There's so much to love about the hotter months; swimming, boating, hiking, camping, and so much more, however one of the negatives of the hotter months are those pesky fruit flies. And if you're like our family, you love the goodness of having fresh fruit available, and if you're like me, that glass of red or white wine to enjoy without the hassle of aggressive fruit flies.
Now, there are many commercial chemicals or traps that can aid in ridding your home or office of them, however, here are some amazing remedies that you can do by using all natural goodies found in your pantry that's inexpensive and effective.
Below, I will share some at home methods that worked when we had a visit with those pesky rascals. As always, I hope this helps.
APPLE CIDER VINEGAR
Oh my gosh! Apple Cider Vinegar is truly a heaven send for attracting fruit flies. They absolutely cannot stay away from it. So, I've used a combo of Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar and added just a dab of grape jam, covered with plastic wrap and added some holes in the wrap and it will trap tons of them...Yukky, but effective. Check out this video that explains exactly what I mentioned HERE
ESSENTIAL OILS AND HERBS
Here are a few essential oils and herbs that deter fruit flies.
BASIL, PEPPERMINT, EUCALYPTUS: These are a few of the herbs that deter fruit flies. Placing these in muslin sacks, or tea bags and hanging them around the house will deter fruit flies.
CAMPHOR (be very cautious with this one), LAVENDER, PEPPERMINT, CLOVE, LEMONGRASS, all deter fruit flies. They can't stand the smell. You can dab some cotton balls in these oils and wipe around the home, especially in the kitchen area, and deter these rascals all while making your home smell naturally amazing. I love to dip tea bags into essential oil blends and hang around the home. They can't stand it, I tell ya!
INCENSE
I have learned, fruit flies hate smoke, and especially smoke from incense. They can't handle inhaling the smoke. When they inhale the smoke, they die fairly quickly, leaving you fruit fly free.
WINE, BEER AND BOURBON
Well, I guess these rascals like a good glass every now and then like we do. Fruit flies love the smell of wine and it will attract them in minutes! So, a small glass of wine used to trap them, similar to the apple cider vinegar method, works extremely well with attracting, trapping and killing the fruit flies.
MILK, SUGAR + GROUND PEPPER
Taking a mixture of 2 ounces of ground pepper, 1/4 lb of raw sugar and one pint of milk, simmer it together in a saucepan for 8 to 10 minutes. Pour the mixture into a shallow dish and the fruit flies will be attracted to it instantly and die.
TIPS..TIPS..TIPS..
Some other tips that can help minimize fruit fly infestations are: keep the area clean and tidy, keep fruit refrigerated (check out my pic below of our fridge and how we use glass ware to keep fruit secure and our area fruit fly free), minimize sitting water, fruit flies are attracted to sitting water. Get rid of rotting fruit as the yeast is where they lay their larvae and harvest. Again, I hope this helps and you can enjoy your summer pest free as much as possible.
I tried the vinegar. I tried the wine. I tried burning incense. Nothing has even reduced the number of fruit flies. I have no over ripe or rotten fruit. Any other remedies that I could try?
I put apple cider vinegar in a bowl and added a little dish soap (which breaks the surface tension so they drown). Left it on my kitchen counter overnight, near the fruit. It worked!
I tried the white vinegar and it worked.
The next morning so many had drowned.
Thanks for the remedy.Still have a few but it is not bad as it has been.
I am going to buy some of the essential oil to use in every room of my apartment.
These Fruit Flies Has Got To GO !!!!!
When you use the vinegar,you also have to use a tiny bit of dawn dish washing liquid.
My wife and I use the traps of apple cider vinegar in a covered dish with a few holes in the lid. Try bananas. They love that smell. If you really are over run, fruit flies can be vacuumed out of the air with the hose attachment. A little crazy, but it helps get them under control. When are garden is overproducing we put the vegetables on trays under our range hood. When we come home, we turn it on high and no more fruit flies.
Thank you so much. I try to eat healthy on my truck but some how these little pest just keep coming, I thought I was going to have to stop buying fresh fruits and vegetables.
Thank you for the herbal and essential oil tip. I used basil with lavander and it did scare the fruit flies away but not kill them. I had a visit from a fly while I was using this and it stayed in one place without moving for a long time so my husband took care of it. I have to leave the 13 tea bags of basil and lavander around my kitchen all the time now I see for them to shu away …. my neighbor does nothing so it will be a constant battle until winter comes… so this at least I recommend for temporary solution.
When using apple cider vinegar, add two drops of Dawn dishwashing soap. The apple cider vinegar attracts them and the soap breaks the barrier and prevents them from escaping. It works!
Hi, have you tried the eucalyptus oil to deter them? I’ve tried it and it does not work. It seems that in fact, they like the smell because more came to the fabric that I sprayed the oil on. Do you have any other recommendation?