How to get rid of fruit flies at the source

Act fast and throw out the rotting produce and mess that fruit flies breed in. Then catch the adults in a jar baited with cider vinegar. Killing the flies you see does little on its own. The problem continues until you remove the breeding sites, no matter what you spray (University of Kentucky).

Find what's feeding them

Start with the usual suspects. Fruit flies crowd around rotting bananas, potatoes, onions, and other store produce you leave out. Garden harvests like tomatoes, melons, squash, and grapes often cause indoor infestations in late summer and fall (University of Kentucky).

They also breed in empty bottles and cans, trash containers, mops, and cleaning rags. Even a juice spill under the fridge can feed them. A single rotting potato or onion can breed thousands of flies (University of Kentucky).

Check your drains too

Fruit flies and their look-alikes breed in drains and garbage disposals. All they need to multiply is a moist film of fermenting material (University of Kentucky).

To test a drain, tape clear packing tape over the opening, sticky side down, and leave it overnight. Flies stuck to the tape in the morning mean that drain is breeding them (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension).

Skip the bleach, because it largely fails against the film flies breed in. Scrub the drain with a stiff brush and flush it with hot to boiling water instead, and plan on repeat treatments over several weeks. If your home runs on a septic system, pick a drain cleaner that works with it.

Make a vinegar trap

A simple trap is a paper funnel set in a jar baited with a few ounces of cider vinegar (University of Kentucky). A plastic bowl works too. Fill it with apple cider vinegar and add a few drops of soap (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension).

Fruit flies love vinegar, which is why people also call them vinegar flies. Wine, banana slices, orange slices, and apple cider all work as bait, and a pinch of yeast makes them more attractive. Swap in fresh bait every few days as it loses its pull.

Traps alone rarely give enough control, so treat them as a supplement to the cleanup work above.

Do you need a spray?

Probably not. You shouldn't need bug sprays once you've cleaned up or removed the breeding areas (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension). If adult flies linger, a pyrethrin aerosol spray can bring temporary relief, but it won't fix the source.

Keep them out next time

Store the produce you're not using in the fridge, and take the trash out often so nothing sits and rots. Fit windows and doors with tight-fitting 16 mesh screens so flies can't slip in (University of Kentucky).