I Finally Tried This Basically Free Fruit Fly Trap, and I Can’t Believe How Well It Works

My kids are very picky eaters, but one fail-safe food they’ll always enjoy is fresh fruit. We regularly have an abundance of fruit like oranges and bananas on the counter, which means we often have to deal with fruit flies.

These gross pests quietly lay their eggs near or on the surface of organic materials (like bananas!). Because I can’t ban fruit in my house, I decided to give this apple cider vinegar fruit fly trap​ I learned about on Apartment Therapy a try to hopefully banish these pests instead.

Here’s how you can make this fruit fly trap using apple cider vinegar, dish soap, clear plastic wrap, and a jar or bottle. 

1. Add half a cup of apple cider vinegar and a small drop of dish soap to a jar or bottle.
2. Wrap clear plastic wrap tightly around the container, making sure to cover the opening.
3. Grab a toothpick or small knife and poke small holes in the plastic wrap.

Here’s why catching fruit flies with apple cider vinegar​ works. Apple cider vinegar is just sweet enough to lure in the fruit flies, and the vinegar smells like overripe fruit, their favorite, due to the fermentation process. The dish soap is going to make the flies stick to the solution once they pop down for a taste, and the plastic wrap keeps them trapped, so they can’t escape, should they attempt to leave the cup before getting stuck. 

It’s a little cruel-sounding, but the way the trap works is that the flies have nowhere to land, so they drown in the solution or get stuck on the increased surface pressure of the solution. (At least they died doing what they loved.) If you want to see the fruits of your labor, use a clear jar, but if you don’t want to see floating fly carcasses next to your sink, use something opaque like a mug (that’s what I did).

For this fruit fly trap, any dish soap will do, but I swear by Dawn dish soap. After I swirled the mixture around, covered it tightly with the plastic wrap, and poked the holes, I left the mug on the counter. A few days later, I started to notice flies congregating in and around the trap (more than they do around the fruit). This DIY fruit fly trap with apple cider vinegar was a success.

When trying out this fruit fly trap, make sure to change it out if you notice it’s getting crowded in there. Or if you’re not catching anything, adjust how many or how big the holes in the top are or the amount of soap in the cup. 

Once you aren’t seeing too many flying pests, you can stop the regimen. I usually keep a trap in the kitchen, near the fruit and sink, and one in the downstairs bathroom. And if you don’t like the smell of the traps, keep a window open or use a pleasant-smelling room spray or reed diffuser.

I don’t need to use the traps every time I bring home bananas, but during the times we do see fruit flies, I am confident that I can get rid of them quickly, using items I already stock regularly.