Banish fruit flies with ‘powerful’ homemade repellent they can’t stand

Keep fruit flies at bay with this handy cleaning hack.

The warm weather is a welcome sight for many reasons, but it unfortunately brings with it a season of swatting away flies, running from wasps, and slapping mosquitoes before they can bite us.

One of the most annoying insects that comes out to play around this time of year is fruit flies. These tiny flies often come into your home on fruit that you pick up at the supermarket or greengrocers, but they don’t always stay in your fruit bowl.

In fact, despite their name, fruit flies actually love to live and breed in any warm and damp space, including your drains, bins, and even a mop and bucket that hasn’t been left to dry properly.

While fruit flies don’t bite, they can be a health hazard because they can carry bacteria and transfer it to whatever they land on, which you could then end up ingesting. Not to mention, they also look unsightly and can quickly turn into an infestation.

But worry not – there’s an easy way to get rid of fruit flies and keep them away.

In a post on Reddit, one person said they were having issues with fruit flies that were breeding in their drains. They said they had tried putting bicarbonate of soda down the drain but hadn’t had any luck and were running out of ideas.

They shared: “I’ve actually never seen them on fruit, they usually hang around the sink in the morning and disperse later in the day. They don’t fall for any of the fruit fly traps I found online, I have no idea what they’re feeding off or where they’re coming from, but I have a feeling they breed in the sink water or the drain.

“I started closing the drain before going to sleep and putting in some sodium bicarbonate, but it didn’t seem to do anything. It’s been a year already, and I’m starting to notice yellow stains on my ceiling where they migrate during the day.”

According to Pest UK, one of the most effective ways to tackle fruit flies is to make your own DIY trap. This trap will attract the flies away from your food and kill them.

You can do this by mixing a splash of wine or apple cider vinegar with some washing up liquid in a plastic bottle or an empty glass jar. If using a jar, place a paper cone on top of the jar, while plastic bottle users should cut the bottle in half, put the mixture in the bottom half, and then turn the top half upside down so the opening points into the bottle.

Flies will be attracted to the sweetness of the wine or apple cider vinegar, and the washing up liquid makes it hard for them to fly out. You can also do the same thing with some old fruit at the bottom of a plastic bottle.

How to get rid of fruit flies

If your DIY trap isn’t working, you can try other steps to banish the pesky flies.

The first step should always be to make sure your kitchen is clean and tidy. This involved cleaning up overripe fruit, wiping down surfaces where any food residue remains, and emptying your bins. At this stage you should also pour boiling water or a mixture of baking soda and vinegar down your drains to eliminate any breeding spots.

There are also some natural deterrents you can try. Fruit flies don’t like the smell of citrus or cloves, so sticking some cloves into halves of fresh lemon and placing them around your kitchen can deter them. They also dislike some essential oils, including lavender, peppermint, and lemongrass, so mixing a few drops into water and spraying it around your house can work.

To prevent fruit flies from coming back, wash your fruit and veg thoroughly when you bring it home to remove any eggs, and keep your kitchen as clean and dry as you can.