Fruit flies are the pesky little bugs that appear over the warm summer months to nibble on the overripe bananas that you totally meant to eat last week. Unfortunately, they can be incredibly tricky to get rid of once they appear in your kitchen. Here are some of our best professional cleaning tips for getting rid of fruit flies easily.
Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar
Use a small or almost-empty bottle of unfiltered apple cider vinegar to easily attract fruit flies. Cover the opening of the bottle with plastic wrap and secure it snugly with a rubber band. Poke a small hole so that fruit flies can enter the bottle. Fruit flies will be attracted to the scent of the vinegar and get stuck inside of the bottle once they are inside. This easy cleaning tip is an inexpensive way to get rid of these pesky bugs.
Vinegar and Dish Soap
Do the fruit flies still sneak out of the bottle with the plastic wrap covering it? Add three drops of regular dish soap to a bowl of apple cider vinegar. Leave it uncovered on the counter and wait for the fruit flies to appear. The dish soap will help to change the surface tension of the apple cider vinegar and the fruit flies will be pulled into the mixture and drown.
Red Wine
Just like fruit flies love the smell of vinegar, they also love the smell of red wine. If you have an almost-empty bottle of red wine that you are ready to pour down the drain, leave it open on your countertop instead. The thin neck will prevent the flies from flying back out and you can throw the bottle away to easily keep clean.
Milk, Sugar, and Pepper
This old-school recipe uses household staples to attract fruit flies. Mix together a pint of milk, half a cup of raw sugar, and two ounces of ground pepper into a saucepan and simmer the mixture for 10 minutes. Pour this into a shallow dish on the counter. The fruit flies will be attracted to the mixture and drown very quickly.
Fruit Fly Strips
If you aren’t up for experimentation when it comes to cleaning your kitchen and getting rid of fruit flies, purchase sticky fruit fly strips and hang them in the affected area.
Professional Residential Cleaning from Misty Clean
If your business is looking a little less than tidy, Misty Clean can help! We offer professional cleaning services throughout the Anne Arundel area, Howard County, downtown Baltimore, and Baltimore County. We are happy to provide you with a great one-time cleaning, stop by once or twice a week, or just swing by in the spring and fall to clean up your home. We have a great deal of expertise in cleaning homes and businesses, so trust us with restoring your home to rights. If you are ready to get your home Misty Clean, give us a call at (410) 255-4111 or visit us online. For more cleaning tips and tricks, follow us on Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest.
