How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies

Pour about a half inch of apple cider vinegar into a wide cup, small bowl, or clear food container. The wider the rim, the bigger the landing zone for the flies.

The vinegar smells like rotting fruit, which is the exact thing that drew them into your house. Cheap store-brand vinegar works fine. Save the good stuff for salad dressing.

Add two or three drops of liquid dish soap to the vinegar and swirl gently. The soap breaks the surface tension so the flies sink and drown instead of skating off the top.

Stretch a piece of plastic cling wrap tight across the rim of the cup. A rubber band around the lip locks it in place, but a tight pull usually holds on its own.

Use a pen or pencil to poke five or six holes across the top of the plastic wrap. Make them slightly larger than you think you need.

Fruit flies are not bright. Bigger holes mean they crawl in fast, and once they drop down to the vinegar they cannot find their way back out. The soap finishes the job in a few hours.

Put one trap on the kitchen counter, one near the sink, one in the living room, and one in the bathroom. Tuck them into low-traffic corners.

Every time someone walks past a trap, the flies scatter and lose minutes finding their way back. A still trap catches more than a busy one. Run them for two or three days without disturbing them.

A wide casserole dish covered in plastic wrap works the same way as a cup, with even more landing surface.

For an aggressive bonus method, pour a splash of cheap wine or vinegar into a tall thin glass and sit in a dim room. Fruit flies dive deep into the glass chasing the smell.

When you see a few inside, clap your hand flat across the rim, walk outside, and shake them out. Repeat every few minutes. In a heavy infestation you can pull fifty or sixty flies out at a time.

After a night or two, look at the bottom of each trap. A working one will have a layer of dead flies in the vinegar. Empty into the trash, rinse the cup, and refill with fresh vinegar and dish soap.

While the traps run, kill the breeding ground. Toss any over-ripe fruit, take the trash out every night, and pour a cup of plain vinegar down the kitchen sink to flush the P-trap where flies breed in the drain slime. Most infestations clear within three to five days once the source is gone.