Fruit flies are tiny brown insects that can appear throughout the year, but they are most common during warmer months. This is because they are attracted to ripening fruit, which spoils faster in higher temperatures. They are also drawn to drains, bins, and cupboards where food is stored.
Why fruit flies are hard to eliminate
Getting rid of them can be tricky. They can lay up to 500 eggs on a single piece of fruit, and their life cycle lasts 40 to 50 days, which explains why they seem to be a constant presence.
While they pose no real danger, I kept seeing them buzzing around my kitchen, and it became increasingly annoying. So I tried a particular method that cleared them out within 24 hours.
Step one: Remove the food source
Finding and removing the food source that attracts fruit flies is an essential first step. GoodFood also suggests creating a homemade trap, which they describe as the "most effective" method for capturing any lingering pests.
They explain: "A DIY fly trap works by baiting fruit flies with a sweet-smelling fermenting liquid, luring them into a trap where they're then stuck and drown in the liquid."
How to make the trap
To build a homemade fruit fly trap, I gathered a bowl, apple cider vinegar, a drop of washing-up liquid, and some clingfilm to seal the bowl. You will also need a toothpick or scissors to pierce holes in the covering.
The experts note: "The bait needs to be enticingly pungent enough to lure the fruit flies into the trap. Apple cider vinegar is the most reliably effective bait, but alternatives include wine, orange juice, banana peels, and honey."
I added a small amount of vinegar to a bowl, along with a squeeze of washing-up liquid and a dash of water, and mixed everything thoroughly.
According to the experts, adding a drop of washing-up liquid to the mixture significantly improves the trap's effectiveness. They say: "The detergent helps by reducing the surface tension, causing the fruit flies to drown more easily. It also coats the flies in a thin layer of the detergent, making it much more difficult for them to get out of the liquid."
I then stretched a sheet of clingfilm tightly across the top of the bowl and pierced several small holes in it with a pair of scissors.
Results
It took a couple of hours before the first fruit flies appeared, though the experts note it can work in as little as a few minutes. This method proved incredibly successful for me, and my kitchen has been free of fruit flies ever since. It cost me less than 5p, as I already had apple cider vinegar in my cupboard.
