Can't Get Rid of Fruit Flies

I put a small amount of pop in the bottom of a water bottle with a drop of D. dish detergent and a couple of banana peels too so that a little of the peel is sticking out above the top of the pop (but not too much).

Leave the water bottle uncapped and put 3-4 of them around the kitchen. Leave them for a couple of days and do NOT touch them, as the little flies seem to fly away as soon as you move them.

After a couple days put the cap on one water bottle adn throw it out, and each day do the same to antoher bottle until all water bottles are gone.

This has always worked for me without even having to get rid of the other fruit in my house.

I have used the vinegar or beer with Dawn soap and plastic wrap also. Sketchy responses. I found using my vacuum to be good, but you must take the bag outside right away. I also spray them with "freeze" or "hard to hold" hairspray and they cannot fly so they die. Sounds mean but this is war.

I had this last summer and ended up googling it...can't remember the exact details but basically you need to completely eradicate anything that they can feed on because otherwise they will just keep multiplying and unfortunately you're trap sounds like it might have been the perfect fodder! I think it said to do this for about two weeks in order to break the breeding cycle - so all fruit out of the kitchen (and maybe things like herbs if you keep them on your work surface), wash down all the surfaces and anything you might have touched with food on your hands and try to keep things scrupulously clean for a few days. I seem to remember it turned round pretty quickly - in a matter of days - once i started tackling it.

Those pesky lil guys are just evil! I sympathize with your plight! I have no magic answers for ridding the kitchen of them. We just did fly strips as we have toddlers. My sister told me that when you bring bananas home to put some hand sanitizer gel on the each end of the banana. You don't have to separate them, just a dab on each. I have done so ever since and have not incurred any such plight! Cross my fingers and toes!

I tried an Ortho product purchased at Home Depot, ECOSENSE brand insecticidal soap.
I sprayed the product on the infested fruit. After spraying wash fruit with a drop of dishwashing liquid.

Good luck!
G.

I was told a small glass of white vinegar will attract the fruit flies. What you need to do is put plastic wrap atop the glass with a rubber band and then poke holes in the plastic. The fruit flies will make their way into the glass and drown.

J.

Leave out a glass of wine.

I have known people to use the vinegar/soap and the wine with success. Once you are rid of them, you can avoid them in the future by using "Fridgesmart" containers from Tupperware. They can be used in the refrigerator or on the counter to extend the life of your fruits and veges 2 to 3 times what you are used to. They will pay for themselves many times over with the produce you don't have to throw away. For more information, you may contact me at www.my2.tupperware.com/jenniferpetricig. I hope you are able to rid your home of them now and I would be happy to help you keep them away in the future! Good Luck!

glass of wine covered with plastic wrap, poke little holes??? good luck!

This happened to me once when I kept a pineapple on my counter for too long. The fruit flies were eveywhere. I know this sounds crazy, but I sprayed them with Windex. I figured it was poisonous enough for the flies, yet safe enough to be sprayed on kitchen surfaces. It worked. Good luck!

A., where is your business and can you tell me something about it? If you are in the city, where?

Hi Anna,

I had run into the same problem. I tried a little bit of bleach with water in a spray bottle. You need to make sure any food items are removed, of course. After you spray them down--you'll get a lot of them to die--of course, then wipe down the area again. It took a few times, but I finally got rid of them.
good luck

Hi A.,

We have experienced the same problem this summer! Apparently the flies can multiply not only on fruit, but on any damp surface (i.e. a damp dish towel). So you might want to try eliminating things like that to see if you can make any headway. It seemed to help us a bit.

good luck!
A.

glass of old wine is a good way to get rid of them. I worked with them in a lab and we used a vinegar to catch them.

Two things you can do. Always wash fruit thoroughly when you bring it into the house if you are going to let it sit on the counter. If it's in the fridge, not need to worry. To trap the little buggers, pour some (3 tablespoons) apple cider vinegar into a coffee cup with a dot of liquid dish soap. Leave this on the counter. This works really well at trapping them. They fall in and cannot get out.

I too had fruit flies and tried to "trap" them in a container of liquid, and it never seemed to get very many of them. What finally worked was; setting a piece of fruit on the counter and once a bunch of fruit flies land on it --- I would vacuum them up! By the end of the day they were all gone. I looked funny waving the long attachment wand around my kitchen as they tried to fly away, but it worked!

cidar vinegar and drop of Dawn

I just did this a couple days ago with success. I did the apple cider vinegar with a bit of dish soap, mixed it around. It did take a whole night to get rid of them, not just a couple hours I was hoping for. I did notice they kept going for the fruit and dirty dishes in the sink and not the vinegar, so I brushed all the bugs off the fruit and stuck it in the fridge and kept dishes clean and they were gone by morning. The smell at first is bad, but I lit a candle when we had company, and the next day the smell was almost unnoticable. I have put out new vinegar and can leave fruit out, but when it gets"ripe" I put it in the fridge right away. Such a big hassle just for fruit, but it's working.

Wash, dry and keep your fruit in the fridge until they pass. Be sure to put away juice cups right away. No food, no pests. Good luck. I hate those fruit flies too.