I'm not sure what brought it on, but we've had an invasion of fruit flies for the past few days. Maybe the pears I left ripening on the counter...
Not many things are more maddening than those things flying in your face, and never quite being able to swat them! My friend had a similar problem in her home last year, and she finally got rid of them with a simple home remedy.
You only need two things that you probably already have - apple cider vinegar and dish soap.
Put a small amount of apple cider vinegar (about 1/4 c. or less is plenty) in a small dish, I used a ramekin. Add a small squirt of dish soap, and swirl it around with your finger. That's it!
Leave it out on your counter overnight and have patience while it works it's magic. In the morning, your bowl should be full of drowned fruit flies! The vinegar attracts them and the thick dish soap traps them in the mixture.
After about a day, we had over 60 in that bowl (my son counted!). I dumped it out and made a fresh bowl, and got about 10 more in the next day. I think they're all gone, yay!
No pretty decorating photos today, but I hope this tip comes in handy if you need it some day.
Thanks for sharing this tip, I needed that today! Love your blog!!
ReplyDeleteWe use that all the time and it works like a charm. We also add plastic wrap over the bowl with some holes cut into it. That keeps even more fruit flies trapped and helps to kill them off as well.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of this but HATE those things. Thanks for the tip - I'll be trying it out!
ReplyDeleteGreat tip, I love it.
ReplyDeleteI use the same thing - zaps those little pests!!
ReplyDeleteoh thank you for this! we've had an invasion, too! i don't know what is the deal!
ReplyDeleteI have tried this and it does work like a charm!! It's important to use apple cider vinegar and not just regular white vinegar because I think they are attracted to the sugar in it. We ran out of apple cider vinegar and the regular did not work nearly as well. I think red wine vinegar works too!
ReplyDeleteYes, thanks for pointing that out about the regular vinegar, Lisa. You're right!
DeleteThis year we too thought we had been invaded by them, but we never leave fruit out and could not for the life of us figure out where they were coming from. When our pest control serviceman was here because we had been invaded by spiders, I asked him. He said they actually are DRAIN flies. They go after what is left in your sink drains. They look exactly the same as fruit flies. Who knew. A quick clean of all the drains and they were gone!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this! We've had the same struggle lately. You're a gem! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, fruit flies are terrible here too.
ReplyDeleteI've heard about his tip before ( think it was Helouise), she also said to wash your fruit immediately after bringing home, because they can carry the eggs that the fruit flies come in (yuk).
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic!!! I googled so many tips but have never seen this one!
ReplyDeleteI will definitely have to try this if we start getting them! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this tip! Fruit flies have been especially bad this summer. It seems under control for now, but should they start to multiply again I'm going to try this "recipe." Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThat's what we do too.
ReplyDeleteI need something to get rid of regular flies. My boys leave the back door open too often, so I'm constantly battling the flies. I'm not as good with the fly swatter as Brad, so there's usually quite a few for him to kill when he gets home from work each day