Saturday, June 27, 2009

How to Get Rid of Those Pesky Fruit Flies in the Kitchen

There are simple remedies to get rid of those pesky fruit flies or gnats that flit around the kitchen in the summertime. They don't really hurt anything...they're simply annoying and ever-present.

Here's a simple remedy that I used this week.

Place a tablespoon of cider vinegar and about a 1/4 cup of water in a small glass or jar. Place plastic wrap over the jar. If you wish, you can secure it with a rubber band. Poke several holes in the plastic with a tooth pick. You want the holes to be large enough for gnats to crawl through. Once inside the jar they seem to be unable to find their way back out through those same holes. They're sorta klutzy that way.

I've read where others add a teaspoon of dish detergent to the vinegar. I suppose that tends to cause them to be unable to retreat from the vinegar but I did not do that. The jar I rinsed out this morning had two dozen of the critters - dead in the vinegar.

4 comments:

Daria said...

What a great remedy ... I've since gotten rid of all my plants ... too many complaints from the husband about the fruit flies.

They are pesky little things.

Shelly said...

I just love using vinegar. You don't have to worry about chemicals that way. I'll have to do this one too! Thanks for the tip.

yiddle said...

do you suppose the city would let me line the trail with little jars of vinegar? :P i inhaled about 5 of those buggers tonight on my run.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if that would work in the horses ears? ha ha! Those little things are "bugging" them like crazy. Skin So Soft works but doesn't last long. Oh well :)
I clicked your comment at PW, nice to "meet" you. I love that verse in Roman's as well I needed that reminder, thanks! :)
Jessie at Blog Schmog