How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies in Your Home

Fruit flies aren’t actually dangerous in most situations, but watching them fly around your kitchen can be very bothersome. They have a tendency to fly into food and drinks, which is never a good thing. Luckily, fruit flies aren’t too difficult to eliminate. If you’re trying to get rid of fruit flies in your home, we suggest that you try these simple techniques:

Find and Eliminate the Source

The first thing you’ll want to do is find out where the fruit flies are coming from. As their name suggests, the most obvious source is going to be some rotting fruit somewhere. Their sense of smell is quite good, which means that the rotting produce might be in your trash can, garbage disposal, or a not-so-well-sealed container in your fridge.

Clean Your Kitchen Thoroughly

Whether or not you’re able to locate the source of the fruit flies, you need to thoroughly clean your kitchen. This means it’s time to clean every single surface. This includes your counters, floors, and tabletops. If you find any spills or food crumbs, there’s a good chance that this is why you have fruit flies.

Cover Trash and Take It Out

Like other insects, fruit flies are attracted to the odors in your trash. If you keep your trash can lid closed, this will block some of the smell, but it’s not always highly effective. What you need to do is make sure that you’re taking out your trash on a regular basis so that the fruit flies can’t detect the scent.

Seal Food in Plastic Containers

Even though they’re called fruit flies, a variety of fruits, vegetables, and other foods and beverages will attract these annoying critters. You need to make a real effort in sealing all of your food in plastic containers. Not only will this protect your home from food flies, but this method will also keep many other pests from entering your property.

Pick Up Some Fruit Fly Traps

Like other insects, there are certain types of traps that have been created just to get rid of fruit flies. The truth is that these fruit fly traps are actually very effective. They attract the flies into a man-made device, which eliminates them very soon after they enter. You can set a few of these devices around your home and eliminate these pests very quickly.

Keep Your Drains Clean

Fruit flies are very often mistaken for drain flies because both of them are attracted to strong odors. Since fruit flies are attracted to many different types of foods that make their way to your drain including a large number of fruits and vegetables. It’s important to keep them away by cleaning your sink and drains on a regular basis. Using baking soda and white vinegar will help with this.

Create a Vinegar Fly Trap

Fruit flies are attracted to the smell of vinegar, which you can use to your advantage. The most effective method is to fill a spray bottle with apple cider vinegar and add a few drops of dish soap. The scent of the apple cider vinegar will attract the fruit flies. They’ll fly inside this DIY trap and then get captured by the dish soap once they come into contact with the mixture.

Set Up a Fan in the Kitchen

As a homeowner, you’re probably always looking for ways to save energy, but you might not have considered putting a fan in your kitchen. The installation of a fan, or maybe three or four, won’t take very long but will have a big effect on your energy efficiency and on the number of insects that get into your home. Fruit flies are weak flyers, which means that fans will easily keep them away.

Insecticide as a Last Resort

Although many homeowners continue to reach for insecticide as soon as they have a pest problem. This isn’t the best choice. Traditional insecticides can be harmful to the environment, which is why many people turn to organic methods these days. That being said, if you’ve tried other methods and nothing seems to be working, then turning to chemicals may be beneficial.

Contact ProHealth Pest Control to Get Rid of Fruit Flies in Your Home

ProHealth Pest Control can eliminate any type of pest that’s invaded your home. If you have any questions about residential or commercial pest control, or would like more tips to get rid of fruit flies in your home, reach out to us at (727) 472-9420 today.