How to Trap and Get Rid of Fruit Flies

Fruit flies can be a huge annoyance at certain times of the year. What can you do to kill fruit flies? We've all been there wondering how to get rid of fruit flies.  Fruit flies in the kitchen.  Fruit flies in the bathroom.  Fruit flies buzzing around everywhere in your home.  

It's a frustrating problem that happens to everyone at one time or another.  If you are a fresh fruit and produce lover you certainly know what I mean.

How to Kill Fruit Flies with Two Ingredients

Those pesky little buggers can often be brought into your home on the vegetables and fruit you buy. You don't have to tolerate the annoyance.  This homemade fruit fly trap is one I have been using for many years and it works every time. 

What Attracts Fruit Flies?

While you can have fruit flies in your home any time of year you may notice them most often in late summer or fall when you have an abundance of fresh fruit from local farmstands or your own garden.

According to the University of Kentucky's entomology department, those pesty bugs are attracted to the bounty of fruits and vegetables you may have on your kitchen counters.

They may also be attracted to your trash bin or drains if you have deposited parts of your fruits and vegetables there.

How to Control Your Fruit Fly Problem?

Prevention is, of course, the best cure. You'll want to quickly dispose of parts of fruits and vegetables that are bruised or beginning to look damaged. Store fruits and vegetables as appropriate in the refrigerator or sealed containers.

To avoid a fruit fly problem or to keep fruit flies from returning you'll want to be sure any fruits and vegetables you keep on your counter are bug-free to start.  Wash your produce when you bring it into your home.

Occasionally, the fruit flies may get the better of you and you want to know how to kill fruit flies. You'll love having this simple, non-toxic method in your bag of tricks.

Sure, there are many commercial solutions offered for fruit fly traps to help you solve your problem. A quick Amazon search found fruit fly traps like this and this apple-shaped trap. 

You can choose to spend your money on one of these solutions or choose to save your hard-earned cash on this simple home solution made with ingredients you most likely have on hand.

Here's Why This Homemade Solution is the best. 

• Simple Ingredients. You have the ingredients in your kitchen now.  You need apple cider vinegar and a mild dish liquid.
• It's non-toxic. It's a healthy, family-friendly solution.
• It works quickly because fruit flies are attracted to apple cider vinegar.  Then the soap in the solution traps the flies.

A Two-Ingredient, No Pesticide Fruit Fly Trap

1.  Put one-half cup of apple cider vinegar and a light squirt of mild, low-fragrance dish liquid (Dawn doesn't seem to work as well as Ajax brand) into a small glass or plastic container. Do NOT stir. You DO NOT need a lot of dish soap. Just a couple of drops is enough. 

2.  Place the container wherever you see the most fruit flies.  Walk away.  That's it.

The Fruit Fly Trap Results Speak for Themselves

One-Hour Results: Here's what my fruit fly trap looked like at my house after an hour.

Fruit Fly Trap After One Hour

The 12-Hour Results:

But wait!  It gets better.  

The next morning my fruit fly trap had accumulated nearly all of the fruit flies. The reason this works so well is that the apple cider attracts the fruit flies and the squirt of dish soap traps them so they can't fly away.

It's best not to use a highly-scented dish detergent.  You want the fruit flies to seek out the apple cider. You don't want the scent of your soap to interfere with that.

Fruit Fly Trap After Twelve Hours

Remember to refresh your trap each day until your fruit fly problem is completely resolved.

You may need to repeat the process because fruit flies have a life cycle that may be several weeks long. The females lay as many as one hundred eggs a day and up to two thousand eggs in their lifetime.

What to Do if this Fruit Fly Trap Doesn't Work?

Assess your process.

1. Use less dish soap. Just a drop or two.

2. Use less fragrant dish soap. The flies need to smell the cider vinegar.

3. Make sure you are using apple cider vinegar.

4. Are you sure you have fruit flies?  There are little flies that resemble fruit flies called fungus gnats.  They reproduce in the soil around your house plants and are not attracted to this fruit fly trap solution.

This simple, effective fruit fly-killing method has been my go-to solution for many years.  

I mix up my vinegar and dish liquid concoction at the first sight of a fruit fly.  It eliminates my fruit fly problem so quickly I wouldn't think of trying anything else.

If this doesn't work for you or you don't want to do it yourself you can order some traps.


I also have a no-pesticide method to control ants in your home.  You can read about killing ants here.

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