Every fall, the moment the apples and pumpkins come into the kitchen, the flies follow. I do not like spraying anything near food, so I rely on two simple traps made from things already in the cupboard. They will not empty your house in seconds, nothing honest will, but they catch a surprising number of flies in a day or two, and combined with a quick cleanup of what attracts them, the problem fades within a week.
What you need
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) apple cider vinegar
- 2 to 3 drops liquid dish soap
- 1 small glass jar or bowl
- 1 sheet plastic wrap and a toothpick
- 1 empty plastic bottle (2 liter / about 2 quarts)
- 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar in 1 cup (240 ml) water sugar and warm water
How to do it
- For fruit flies: pour the apple cider vinegar into the jar and add 2 or 3 drops of dish soap. Do not stir hard; you just want the soap to break the surface tension so the flies sink instead of landing and flying off.
- Cover the jar tightly with plastic wrap and poke 4 or 5 small holes with a toothpick. Flies follow the fruity smell in through the holes and rarely find their way out. Place it right where you see them: next to the fruit bowl, the trash can or the sink.
- For larger house flies: cut the top third off the plastic bottle. Dissolve the sugar in the warm water, pour it into the bottom part and add a small piece of overripe fruit for extra pull.
- Turn the top part upside down and push it into the bottom like a funnel, without the cap. Tape the edges. Flies crawl down the funnel toward the sweet smell and cannot find the narrow exit. Set it near a door or window, out of reach of children and pets.
- Empty, rinse and refill the traps every 3 to 4 days, or sooner when they are full. Old liquid stops attracting and starts to smell.
- Remove what brought the flies in the first place: keep ripe fruit in the fridge, take out the trash daily, rinse recycling, and pour hot water down the sink drain, where fruit flies often breed.
Good to know
- Red wine or a splash of beer also work in the jar trap if you have no cider vinegar.
- White vinegar is much less attractive to fruit flies than apple cider vinegar.
- Fly screens on windows do more than any trap; check them for holes every fall.
- If flies keep appearing in large numbers, look for a hidden source: a forgotten potato, an onion at the back of a cupboard, or a pet food bowl.
No sprays, no fumes near your food, just a jar and a bottle doing quiet work on the counter. Set them up tonight and check them tomorrow morning; I think you will be surprised.
