Asked on Apr 29, 2020

Bugs In Kitchen Sink

Lin R
by Lin R

I have had these little tiny bugs in my kitchen sink and a few on the counter off and on for about 4 days. I thought they were drain flies. I don't see them coming up from the drain and I can't see where they are coming from. They just appear in the afternoon while it is still light outside and at night. This sink is a farm sink with a disposal. We just replaced the disposal 2 months ago but took the trap off today to see if we could find any debris and there was none. I also put disposal cleaner in it that foams to clean it out. The bugs still showed back up. I then put an enzyme cleaner in it overnight with the bugs coming back again. Next I put baking soda, salt, and vinegar to foam up and left it over night and then flushing with very hot water. Last night I sprayed the sink and counter with bug poison and there were a few dead ones in the sink this morning but then a couple of live ones also. This afternoon they are back again. Does anyone have any ideas? I just can't figure out what they are and how to get rid of them. I have had vegetables from my local farmer in my kitchen and wonder if they came from them. I most likely will have to call my pest control company to help me with this issue but thought I would try the Hometalk readers for ideas. They are much smaller than that look in my picture below. Thank you for any information you can provide.

  15 answers
  • Lynette Lynette on Apr 29, 2020

    I've had them in the past and tried everything to get rid of them. I finally poured liquid seven down the drain and closed off the drain with the stopper. By the next morning I then cleaned the sink and flushed with water. I haven't been bothered with them since.

  • Agnes Chrzanowska Agnes Chrzanowska on Apr 29, 2020

    you really need to pour some clorax down your drain with some vinegar to make sure your drain is clean


  • Kathy Gunter Law Kathy Gunter Law on Apr 29, 2020

    Try this:

    Fruit fly trap

    1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

    1 tbsp water

    a squirt of dish detergent

    Take a 20 oz soda bottle, cut it 1/3 way down and unscrew top. Pour mixture in the bottom. Invert the top and place in the bottle. They will fly in and get trapped.

  • Teresa Brummet Teresa Brummet on Apr 29, 2020

    It looks like it could be weevil. I've had them in my dogs water and could not figure out where they were coming from till I went to fill the bird feeder. I had stored the bird seed in my kitchen. I was finding them on my counter, in my bread that had to be discarded. Once I removed the birdseed from the kitchen within a week they were gone.

  • William William on Apr 30, 2020

    It's possible they came from the vegetables. But they also could have come from the grocery store. Check all boxes with anything made from wheat grain. Pasta, flour, pancake mix, mashed potato buds/flakes. They do not attack rice.

  • 17335038 17335038 on Apr 30, 2020

    If you use fabric bags that are not washed with hot water and soap after each grocery trip, critters or larvae may have been hiding in the fibres. They can also hide in the seams of thick plastic bags, or where they have been glued together.

  • 17335038 17335038 on Apr 30, 2020

    Have you cleaned the rubber inside folds of the garbage disposal recently?


    Put some gloves on, turn the breaker off, and really get in and under the edges. Clean with bleach and hot water. Different models of disposal units are designed differently; some easily collect gunk under the rubber folded collar and need a frequent thorough cleaning. The pre-purchased disposal cleaner you tried may not have been able to get in-between or under the folds the way fingers can.


    Afterwards, pour bleach down the main drain. Let sit for an hour, then run your disposal unit through with hot water.


    Let us know here if any of these suggestions solved the problem.

    • See 2 previous
    • 17335038 17335038 on May 29, 2020

      Thanks for the update. I can sympathize with you that this is a frustrating situation. I am not familiar with Springtails however. Perhaps you will hear from other Hometalkers who have had experience with these particular bugs.

  • Jeremy Hoffpauir Jeremy Hoffpauir on Apr 30, 2020

    It's possible they were brought in somehow from the grocery store.

  • Annie Annie on Apr 30, 2020

    Also try cutting a lemon is lots of pieces, put that down the garbage disposal and turn it on. Lemon is really acidic so that might kill them.

  • Maura White Maura White on Apr 30, 2020

    Try just puttint a bowl of vinegar alone in the sink at night and see how they respond to that.

  • Lisa Lisa on Apr 30, 2020

    Weevils..we had them for about a month and couldnt find where they were coming from. They were in the birdseed in the garage and were riding in on the great dane (who ate her food which was about a fiit away from birdseed)and we found them in kitchen, dogs water bowls(all of them), our bread box...once we put bird seed outside under patio table in front, they are no longer in house

  • Lin R Lin R on May 02, 2020

    Well nothing has worked so I called my pest control person. He does not think they are drain flies. He feels they may be coming from outside because the homes in our subdivision are close together and have a little ditch in between and he feels since we have had lots of rain the ditch is damp and that could cause them to be here and come into the house. He has left a special light plugged in for 2 weeks at the kitchen sink wall and also a trap. He did go ahead to just to on the safe side and treated out shower drains and all sink drains. He will come back and check with us in 2 weeks. He took the bugs I had saved with him to look at with a magnifying glass. I sure hope all this works. Thanks for everyone's input. I will post again what happens in 2 weeks!

  • Robred Robred on Nov 12, 2020

    When I've had bugs in my kitchen sink I used lemon juice with soda and something else (I don't remember now) and it worked :) I have no idea where they come from and how do they stay there so long, but I hope with my new kitchen sink there will be no bug problems... I've just bought a farmhouse sink and I hope it fits well. It was a hard choice to make but this https://www.thewindupspace.com/best-farmhouse-sink-reviews/ helped me a lot. I don't usually read reviews on things I wanna buy, but this time I wanted to make sure I make the right choice.

  • Mogie Mogie on Jun 01, 2023

    I sort of cheated. Poured bleach down the drain and used a stopper to stop it up. The next day I just flushed it by turning the garbage disposal on. I found that by cleaning with homemade kitchen bombs it really helped. Put a piece of orange peel into a ice cube tray, fill with water and freeze.