How to make FRUIT FLY TRAPS that really work!


Shoo fly! 

I've tried clapping them in the air, smacking them when they land, sucking them up one by one with a vacuum hose--they make me crazy! Pesty fruit flies. 

I just picked my fall raspberries yesterday and noticed a cloud of fruit flies when I disturbed the bushes. But today I'm not battering around my kitchen on a quest to kill every last fly with my bare hands. Today I'm peaceful. That's because I've learned a simple little trick for getting rid of fruit flies--those little red-eyed kitchen drones that loiter in your air-space and reproduce faster than rabbits. They seem IMPOSSIBLE to eliminate...UNLESS you know my trick.

How to make effective fruit fly traps
1 or more 8-ounce dishes
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar per dish
3 drops of SUN brand lemon scented liquid dish soap per dish

In an 8-ounce dish, stir the drops of soap into the vinegar. Now place the dish on the counter or window sill, near where you might have fruit or vegetables. Give the trap a little time to lure the flies. Later in the day, check it out. You'll be surprised how well it works! 

Tip: Plain vinegar alone won't work. The flies will just think of this as a delicious snack. And it has to be apple cider vinegar, white won't work. The soap is the secret ingredient that makes it all happen. The type you use matters. I've tried Ultra Joy, lemon Ajax, Method dish soap, pineapple Dawn, lemon and thyme Palmolive Infusions, but SUN is the one that works. I don't know why. If you can find original lemon scented Joy brand dish soap, it will work too, but it seems Ultra Joy is what you find these days--and this variety is ineffective for trapping fruit flies.  

That's all there is to it. Happy fly trapping!

Joy--Fearless Farm Girl,

"Farm girl: it's a verb, because it's what you do."

4 comments:

  1. Dawn original blue works for catching fruit flies too! I use it every year when they start hanging around.

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    1. Good to know. Do you add it to the vinegar? How much do you add?

      Melody Joy

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    2. Yes, I do add it to the vinegar and I just use a drop or two. I know there are some dish soaps that don't work as well as others. Wanted to let you Dawn blue does

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    3. Wonderful! Good to know which soaps work. Not everyone carries SUN brand. Dawn blue is everywhere :-) Thanks for commenting.

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