Are there any home remedies to get rid of fruit flies?

Question

I haven't had any fruit in my house for ages, I just got them, I'm assuming they are coming from a drain. I've cleaned everything top to bottom and there are still a few around. I'm not a dirty person either!

Answer 1

Try not to leave water around, like in the sink.  And at night or whenever pour some bleach down the drain, so they won't lay eggs.  Main thing is to keep things dry

Answer 2

kill them

Answer 3

I once lived in a loft that had a drain infested with them (which took a long time to figure out).  Nonetheless, we did not want to use a lot of chemicals to get rid of them.  

First, find the source and eliminate it.  In our case, we first tried pouring lots of tea tree oil down the drain, and keeping the kitchen spotless.  When that had a minimal effect, we then resorted to a cup of bleach down the drain, once a day for a week.

Concurrently, use a deterrent: we use clove oil on a clothes, and then we switched to eucalyptus oil.  (which also works for house flies - AND smells more pleasant in warmer days)

If that fails, I have a friend who uses a fruit fly trap in his cafe (for a really bad problem)  It looks like a plastic sack with a narrow ring at top.  you can use orange oil or sweet cordial to attract them, and then they fly in to the sack (same principle as an orchid or 'fruit cavern')  They are then trapped in their and die.  The nasty part is cleaning out the sack.

Again, most importantly, is finding the suorce of infestation and eliminating it!  

good luck.

Answer 4

buy less fruit or own less spoiled fruit.

Answer 5

Hang a few zip-lock bags filled with water where sun catches it. The flies can't stand it.

Answer 6

You can try leaving a saucer out w/ either lemon Joy Dish soap in it or vinegar.  It works for gnats.

Answer 7

Clean your house and cover anything that would attract them. They should go away immediately.

Answer 8

keep a pet frog around

Answer 9

Keep fruit in the fridge. Don't let over ripe fruit sit out. I also keep rotting bananas (for bread) in a double layer ziploc bag.  

Answer 10

nope.

don't leave your fruit out? (duh)

Answer 11

Yes, there are. (Contrary to what others have said above, or stating rather obvious things such as "Don't keep fruit out")

There is a simple, cheap trap you can make that will catch them. Buy some apple cider vinegar. Get a glass or plastic cup, Put about 1 inch of apple cider vinegar in, some water and a drop or two of dish soap. Mix it up and cover it with some clear wrap and poke some holes in it. The flies will be attracted to the vinegar but won't be able to get back out of the cup. Also, if they land on the mixture, the dish soap will cause them to sink to the bottom.

If you think the flies are in your drain, ... Ammonia. I used Windex with Ammonia, I sprayed it down the drain before I went to bed. The drain can be where they are breeding, so eliminating their breeding spot will be very helpful.

You could always put some saran wrap over the drain and see if flies are buzzing around in there to ensure that it is indeed a breeding spot. Check around the fridge, and other appliances.

And since you said you're not a messy person, I assume you already take out your garbage and do the dishes. That's about all I can think of.

I'm just speaking off of what has worked for me through doing research around the web.