How to get rid of fruit flies using vinegar

Richard Mullett
by Richard Mullett

How do I quickly and easily remove fruit flies? Seems they multiply faster than I can get rid of them.


  16 answers
  • Dorothy Beyer Dorothy Beyer on Sep 23, 2016
    Use a small empty spice bottle (from the dollar store) and put some apple cider vinegar, a little bit of water and a dash of dish soap. It does not need to be filled above half way. I have found lemon scented to be good. Leave it on the counter and let it do its work.
  • Sandra Allen Sandra Allen on Sep 17, 2017

    You can also just do the apple cider vinegar with a drop or two of dish washing liquid to break up the surface adhesion. I drop some apples in mine but you don't have to Soon it will look like this.


  • Peggy Lewis Peggy Lewis on Sep 23, 2016
    I pour a little apple cider vinegar into a jar and cover the jar with saran wrap. Prick a few holes in the saran with a tooth pick or skewer. The flies can get in but they can't get out. Place the jar near your fruit bowl. Replace as needed. Put as many as you need around the areas they collect.
  • Doh11018439 Doh11018439 on Sep 23, 2016
    A bit of apple cider vinegar, water, and a squirt of Dawn detergent in a half pint glass jar. Set on counter and by night you'll have hundreds of fruit files drowned in the solution! Next day start over with new solution!, works every time
  • Brenda Grover Clark Brenda Grover Clark on Sep 23, 2016
    Try putting a piece of plastic wrap over your apple cider vinegar/drop of dish soap mixture and put a several small holes in it. They get trapped in the container. While this is the best method I have tried, it does, unfortunately, require patience on your part, as you won't get them all overnight.
  • Carol Carol on Aug 18, 2016
    In a container, mix 1 cup of water, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon vinegar and 2-3 drops of Dawn dish soap.
  • Pur10370930 Pur10370930 on Sep 23, 2016
    I recycle a water bottle. Cut the top off. Invert it so it sits in the bottle. (like a funnel). Tape the cut edge with cellophane tape. Pour about a half cup of Apple Cider Vinegar (it works the best). They'll be gone in less than 2 days. I like this idea because they cant get out after entering hole.
  • N509268159 N509268159 on Sep 23, 2016
    To get rid of fruit flies, take two drops of dish soap and half a cup apple cider vinegar, stir to make foam. Count em up in the A.M. Use a small juice glass.
  • Corena Johnson Corena Johnson on Sep 23, 2016
    Put a little vinegar in small bowl, along with a little bit of Dawn dish detergent. Set bowl close to where you see the fruit flies. The vinegar attracts the flies, and the soap keeps them from getting out. Works fast in catching them!!
  • Goldie Skaggs Goldie Skaggs on Sep 24, 2016
    Pour soda in your sink pipes add white vinegar. This will kill the eggs they lay there. Put all food leftovers in a container in the freezer. Nothing to draw them and your problem will soon be over.
  • All natural, vinegar traps! To make a vinegar trap for fruit flies, you'll need just a few things (and you probably already have them in your home):a glass or cup,a plastic baggie large enough to fit over the glass, a rubber band, scissors,apple cider vinegar. Pour a small amount – an inch or so – of apple cider vinegar into the glass. The cider vinegar has a nice, fruity aroma that fruit flies simply cannot resist. Using the scissors, snip the corner off the plastic baggie. This should created a hole just large enough for fruit flies to pass through, but not so large that it will be easy for them to escape.
  • Deb Johnson Deb Johnson on Oct 15, 2016
    I put white vinegar in a small jar , about 1/2 an inch. Then put 8- 10 drops of dish soap. Mix carefully , set on cupboard let it work.
  • Zoi1844993 Zoi1844993 on Jul 31, 2015
    you fill several coffee cups with about a couple of drops of dish detergent, 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar, and leave around place. Don't bother covering, flies will go right in. You may want to replace mixture after about a week. It worked for me. Get rid or rotting vegetation too!!
  • 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, 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.