It’s that time of year! Fruit flies go crazy for fermenting foods, and fermenting concoctions are a hallmark of a traditional kitchen. What to do about them?
Try my homemade fruit fly trap. It really works — and better yet, it is simple. Watch me put one together in the short video above, or see below for the quick print instructions.
Here’s how this works. You’ll combine apple cider vinegar with a little bit of soap. The fruit flies are attracted to the vinegar (of course) and want to eat it. Normally, they would be able to float on the surface and gobble to their heart’s content. But by adding a bit of soap to the vinegar, you’re breaking the surface tension of the vinegar (which otherwise allows them to float), causing them to sink in and drown. Yeah!
I keep a little cup of this in all troublesome areas of my kitchen: near the sourdough starter, near other ferments, near fresh fruit, and near the compost bowl. I highly suggest you get some of this going in your kitchen pronto. You’ll definitely need it when you join our fermenting class journey!
Homemade Fruit Fly Trap
Ingredients
- apple cider vinegar or other vinegar
- dish soap
Instructions
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Put some apple cider vinegar in the cup or bowl, about 1/4 to 1/2 cup.
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Add a few drops of dish soap and stir lightly.
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Set beside any troublesome areas in your kitchen.
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As the mixture evaporates, replenish with fresh vinegar and soap.
Recipe Notes
Occasionally wash out the cup because it will turn into a graveyard for the pesky flies. 😉
Let me know if you try this and if it works for you. If you do something else to trap fruit flies, please share!
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I use apple cider vinegar…works like a charm. I have a bottle designed to catch wasps hanging in my kitchen with apple cider vinegar in it…no fruit flies bother me anymore. <3
I also do ACV in some dish soap.
Judy- tell me more about that bottle designed to catch wasps. I’ve never heard of it.
i’ve got some acv in an empty spice bottle that works a bit.
i’ve got some acv in an empty spice bottle that works a bit.
I too would like to hear about the bottle for wasps. They are a huge problem for us. They get in the house and the cats chase them all over. It gets very annoying, lol.
Brandi — Check out Judy’s picture here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=209692319068684&set=o.105700796135612&type=1&comments
Wow! Thanks Wardee. That is a pretty bottle. Where would you buy one of those?? Hmm…
I’ll ask her!
I’ll tag you in a picture of mine. It’s a thick, decorative bottle with a concave bottom…a d a hole cut in the center of the bottom…it is corked and hung by a wire.
I just made some and set them next to all the things you mentioned. Thanks for the helpful tip, Wardee!
I have been doing this for a couple of years now. I used to use one of those fancy bottles that they sell for this purpose (e.g., the bottom has an entry hole), but I find that I prefer a small decorative juice glass. Both containers work equally well. However, the fancy bottle was difficult to clean. I can just dump out the juice glass and pop it into the dish washer. “Vintage” decorative juice glasses can be found for next to nothing, and the decorations on the juice glass help disguise what’s inside. Right now, a Micky Mouse juice glass is on the window sill over our kitchen sink.
I have fruit flies too! I use ACV in a container, but I find it helpful to put some plastic cling wrap over the top. Then I secure it with an elastic and punch holes in the top with a fork. That way, the fruit flies can’t escape as easily. I sure enjoy your videos, thanks :-).
I have also heard that fruit flies live your drains, feeding on the bacteria that is in the drain.. Any thoughts about dealing drains?
Cindy,
It is highly unlikely that fruit flies could live in your drain, for the following reason. Fruit flies are commonly grown in the laboritory, for studying genetics. Mold growing in the culture medium (e.g., sterile mashed potatoes) kills off the babies pretty darn quickly. Your drain is excessively wet and harbors mold. Thus, it’s not a good environment for fruit fly reproduction. Your fruit flies are more likely to come from older food on the counters or the trash.
That is not to say that other undesirable things can’t grow in your drains. A good scrubbing with bleach water once in a while is a good thing. A 10% solution of regular bleach and water will kill most bacteria and molds, and the bleach decomposes to salt in about 24 hours.
There are some kind of flies that breed in drains. They seem like fruit flies to me. We had them at a place where I used to work. We used a product called “DF5000” which is some kind of bacteria blend, and supposed to be environmentally friendly. I don’t know if it is available for household use or not.
Jeanne, That’s interesting. I wonder what they were. Lord knows there sure are a lot of kinds of flies. I am always amazed by the variety out in the garden.
I think what you are all referring to is the drain moth. We had a problem with them in our last house, in our toilet of all places! Here is a link that I found in a quick search: http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef615.asp
I have a stubborn fruit fly. I used the cling wrap the other day too and caught most of the fruit flies except for one. At least I hope it is only one. I then saw this post and put the jar right next to my milk Kefir and it did not go in. There is nothing in the jar and I still see it every once in a while. He was hanging around the cling wrap trap too, but never went in. I am wondering if I will get this one. 🙂
HI Wardee,
You’re brilliant! thanks so much for this. We got some fly tape and placed it underneath the counter which seems to be working well but I love the trap. thanks!
Sarah
I am going to try this.
I am noticing the fruit flies again, so tried this last night before going to bed. I have a small, old cut glass vase and thought that would be neat to use. I was doing this from memory and I think I didn’t put in enough vinegar because this morning-no frut flies in it. I’ll add more ACV this a.m. and a few more drops of soap and see what happens. As always…Thanks!
Thanks! I love this idea. They have been driving me crazy! Such a simple solution! I wonder if it will work for regular flies as well! Ours are “texas” sized flies and I am in San Diego 🙂
Thanks for the tip! I keep a spray bottle of water with a bit of dish soap mixed in within arm’s reach in the kitchen. I grab it and spray them mid-air and that kills them but the cup sounds like a lot less work (not too mention there’s been the occasional accident of spraying food)! Of course I have other uses for the soap water like spraying food stains immediately. But now I can quit chasing fruit flies around.
I can’t complain, but we haven’t had any yet this year! Not sure why! They’ve been SO bad the last couple years. We even keep our bowl of fruit/veggie scraps on the counter that we take to our chickens. Last year, we even got the vacuum out–there were SO many!We’ve used ACV in a cup, but not with the dish soap. I will do this in case they return : ) thanks!
Just yesterday, we had our first fruit fly fest of the year. I keep my sour dough starter on the counter all the time and they really like that bowl.
The method of extermination I used last year didn’t work very well (fruit in a jar with plastic wrap) so the timing of your video was perfect. I tried it this a.m. and our whole family is singing your praises!!!!! I caught 30 of them and am waiting for the rest to stop by my fruit fly cemetary. THANK YOU, Wardee.
P.S. I made my first Queso Fresco last week and it turned out so well…my entire family loves it. I will be making feta on Monday which follows the steps of the QF at the beginning thus boasting my confidence. Thank for you for patient, thorough instruction. I love your videos.
Thank you so much for sharing!!! I have a tiny kitchen and lots of fruit and ferments, so the fruit flies were getting pretty obnoxious . My husband searched the Internet for a homemade solution but wasn’t thrilled with the results. Then I saw this video the next day. I immediately made my traps that evening, and all the flies were gone the next morning!!! We haven’t had any fruit flies since! Ahhh, we are so grateful! Thanks again!
Oh, and I actually used kombucha instead of ACV because I haven’t been drinking it quickly enough. Works like a charm!
This is fantastic. Fruit flies have just been one of those things I’ve tolerated, with my sourdough starter (usually in the fridge) and kefir.
I set out my trap earlier, and honestly within 5 minutes I caught two of the little pests.
Thanks, Wardee!
I found not enough of the fruit flies were actually landing in the acv with soap. They kept just hanging around it but not landing on it. But maybe that was because it was in a bowl and they could walk down the side and drink without landing in it. I have used a cup with acv with a paper cone upside down in the cup. There was a tiny hole in the bottom of the cone so they fruit flies could get in but then couldn’t find their way out. Also, you can set an ovenproof dish of acv in your oven overnight and crack the door slightly. Overnight all the fruit flies will go into the oven because of the acv and the light. Then in the morning just shut the over door and turn it on for ten minutes or so, Fruit fly graveyard–if that doesn’t squick you out, 😉
jackpot! i just noticed these buggers around my sourdough. now i know how to get rid of them.
Oh my heck, we haven’t had a bit of trouble with fruit flies for the last two years but they are here now and making me mad! I am definitely going to try your trick. I had tried the whole soapy water bit with no affect but I expect this will work better. Thanks again!
I am wondering if it is safe to put the ACV next to my ferments (sourdough, dairy kefir, kombucha) since it is a ferment itself. MIght it do harm to my ferment in the long run or is the amount so small to be inconsequential? I see someone mentioned using Kombucha instead of ACV. I think I’ll try this next to my jars of brewing Kombucha.
I seem to have fruit flies all the time. I took an empty jar, punched a few holes in the lid and fill it with AVC and refresh the ACV every few days. This is working for me like a charm.
Yes, this works!
Yep. Works!
Great! So much more simple than other homemade solutions!
Ooh, good one. I will definitely do this.
Used this method recently when I made the mistake of leaving potting soil outside, then using it inside.
I do the same, except add some water to it. Have trapped thousands of fruit flies this way. Before I stumbled across the recipe I use, I used to use my vacuum cleaner to suck ’em up….
sounds good
I did this last year. Works like a charm!
Great
Where do these things even come from?!
Do you have any solutions for ants?
Fabian Dominique, got fruit flies?
I love this idea. Those pesky critters are always trying to get into my wine!
Love it. Yes I have been having more fruit flies as I am now making kefir and kombucha, and also have a compost bucket. Thanks Wardee for the simple but effective trap.
Timely!
Used this method before, worked
I have an old wine carafe, and I take a piece of paper and roll in into a cone and insert into the bottle. In the bottle I put the same solution, vinegar/soap, or just a piece of fruit, or whatever. Then watch, they fly down inside, but can’t get out.
I have an old wine carafe, and I take a piece of paper and roll in into a cone and insert into the bottle. In the bottle I put the same solution, vinegar/soap, or just a piece of fruit, or whatever. Then watch, they fly down inside, but can’t get out.
Thank you. I went to the grocery last night, and this morning I noticed quite a few of these pests already!
Made a couple of these traps and hope they work cuz have an overabundance of the dang things!
We have a lot of them too! Making this right now. Hope Dr. Bronner’s works for the soap!
v.good thanks
Fruit fly
Vinegar jug
Slippery edge
Pickled bug!
Tammy Barney
I’ve been using my push button ignition type plumbing torch. Fun, effective but dangerous in wrong hands, accidents can happen. I think I will use this other method.
I bought these cute lids at Michaels. They are meant to hold flower stems, but are perfect (and pretty) as a fly trap.
I may try the apple cider vinegar and soap. I have used – with great success – one part vinegar (white) and one part orange juice. I mix it in a small container with a cover (holes punched in the cover). The fruit flies crawl in and don’t come back out.
Another great idea is to cover the top with Saran wrap and poke holes with a fork. That way, even if the flies get in and decide not to land, they can’t get back out. Works for me!
I made this but put plastic baggies over the top secured outside around the bottom of the cup with rubber bands. I cut a small piece out of the corner of the baggie and then positioned it so it almost touched the ACV in the bottom of the glass. The fruit flies could get in but usually drowned (or I squished them between the baggie and the side of the glass!) before they could try to find their way out. It works GREAT and my fruit fly problem is gone. Such a relief!
It work like a charm if you close the cup or bottle with plastic foil and make holes on it with a toothpick. They enter but never leave.
We just made our fly catchers … will be trying some various contents to see what works best 🙂 Here’s how we made ours:
http://www.weeksfamilyeco.org/blog/2015/april/fly-catcher-deployment/
We use a soft drink bottle. Cut the top third off, set aside,throw a banana peel in the bottom, place the top part you just cut off down into the bottom part but upside down like a funnel. My hubby like to put DUCK tape all around the edge to keep them in better. Then he can call it a REDNECK GNAT Catcher. Yeah he’s a funny bunny! Works like a dream…gets really really full quickly and we just make a new one and throw the old one out. I have never had an odor to come from it from the banana but we do try to change them out about every week. I hate those little gnats!
this also might help for the other problems:
Fruit flies are usually yellowish with clear or lightly banded wings. They are most often found around fruit and vegetable peelings, rotting fruits and other similar foods. Eliminating the food sources usually controls these flies.
Fungus gnats usually have dark wings and are not fuzzy in appearance. Fungus gnat larvae feed on decaying plants or fungi and usually develop in the potting media of houseplants. The easiest way to control them is to let the houseplant soils dry out between waterings because the larvae do not survive in dry conditions.
Drain flies are also called moth flies because of their fuzzy appearance. They are dark gray to black and found near sinks and tubs. This fly belongs to the family Psychodidae. (treatment is to clean drain with a long bottle brush & pour boiling water down the drain).
this article goes into a little e more depth:
https://insects.tamu.edu/extension/publications/epubs/e-184.cfm
Hope this helps out…coz there are 3 of those boogers we could be fighting.
Ali