How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies
Getting Rid of Fruit Flies in the House is Easy!
Tablet of Contents: Checking Your Fruit – Cleaning Your Home – Using Fly Traps – Calling The Pros At Fenix
While it may seem like a challenge, it’s actually much easier to get rid of fruit flies in your house than you might think. Once you know how to get rid of fruit flies, you’ll be kicking yourself over how easy it is prevent them as well. Nearly all fruit fly problems begin due due to easy access to fruit, regardless of how fresh it is, though the more ripe or closer to general decay any fruit laying around is, the more likely fruit flies will show up. The second most common reason is a lack of cleaning.
Prevent Fruit Flies By Checking Your Fruit
One of the quickest methods to getting rid of fruit flies in your home is simply tossing any fruit, but especially fruit that’s ripe or closer to decay. This goes for vegetables as well, though fruit tends to be the bigget culprit.
Simply go through any fruit or vegetables left out in the open and check for any signs of decay or holes where fruit flies may have bored their way in. Fruit flies, as the name implies, actually lay their eggs on decaying fruit and veggies for their young to feed on once they’ve hatched. This can lead to hundreds of fruit flies emerging from a single fruit or vegetable.
However it’s important to know that once you’ve tossed any suspect pieces of fruit or vegetables, you need to make sure it’s secure wherever it is tossed, or else fruit flies and other pests can still easily thrive on it, leaving the potential of a fruit fly or other pest problem still at hand. We recommend simply bagging and sealing off any fruit or veggies you throw away, even if they’re in a trash can with a cover. Remember, fruit flies and other pests are extremely resourceful when it comes to finding a way, so it’s better to assume that they’ll get in no matter what you do to stop them.
We also recommend going one step further by keeping your trash receptacles as far away from your home as you realitically can to keep any further pest invasion as low as possible. And if you really feel like going the extra mile, routinely rinse out your trash receptacles as fruit flies can most certainly feed on their sticky surfaces.
Cleaning Dirty Surfaces Will Keep Away Fruit Flies
Another easy, but maybe not so quick method is to routinely clean your home and keep all surfaces clean from any sticky messes. Spills, even small ones can still attract any number of bugs, but spills of a sugary nature are what fruit flies crave most and will be attracted to.
When we say all surfaces, we really do mean all surfaces, walls, lights, cabinets, floors, floorboards – basically anywhere something might stick. In all cases, simply using warm, soapy water and scrub, scrub, scrub. Not only will you have a cleaner home insuring annoying fruit flies and other pests keep away from your home, cleaning also will make your home less hospitable to other pests, not to mention it’s a form of dusting, so your sinuses will be thanking you in the long run.
Similarly, vacuuming routinely will help remove any crumbs or other food particles, preventing a valuable food resources from pests making it much harder for them to thrive in your home. Remember, much of pest control is just that, control. Controlling what fruit flies and other pests have access to in your home and reducing the chances of their survival or desire in general to stick around as we’ve mentioned, pests always find a way, but you can definitely make it much more difficult for them to stick around and thrive.
Using Fly Traps
Let’s assume you have the cleanest house, threw away all over-ripe and potentially rotting fruit, and any and all other methods that normally attract fruit flies and yet, they’re still buzzing around your home. How can you do away with the ones that just won’t seem to leave? Fly traps!
Apple Cider Vinegar and Plastic Wrap
One of the more complex, but still simple methods, is using apple cider vinegar, emptied into a bowl, covered in plastic wrap and secured to it with a rubberband. Once secured, delicately poke tiny holes into the top of the of the plastic wrap, large enough for a fly to work its way through, but not large enough for them to do it easily.
The idea here is that fruit flies, as well as other flies will be attracted to the odor apple cider vinegar gives off, which mimics over-rippened and spoiled fruit. Fruit flies will work their way through the holes you poked while find it much more difficult to fly back through.
Ultimately they will drown in the vinegar, so you will need to make sure you occassionally check the bowl to empty and refill it as needed until the problem has disappeared.
Apple Cider Vinegar and Dish Soap
Now for one of the easier methods to catch fruit flies, and the most straight forward. Take apple cider vinegar, empty it into a bowl, mix in some dish soap, and leave it out in the open, preferably closer to where you think your fruit fly problem is located.
As with the previous method, the apple cider vinegar will attract fruit flies, while the dish soap will make it difficult for them to leave the surface of the vinegar where they will drown in the vinegar after being unable to fly away.
Repeat as needed until the fruit fly problem alleviates and finally disappears altogether.
Store Bought Fruit Fly Traps
If you’d prefer to not have to rely on DIY methods that can sometimes work more slowly or even fail if not done properly, you can always check out these recommended products below that will help with the issue.
The Katchy Indoor Insect Trap – essentially it’s a bug light/fan combo that draws in any neary flying insect and traps them inside where they perish.
Aunt Fannie’s FlyPunch – specifically for fruit flies, just pop the top, place near your fruits and let the trap attract the flies, rather than your fruit!
Garsum Fruit Fly Sticky Traps – just like they sound, you can simply set these around the house and once a fly lands on it, they’ll get stuck for good.
Raid Fruit Fly Trap – these simple devices use a lure to attract fruit flies and gnats, while you fill it with water to drown the flies it attracts. Refill as needed.
Last but Not Least, Call the Pros at Fenix Pest Control!
Sometimes you don’t want to do any of that and just want to get it done and out of the way. That’s what we here at Fenix are for. We’re one simple call away from sending out a tech to find the root cause of your problem and get rid of it for you. What’s more, we can ensure that you stay pest free for good with routine pest control service, known as pest prevention, so you’re protected all year long, no matter the weather, the season or the pest. Fenix Pest Control has you covered, so call us today.