Those little fruit flies or gnats that you get in the summer or that like to hover around over ripe fruit are just plain annoying. We have all had them so you know what I am talking about.

I am happy to share some ways you can safely get rid of fruit flies and gnats.

First, it might be helpful to understand the type of flying annoyance you have. Below is a general guide to help you decipher the type of bug you have.

  • Drain flies: Drain Flies breed in drains, sewers, septic tanks and soil that has been contaminated with sewage.
  • Fruit flies: Fruit Flies can be spotted around fresh fruits/vegetables, rotting fruits and vegetables, drains, garbage and damp organic materials.
  • Phorid Flies: Phorid Flies are found in sewage contaminated soil, garbage, drains, human cadavers, rotting vegetables and fruit, garbage as well as damp organic materials.
  • Sphaerocerid Flies: These flies may be found in manure, damp organic material, drains, rotting fruits and vegetables and garbage.

One of the reasons these become such a problem so quickly is that they reproduce prolifically, usually with a 7-10 day life cycle. So you want to get a handle on this quickly before they reproduce.

For the purposes of this article, however, I will lump them all together as Satan’s tiny flying minions which will all succumb to the following:

Get Rid of the Stink

Whatever is causing the flying insect invasion is probably food that has been left out. The food starts giving off whiffs of smells to those annoying little insects. They have super-sonic smelling, so they’ll always know it’s happening long before you ever do.

Correctly store fruits and vegetables. Refrigerate what you can, make sure none is overripe in the bin you have for storage, don’t let bananas get too overly ripe on your counter and go unattended. Consider storing your fruit in paper bags to ripen, then use quickly or preserve.

Clean out your trashcan regularly. Not only do the flies like ripening fruit, they like the gunk that is wet in the bottom of a trashcan from a spill.

Clean out your sink regularly. Run some baking soda and vinegar every few days. Run hot water through, chomp up a lemon in your disposal, run some ice cubes through your disposal to sharpen the blades (so that they do a better job of cutting up the foods you put down it). Some say that the little fly creatures you get that hang in your drain are a whole different insect than a fruit fly, but this trick works no matter what tiny winged creature is wreaking havoc with your kitchen.

Check your food storage often for spills and produce which may have escaped and is trying to play hide and seek.

Clean your counter tops and floors. This seems a no brainer, really, but little spill that collect on the floor and on your counter tops can also be attracting the creatures even when you think you’ve gotten the fruit put away and the sink cleaned up.

Clean your fruit/vegetables. Many times, you bring those little gnats in from the store. If it is produce you want to wash immediately, have a sink full of vinegar wash like Jennifer @ Self-Reliant School teaches, and wash those vegetables and fruit. Consider it a routine to pull out your fruit and veg first, put the in the sink, then put the rest of your groceries away.

Cover your produce. You might find that covering your counter top produce might be necessary. Putting it in a large bowl with a tight fitting lid on top might be good. However, this may force fruit to ripen quickly and make a mess if you aren’t quick on rotating through it.

How to Kill fruit flies or gnats

  1. Fill a small glass or bowl with about 1″ of Apple Cider Vinegar  (if you don’t have any ACV, use regular household vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar)
  2. Squirt a little dish soap
  3. Cover with some plastic wrap and secure with an elastic band. (not only does this trap the pests, it helps prevent evaporation)
  4. Poke some holes in the plastic, and set out on a kitchen counter near where the pesky beasts are.
  5. The idea behind this is the ACV attracts the insects, and they go in for treasure. The soap helps bind them to the surface of the water. But even if they only planned on visiting, getting back out is almost impossible.
  6. Once your population has exhausted itself, wash out the cups/bowls well and sterilize.

You can also use things like fly paper, but we’ve found that the above recipe works really well. And remember, there are dozens of recipes all over the internet on how to trap these creatures, but we’ve found this one works extremely well.

Just remember, it’s important to manage cleanliness and the produce in your kitchen at the same time.

BIG TIP! If you are infested by these little flying minions, make sure to put a bowl/glass in your bathroom. They’ll also congregate there.

One of our readers, Mark, added another option that you can try. He said it worked for him, but use caution with this around the kids and pets.

“Completely by accident I found another excellent way to catch and kill those pests. I left a small dish with some gel type Limeaway sitting out when I left for work in the morning. When I arrived home that evening the dish had several expired critters in it. I live alone so there was no danger of kids getting into the cleaner. I use it regularly to make sure I have no more unwanted guests. Every now and then one or two will show up in the dish, but I never see them around even if I leave something out to test for their presence.”

Another reader named DC left this comment.

“I’ve found wine to be a wonderful attractant.. As for the container, I cut the top off a plastic water bottle and invert it into the bottom.portion (fish-trap style).. The fly’s get in, but can’t get out.”

Ariel also added a great suggestion if you have soda in the house.

“We use pepsi and dish soap, which seems to work a lot better than vinegar (although you have to give it a day or two to get extra syrupy).”

YOUR THOUGHTS: There are a ton of ways to do this – please tell us how you fight these insects in the comments below.

If you found this information helpful and/or want to tuck it away for safe keeping when you need it, feel free to PIN IT!