How can I get rid of fruit flies?

Question

For about two weeks already, our house has been "invaded" by fruit flies. We don't even keep fruit outside the fridge and we live in a very clean home!

We have no idea what can be attracting them. We have been trying to catch them (and we have caught them) in traps that we have made with a glass with some wine and salad dressing and then covered with plastic wrap and with some holes in the wrap. The traps work, but the bugs keep coming back!

What could be the reason for this? How can we get rid of fruit flies for good?

Answer 1

I was told that if you took a bottle and filled it with a combination of vinegar and detergent, they would be extremely attracted to it eat the vinegar and the detergent would cause them to die. Put one or two near where they swarm. You may have to be patient...they don't have the shortest lifespan and they reproduce quite quickly i've found.

Try spraying them directly with bug spray or some sort of solution that will kill them instantly and use the bottles to get the few you missed.

Answer 2

The only way they go away is if you get rid of their food source.  Do you have old bananas or other fruit lying around?  Try putting the fruit in the fridge and you will see they will leave.  Bananas skin will turn dark in the fridge, but the inside is still the same.

Answer 3

some house plants support these little pests... and others repel them.

.. try mixing 2 teaspoons dish soap in 3 cup water and spraying your house plants top to bottom a couplee times a week.