How To Get Rid Of Fruit Flies: 7 Tested Methods

Got little bugs buzzing around your kitchen? Congratulations, you may have fruit flies! Don’t fret. These annoying pests are pretty common but luckily, it doesn’t take a lot of money, supplies, or effort to get rid of them. In fact, you can probably find everything you need in your cabinets! We recently had a fruit fly problem in our home (the first time in over four years here – we have no idea what brought them in). So I seized the opportunity to test 7 different methods of eliminating them. Yes, there were copious notes taken and even a spreadsheet. So today I’m sharing the best fruit fly traps and how to make them.

Each homemade trap is easy to make and uses natural ingredients that we already had around the house. So let’s just call this extremely D.I.Y friendly and chemical free. You can also set the fruit flies free outside if you’d rather not let them perish. Humaine fruit fly trap options is the name of the game here. We’ll also share some tips for preventing a fruit fly infestation in the first place.

What Are Fruit Flies?

Fruit flies are small flying pests that are attracted to sweet fruits and some vegetables (just like their name suggests). They’re also drawn to sugary or fermented beverages like beer, wine, or juice. You may spot them swarming around fruit bowls, garbage cans, and even kitchen drains. They’re about the size of a grain of rice and look like small, tan, or brownish houseflies with red eyes. They tend to show up in the summer or late fall when many fruits are in season.

Your fruit fly problem may begin when a few bugs hitch a ride home on a piece of fruit. But females can lay hundreds of eggs in their short lives, hatching within as little as 12 hours. They can reach adulthood in just a few days, meaning a few pests can quickly turn into a swarm. That’s why it’s important to get rid of fruit flies as quickly as possible.

Fruit Flies Vs. Fungus Gnats Vs. Drain Flies

Fruit flies are easy to confuse with other common household pets, especially fungus gnats and drain flies. All are small flying insects but correctly identifying them will ensure you pick the right way to get rid of them. We’ve found the easiest way to distinguish them is by where you spot them and what larger insect they resemble.

• Fruit flies look like small flies. They’re found near fruit bowls, trash, or other smelly food sources.
• Drain flies look like small fuzzy moths. They’re typically found near sinks and drains.
• Fungus gnats look like small mosquitos. They’re typically found near houseplants, since they breed in damp soil.

If you’re unsure, you can try one of the traps below and if it attracts the pests in your home, you’ve got fruit flies!

4 DIY Fruit Fly Traps

Getting rid of fruit flies isn’t complicated or expensive. All you need are some household supplies and a little bit of patience. Each trap follows the same basic formula: attract the fruit fly + keep it from escaping. We tried the following 4 DIY methods and definitely had a clear winner in the end. But since each method involves items you probably already own, it doesn’t hurt to try more than one. It’s fun to be a fruit fry scientist – trust me on this. Here are the first 4 methods I tested out:

1. Funnel Trap
2. Plastic Wrap Trap
3. Dish Soap Trap
4. Rotting Fruit Trap

I’ll share more details about each method below, along with our verdict at the bottom. Just be prepared that some traps work faster than others, and all techniques may take several days to fully eradicate your issue.

#1: Funnel Fruit Fly Trap

This trap attracts fruit flies into a container through a small hole in the bottom of a homemade paper funnel. The flies find their way in but have difficulty getting back out through the small hole.

1. Choose your container. Find a small (preferably clear) container like an old food jar or plastic soda bottle. For this method, it’s easier if it has a small or narrow opening.
2. Add apple cider vinegar. Pour a little bit of apple cider vinegar, old beer, or wine into the bottom of the container. The smell will attract the fruit flies.
3. Make your funnel. Wrap a small piece of paper or cardstock into a cone shape with a very small opening at the tip. Secure the shape with tape. You can also cut this opening at the end if that’s easier. It only needs to be about the size of a grain of rice.
4. Set your funnel. Place your paper cone into the opening of your container. You may need to reshape your funnel so it’s wide enough to rest on top of the opening of your container without touching the ACV. Make sure it rests firmly against all edges of the opening, so flies can’t escape through any gaps.
5. Optional outdoor ending. Bring the entire contraption outside carefully without moving the funnel (or they’ll all escape before you make it out the door) and then remove the funnel and let them fly away.

You can also try this method with a storebought funnel, however you may find that the opening at the bottom of storebought funnels is too large and lets too many fruit flies out of your trap.

#2: Plastic Wrap Fruit Fly Trap

This trap works by attracting fruit flies with the smell of apple cider vinegar. They enter the trap through small holes in the plastic-wrapped top, but then have trouble finding their way back out, just like the trap above.

Supplies needed:

• Small clear jar, cup, or container
• Rubber band
• Plastic wrap or plastic bag
• Toothpick
• Apple cider vinegar (ACV)

The steps to creating this plastic wrap trap are very similar to the funnel trap described above. Here are the steps:

1. Choose your container. Find a small clear, jar, cup, or other glass container. Just about anything works and it doesn’t need to be large. Using something clear makes it easier to see the flies your trapping, but an old soda or beer can works too.
2. Add apple cider vinegar. Pour apple cider vinegar into your container. The scent will attract the flies. Old beer or wine also works too, but not regular white vinegar.
3. Cover with plastic. Wrap the opening tightly with plastic wrap and secure it with a rubber band. Saran wrap works, but you can also cut scraps from a plastic bag.
4. Poke small holes. Use a toothpick to poke a few small holes in the top of the plastic. You don’t need a lot, but make sure they are big enough for a fly to fit through.
5. Optional outdoor ending. Bring the entire contraption outside carefully without removing the plastic wrap cover (or they’ll all escape before you make it out the door) and then remove that and let them fly away.

This technique can also be done by poking a hole in the lid of a metal jar lid. You can use a mason jar or old food jar for this. Use a hammer and nail to puncture the top.

#3: Dish Soap Fruit Fly Trap

Unlike the previous two methods, this fruit fly trap doesn’t require making any covers. Instead, it relies on a soapy surface to keep these pets from flying away. Note: this one doesn’t allow you to set them free outside, as they get coated in the soap.

Supplies needed:

• Small container, bowl, or dish
• Dish soap
• Apple cider vinegar (ACV)

The steps for making this trap are crazy simple.

• Put out some apple cider vinegar. Like the other traps, fill the bottom of a small container, bowl, or dish with apple cider vinegar. This scent will attract the fruit flies.
• Add dish soap & mix. Squirt several drops of dish soap into the ACV and mix to create a soapy solution. Flies will land on the mixture but then find it difficult to fly away.

This technique can also be combined with the plastic wrap and funnel method. Just add some dish soap to the apple cider vinegar before you cover the top. This introduces another way the flies can get stuck in your contraption.

#4: Rotting Fruit Trap

We also tested out some of these traps where we swapping out apple cider vinegar for what fruit flies love most: actual fruit!

Supplies needed:

• Small glass jar, cup, or container
• Plastic wrap or paper funnel, depending on your chosen trap mechanism
• A small fruit scrap like a banana peel or apple slice

To create a rotting fruit trap, just substitute apple cider vinegar for a piece of banana peel, apple slice, or peach in either the Plastic Wrap or Funnel trap. You can also add this fruit scrap to your ACV as well. Just be prepared to swap out your fruit scrap every day or two so you don’t introduce unwanted smells to your kitchen.

The Best Fruit Fly Trap

As you can see in these photos, we set out 4 different DIY traps to see which performed the best. The four homemade traps we tested were a combination of techniques. They were:

1. Plastic Wrap Trap with banana peel
2. Funnel Trap with ACV + banana peel
3. Plastic Wrap Trap with ACV + soap
4. Dish Soap Trap with ACV

For us, the clear winner was less about what type of trap we used and more about the lure. Anything with banana peel performed MUCH better than apple cider vinegar. Our two Plastic Wrap Traps were nearly identical, but the one with the banana peel dramatically outperformed the one with the ACV + soap. Maybe ACV is less enticing when there’s real fruit nearby?

So our suggestion would be – no matter what trap you set up – add a fruit scrap to it! We had a slight preference for the plastic wrap trap because it was easier to make and less prone to disruption. I accidentally knocked over our funnel once and released half of the flies back into the kitchen. Oops!

What Attracts Fruit Flies Best?

Here’s where I jumped at the chance to continue this weird little experiment. Since we had such good luck using fruit scraps, we wanted to test which kind of fruit was the best bait. We used three fruits we already had on hand: a banana peel, apple slices, and a strawberry. We put each in a Plastic Wrap Trap side-by-side on our countertop for 24 hours.

Although the banana peel started off strong (it was the most rotten at the beginning), the fruit flies ended up being the most attracted to the strawberry. The banana peel still snagged several flies, but the longer the strawberry rotted, the more flies it caught. The apple slices didn’t catch a single one!

Storebought Fruit Fly Traps

If you’re not having any luck with these DIY solutions or don’t have the time or materials to make them, there are premade traps you can buy instead. All have thousands of positive reviews and cost less than $20. They might be worth considering if you want something that catches other types of flying insects, or if you want something more discreet than than a DIY trap.

• Zevo Flying Insect Trap ($19): This trap plugs into an outlet and uses UV light to capture fruit flies, fungus gnats, houseflies, and more.
• Landisun Sticky Traps ($12): These small sticky traps can be staked close to the source of the problem, whether they’re fruit flies on your countertop, mosquitos outside, or fungus gnats near your plants.
• Terro Fruit Fly Traps ($15): Apple-shaped traps that lure fruit flies in with liquid bait and prevent them from escaping. This works only for fruit flies.
• Aunt Fannie’s FlyPunch ($8): This plant-based liquid bait trap looks like a stylish spice jar filled with a pungent punch that fruit flies are drawn to.
• Sur La Table Fly Trap ($15): This stylish trap disguises its less-than-pretty function, but doesn’t come with any lure (you need to add your own ACV or fruit).

During our little experiment, I picked up a pack of Terro Traps to see if they performed better than my homemade methods. I left one out for 24 hours next to our banana & strawberry traps to see which of the three performed best.

Once again, our homemade strawberry trap did best, followed closely by the homemade banana peel trap. The storebought trap caught only one. HOWEVER…

Just to be sure, we discarded both of our DIY traps and left the storebought trap out for another 24 hours. That’s when it caught the collection you see above. So it definitely worked, just not as well or as fast as our homemade traps did. Our verdict? Use storebought traps if you want something more discreet looking, especially if you plan to leave it out indefinitely… but there is nothing bad about the homemade ones, in fact we found them to be the best way to get the fruit flies right away!

How To Prevent Fruit Flies

Getting rid of fruit flies is pretty simple, but the best-case scenario is to stop them from invading in the first place. Here are some simple ways you can prevent fruit flies from taking up residence in your home.

1. Clean kitchen surfaces. Wipe down kitchen counters, stovetops, tables, and any other surfaces that may collect food residue or spilled liquids. Fruit flies are especially attracted to fruit, sweet juices, and alcohol so don’t let those sit!
2. Take out your trash. Leaving food scraps in your garbage overnight can quickly turn your trash can into a fruit fly breeding ground.
3. Dispose of overripe fruit. Monitor your fruit bowl for browning or rotting apples, bananas, etc so you can get rid of them before they become a problem.
4. Wash your fruit as soon as you get it home. You can eliminate eggs or larvae that might come home from the store by washing produce right away (except for berries, which could rot faster from the moisture).
5. Store produce in the fridge when possible. Fruit flies won’t flourish in the cold, so when in doubt, try storing your fruit and vegetables in the refrigerator.
6. Clean your sink drain. Food scraps left in your drain can also attract fruit flies, so make sure you run your garbage disposal and/or flush the drain regularly.

Lastly, don’t panic when you spot fruit flies in your home. Yes, you want to take action quickly to prevent the problem from getting worse. But the solutions in this post are easy, effective, and fast-acting. You might even have some fun becoming a fruit fly scientist like I did.

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