How To Get Rid Of Fruit Flies

Fruit Flies, unless kept in check, can become a major health hazard, hence knowing how to get rid of Fruit Flies is extremely important.

These little monsters breed at an incredible rate and can lay up to 500 eggs at a single time. Within 48 hours, the eggs will turn into full-grown flies and before you realise it, you can be inundated with hundreds of Fruit Flies swarming throughout your home.

It’s Better To Prevent It Than To Deal With It

The first and most obvious step in getting rid of Fruit Flies, and since the name implies, you need to dispose of any rotten fruit that maybe in the vicinity and at the same time, wash all and any dirty dishes. Fruit Flies feed on any kind of rotten fruit or food that may be left around.

One of the most effective means of how to get rid of Fruit Flies is simply to wash all dirty dishes in warm water, laced with plenty of washing-up liquid. Having carefully put away these dishes, simply disinfect the entire area with a spray-type disinfectant and then wipe down.

Now you may not know that Fruit Flies can also breed in damp and moist areas, such as beneath the dishwasher or refrigerator. Once again, using a dry sponge or cloth, you can first of all remove any eggs that maybe lying around, mop up any damp that is in the area and finally spray with disinfectant.

Don’t forget, that Fruit Flies thrive on rotting food or food that is starting to “go off”. You therefore need to make sure that you keep all food grains and similar items, in solid, good containers or storage jars with tight, seal-able lids. If they can’t feed, you will simply get rid of the Fruit Flies since they will either move on to another place where they can feed, or just die of starvation!

Fight Them Off With Things You Have At Home

If you have taken these elementary precautions and you are still not having much success in getting rid of the Fruit Flies, you need to move on to more drastic steps. Never forget that the Fruit Flies lifespan is normally around 10 days and once you have eliminated them, by taking the precautionary actions previously mentioned, you should be able to stop them breeding again in your home.

Here is a simple tip that you can easily use in the kitchen when you first spot the presence of Fruit Flies. Take a large plastic washing up bowl, and using washing up liquid with warm water, whip up a quantity of soapsuds in the bowl. Place a couple of thin slivers of an apple so that they almost float on the surface of the water and soapsuds and leave the bowl on your kitchen sink draining board. The flies will be attracted by the rotting slivers of apple, will land on them and then be killed off by the soapsuds.

Another simple way to get rid of Fruit Flies, can be used when you have a gas stove with a constant pilot light. Take any small, open container, pour in it two tablespoons of water, a couple of drops of washing up liquid and a teaspoon of cider vinegar. Place the container on the warm part of the stove near the pilot light. The heat from the pilot light helps to spread the smell of the vinegar thus attracting the Fruit Flies and encourage them into the container. Once in the container, the washing up liquid soapsuds take over and kill the of the Fruit Flies.

Whilst they are pesky little creatures, you will soon learn how to get rid of fruit flies using these simple, non-expensive methods.

Tips To Fight Off Fruit Flies

Once you discover their presence in your home and you don’t learn quickly how to get rid of Fruit Flies, you could be in for a nasty experience, since these little insects can breed at a phenomenal rate.
Whilst they may only have a lifespan of some 10 days, they can lay up to 500 eggs at a time, which in turn will develop into full-scale flies within 48 hours. Not only will you have to get rid of the Fruit Flies but for health reasons, you will also have to dispose of the food that they have crawled all over and that can prove very expensive!

One of the quickest ways to get rid of Fruit Flies is when you have just finished an excellent home-cooked meal with a nice bottle of wine and there is a bit left in the bottle. Take the bottle, add a little tap water, a few drops of washing up liquid and a bit of the food remains (before you throw them in the garbage bin). Place your thumb over the top of the bottle and give it a good shake. The Fruit Flies will be attracted into the bottle by the smell of the wine and discarded food but on entering, will be killed off with the washing up liquid.

Efficient Trick With A Jar

Here is another little tip that has proved very effective in our efforts to get rid of fruit flies.Take an empty, glass Coffee jar or something similar and put a piece of mouldy fruit or a few tablespoons of cider vinegar in the bottom. Then add some tap water along with a few drops of washing up liquid and give the whole lot a good stir.

Next, cover the jar with cling film and secure it to the top of the jar with a rubber band, making sure the cling film wrap is tight. Then take a tooth pick or an ordinary kitchen fork and make a few holes in the cling film at the top of the jar. The Fruit Flies will be attracted to the jar by the smell of the mouldy fruit or cider vinegar and once inside the jar, they will be unable to get out through the same holes and will be killed off by the washing-up liquid.

Once you have collected a number of these Fruit Flies, empty the jar and repeat the whole process. If you’re able to put out several jars in areas where the Fruit Flies gather, you will be able to get rid of them more quickly than with only one jar.

Never forget, the easiest solution in how to get rid of Fruit Flies is to clean away rotting fruit and general food leftovers, quickly and efficiently so that the Fruit Flies never come in the first place.

Fight The Fruit Flies In Natural Ways

Since Fruit Flies can lay up to 500 eggs at a time which will incubate within 48 hours, you can quickly move from having a few to a full infestation in the blink of an eye! So here are a few of the quickest ways how to get rid of Fruit Flies.

What You Should Do To Prevent Fruit Fly Invasion

They often say that “prevention is better than cure” and this can be so true insofar as an invasion of Fruit Flies is concerned. Fruit Flies feed on food leftovers and indeed any kind of rotten food, in particular rotten fruit, that has turned a dirty. Therefore, as a main preventative step, when you have finished eating your meal, always scrape the remaining leftovers into a sealed garbage can and immediately wash the dirty dishes in hot water and washing-up liquid.

If you have already taken these preventative measures and the Fruit Flies still persist in invading your home, then you need to set a trap to exterminate the Fruit Flies, once and for all.

Natural Poisons For The Fruit Flies

One of the most effective ways to get rid of fruit flies once and for all, is to take a small bowl and put it on the kitchen sink draining board. Inside the bowl, place a little yeast, some sugar and mix these together with tap water containing a few drops of washing-up liquid.

What happens is that the water, yeast and sugar combined together and ferment, giving off carbon dioxide. This attracts the Fruit Flies to the liquid and since it contains the washing-up liquid, will kill off the Fruit Flies, thus exterminating them.

Now not every household may have yeast available for its armoury but do not despair! In place of the yeast, you can use either cider vinegar or a fruity concentrated cordial, both of which will get the Fruit Flies excited and wanting to investigate further. As long as the liquid contains washing-up drops, the Fruit Flies will perish when they start to consume it.

Wash The Fruit Flies Away

If none of these items are available in your household, then as a last resort, take a washing-up bowl, put in some washing-up liquid, add warm water and stir up to produce a bowl full of soap suds. Whilst not as effective as the previous methods, the Fruit Flies will still be enticed into the bowl and killed off when they come into contact with the washing-up liquid.

As was stated at the beginning of this report, the simplest way how to get rid of Fruit Flies is to keep your kitchen and drainage areas spotlessly clean, disposing of old fruit and leftovers quickly, so that you do not attract the Fruit.