Do you recognize that: you have bought delicious strawberries to enjoy, you put the fruit bowl in the fruit basket to eat the next morning with your breakfast, you come downstairs the next morning, there are these horrible fruit flies on top. I find this extremely irritating, because before you know it they are not only on the strawberries, but they fly through your whole house! Besides, it is not fresh. Do you agree? I have found 8 simple ways to get rid of these horrible critters.
Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar
Fruit flies can’t resist vinegar! Remove the cap from the bottle, cover the opening with plastic and secure it with a rubber band. The bottle doesn’t have to be completely full, by the way; a little bit of apple cider vinegar will go a long way. Poke a hole in the opening so the fruit flies can crawl through it and once inside the bottle, they can’t get out. It’s not the prettiest solution, but it’s very effective.
Vinegar and Dish Soap
If the first solution doesn’t quite work, try the following: add 3 drops of dish soap and the fruit flies are guaranteed not to survive. Dishwashing liquid actually causes the surface tension of the vinegar to disappear and drown the flies.
Paper and a Piece of Fruit
Put a little vinegar and an overripe fruit in a jar, roll the a4 up into a cone and put the cone, the narrowest part down, into the jar. The fruit flies will be lured in and unable to fly away.
Red wine
Like vinegar, fruit flies can’t resist the smell of red wine. So leave your bottle of wine open, with a little wine left in it, and you’ll be rid of your fruit fly problem. Wondering what else works?
Milk, Sugar and Pepper
Mix a glass of milk with 4 ounces of caster sugar and 2 ounces of pepper in a saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes and pour onto a shallow plate. The fruit flies will be attracted to the smell and will drown.
Fruit Fly Strips
Just like the fly adhesive strips, there are also fruit fly adhesive strips. Hang these odorless strips where you are most bothered by the critters. Bonus: mosquitoes are also attracted to these.
Plastic Bottle
This tip is handy for the outdoors! Cut the top part of the plastic bottle loose, pour a little vinegar or wine into the bottom part of the bottle, hang the top part upside down in the bottle et voila. The fruit flies can’t get out anymore. This is also a good tip for wasps and mosquitoes only you use lemonade!
Basil
Fruit flies hate the smell of basil, so stay far away from it. If you do not already have this herb in your garden or kitchen: run to the store or garden center and shave it. Bonus, basil is really a great seasoning for in Italian cooking.