotten fruit or ACV
Instructions
- Select your container (see previous trap for details)
- Add your lure (see previous trap for details)
- Make a paper cone. Wrap a small piece of paper or cardstock into a cone shape. Secure the shape with tape. Leave or cut a very small opening at the end – about the size of a grain of rice.
- Place the funnel. Set your paper funnel onto the opening of your container. Make sure it fully covers the opening without touching the ACV. Reshape your funnel if needed.
- Wait & release outside. After you’ve trapped several flies, carefully bring the trap outside, remove the funnel, and let them fly away.
#3: Dish Soap Fruit Fly Trap
Unlike the previous two methods, this fruit fly trap doesn’t require making any covers. Instead, it relies on a soapy surface to keep these pets from flying away. While this was by far the easiest trap to create, we found it to be the least effective. Several flies were able to escape the soapy liquid.
Instructions
- Put apple cider vinegar in glass or shallow dish. Fill the bottom of a small container, bowl, or dish with ACV, old beer, or wine. This scent will attract the fruit flies.
- Add dish soap & mix. Squirt several drops of dish soap into the ACV and mix to create a soapy solution. Flies will land on the mixture but then find it difficult to fly away.
Storebought vs Homemade Fruit Fly Traps
During our little experiment, I picked up a pack of Terro Traps to see if they performed better than my homemade methods. I left one out for 24 hours next to our banana & strawberry traps to see which of the three performed best.
Once again, our homemade strawberry trap did best, followed closely by the homemade banana peel trap. The storebought trap caught only one. HOWEVER…
We then discarded both of our DIY traps and left out the storebought trap for another 24 hours. That’s when it caught the collection you see above. So storebought traps definitely work, just not as well or as fast as our homemade traps did.
Our verdict? Use store-bought traps if you want something more discreet looking, especially if you plan to leave it out indefinitely.
More Storebought Fruit Fly Traps
Storebought fruit fly traps come in a variety of shapes and sizes, giving you several of options depending on your taste and situation. All of the traps shown below cost less than $20 and have thousands of positive reviews. Some will also trap other household flying pests as well.
- Zevo Flying Insect Trap ($19): This trap plugs into an outlet and uses UV light to capture fruit flies, fungus gnats, houseflies, and more.
- Landisun Sticky Traps ($12): These small sticky traps can be staked close to the source of the problem, whether they’re fruit flies on your countertop, mosquitos outside, or fungus gnats near your plants.
- Terro Fruit Fly Traps ($15): Apple-shaped traps that lure fruit flies in with liquid bait and prevent them from escaping. This works only for fruit flies.
- Aunt Fannie’s FlyPunch ($8): This plant-based liquid bait trap looks like a stylish spice jar filled with a pungent punch that fruit flies are drawn to.
- Sur La Table Fly Trap ($15): This stylish trap disguises its less-than-pretty function, but doesn’t come with any lure (you need to add your own ACV or fruit).
How To Prevent Fruit Flies
Getting rid of fruit flies is pretty simple, but the best-case scenario is to stop them from invading in the first place. Here are some simple ways you can prevent fruit flies from taking up residence in your home.
- Clean kitchen surfaces. Wipe down kitchen counters, stovetops, tables, and any other surfaces that may collect food residue or spilled liquids. Fruit flies are especially attracted to fruit, sweet juices, and alcohol so don’t let those sit!
- Take out your trash. Leaving food scraps in your garbage overnight can quickly turn your trash can into a fruit fly breeding ground.
- Dispose of overripe fruit. Monitor your fruit bowl for browning or rotting apples, bananas, etc so you can get rid of them before they become a problem.
- Wash your fruit as soon as you get it home. You can eliminate eggs or larvae that might come home from the store by washing produce right away (except for berries, which could rot faster from the moisture).
- Store produce in the fridge when possible. Fruit flies won’t flourish in the cold, so when in doubt, try storing your fruit and vegetables in the refrigerator.
- Clean your sink drain. Food scraps left in your drain can also attract fruit flies, so make sure you run your garbage disposal and/or flush the drain regularly.
Lastly, don’t panic when you spot fruit flies in your home. Yes, you want to take action quickly to prevent the problem from getting worse. But the solutions in this post are easy, effective, and fast-acting. You might even have some fun becoming a fruit fly scientist like I did.
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