What is the best way to get rid of fruit flies/knats ?

Tonia
by Tonia
I have either fruit flies or knats in my apartment. I don't have fruit out on the counter and my house plants aren't wet or moldy? I've tried the dawn/vinegar and water solution but it doesn't seem to help and I will not use fly strips. Help!!!

  11 answers
  • Darlene Duncan Darlene Duncan on Jul 20, 2017

    If they are fruit flies, easy solution.... Take a clean jar, or tall glass and put a piece of fruit (banana works well), in the jar and then tape a piece of paper rolled into a cone shape in the opening of the jar with the pointy end of the cone inside the jar. Be sure to leave a small hole opening in the pointy end in the cone.. The fruit flies will go in for the banana and not be able to get out.. You'll know quickly if they are fruit flies or not..

  • Cynthia H Cynthia H on Jul 20, 2017

    I didn't use Dawn when I used apple cider vinegar, but, a squirt of Palmolive, and a tiny bit of water in a small open bowl near where I saw them. Wipes them out every time.

  • Phillyb Phillyb on Jul 20, 2017

    you can buy these little plastic apples. They come with bait. I have several around the house because the home made traps didn't work for me. Home Depot or Lowes.

  • Lynn Murphy-Picker Lynn Murphy-Picker on Jul 20, 2017

    Use apple cider vinegar and a squirt of dawn. Stir to mix. DO NOT ADD WATER. My mom had this issue when she moved into an apartment. The gnats/fruit flies were actually attracted to her sink drain..garbage disposal. She tried many different combos of suggestions, this was the only one that actually worked. Change the mixture every couple days.


  • Joyce Joyce on Jul 20, 2017

    Have you checked any potatoes and/or onions you may have forgotten? We just yesterday tossed 2 bags of Clementines. This was my first experience getting fruit flies from any fruit other than bananas.

    • Tonia Tonia on Jul 20, 2017

      Yeah I don't have any oof that laying around actually it'stime to do some shopping.

  • Peg Peg on Jul 20, 2017

    Until you can locate the source there is little that can do to get rid of them for good.. Otherwise it will be an ongoing chore to keep chasing them with mixtures.

  • C. D. Scallan C. D. Scallan on Jul 20, 2017

    APPLE CIDER VINEGAR and Dawn , not regular vinegar and put plastic wrap over the bowl or jar, poking holes in the plastic wrap with a toothpick . Make several and place near every drain in the house as they breed in the drains . That's the only way I got rid of them . Also , I recently read that if you have house plants , that may be how they came in so spray the soil with baking soda and water . Not sure how that's supposed to help but I did it anyway . Good luck !

  • Phillyb Phillyb on Jul 21, 2017

    Around $7.00, you get two in a package works great

  • Chloe Crabtree Chloe Crabtree on Apr 17, 2023

    Fill a microwave-safe bowl with apple cider vinegar and a few drops of dish soap. Microwave the bowl so the mixture becomes even more aromatic. Leave the bowl out uncovered as fruit fly bait. The soap will reduce the surface tension, causing any fruit fly that lands on the surface to drown. Now, it sounds like you might have drain flies...if that is what you have try this: Boil some water on the stove and pour down your drain several times a day for about a week or Mix 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup baking soda and 1 cup of vinegar and then pour the mixture down the drain, leaving it overnight. In the morning, pour boiling hot water down the drain.

    If a drain fly infestation lasts longer than 20 days despite different approaches to get rid of them, then it’s time to call a professional exterminator.