To ask how to get rid of those tiny annoying fruit flies

[SeriousCreativeBlock]

Posting here for traffic

I assume they're fruit flies anyway. There seem to be hundreds of these tiny flies all around my house. House is clean and tidy apart from the bowl of uneaten food I found DD had hidden under my bed but they were here before all that. It's driving me mad. It seems that no matter how clean my house is, we still have this infestation.

Starting to think someone has cursed us. Also they turn into maggots as my charming DD helped me find out. My stomach is churning just remembering the sight.

Please help, nothing I do seems to work! It's really getting me down as it's making me feel like the house is dirty even though I clean every single day for hours...

[redhat]

Theyre probably coming out of a plant pot somewhere. Do you have any house plants?

[Alwaysinahurrynow]

I got one of those compost bins in my kitchen and then I suddenly worked out why we had lots of fruit flies. I got a proper bin for our food recycling and lo and behold, no more problem.

[IHeartKingThistle]

I found them all coming out of a vase of flowers once. I do hate the floaty little fuckers.

[LC01]

I had a similar problem last year, but not as bad. You need to ensure all fruit is covered or ideally in the fridge. If you have a kitchen caddy get rid of it for now.

Fruit flies also like wine/cider vinegars, so I left little traps around the kitchen. You add some vinegar in a jar and cling film on top - make a small hole, big enough for the fuckers to get in, but not out. I also went round and squashed the ones I found on the walls/counter tops etc., I also found they liked lemon flash/floor cleaner, so would leave little pots of that out too. You'll need to do for a while, as they breed. Quickly and cleaning doesn't affect them.

Good luck OP.

[GonnaDoItAnyway]

1.) Buy a bottle of red wine.
2.) Drink 9/10th of it
3.) Leave the bottle in the room
4.) Fruit flies are notorious alcoholics and will drown themselves.
5.) Repeat process in all contaminated rooms.

[HazelBite]

They are also attracted to wine bottles. Check your house plants and any cut flowers and check any bins (ds left a banana skin in the bathroom bin once)
The will go............eventually!

[SeriousCreativeBlock]

No plants around the house; I am a prolific plant serial killer. All I can think of is DD is growing a sunflower but they're still only seeds.
Could be the bins I suppose but I empty them every other day. I'm so confused about these horrible little things.

[Shouldwestayorshouldwegonow]

Yes vile and you can't slap them like big blue bottles.

[SeriousCreativeBlock]

Loving the wine suggestion. Will have to tell DP to pick me up a bottle for hygiene purposes!

[Salzundessig]

Shot glass of red wine vinegar with a squirt if washing up liquid in it to break the surface tension. They all drown!

[redhat]

Its not the plant its the soil. They'll be in the soil in the sunflower pot. Put the pot outside.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Years ago I made ginger beer (a phenonemal waste of time BTW) and left a bowl with the straining dregs out.
'Twas a fruit fly magnet

YY to leave a small glass somewhere inconspicuous and let them die happy .

[toffee1000]

Ugh they're annoying buggers aren't they??
Fill a glass or two with apple cider vinegar. Squirt washing up liquid on top to break the tension. They will drown mwahahahaha. If they come back just repeat.

[Betrayedbutsurvived]

Fruit flies don't turn into maggots, maggots turn into fruit flies so wherever you found the maggots is a huge clue to where they are breeding.

[NightWanderer]

Following with interest. I heard pouring a cup of half vinegar/half boiling water down the sink every night helps kill the eggs. I don't know if it's true though.

[yvet]

Yes I am plagued with these too. Turns out it was a plant pot they were coming from. I hate them but i do love killing the fuckers.

[Betrayedbutsurvived]

You can't "kill the eggs" but that's where the flies are coming from they are most likely to be drain or filter flies, not fruit flies. The best way to get rid is to unscrew your u bend and clean out all the black gunk in there. Then kill the adults off with fly spray or whatever.

For fruit flies, again, you need to find out where they are breeding and remove it. It will be organic matter, possibly standing water so plant pots as some one else said are ideal, but as I mentioned previously, if you found the larvae, you've found the breeding spot.

[SpunBodgeSquarepants]

I had this when I moved into a flat that had been empty over the summer. I finally traced them to the plug hole in the bathroom - bought some drain cleaner (that thick gel stuff that you leave in there for half an hour) and problem was solved.

[SeriousCreativeBlock]

Thanks for all the suggestions. We've had a new bed in the last week so not sure how that could be the breeding ground...
Also investigated the house and can't find anywhere else they could be coming from so the drain could be a good call.

[Fomalhaut]

Boiling water or bleach down the drain

[tootiredtobeinspired]

The plug holes. We have one of those double sinks in the kitchen and they were living in the plug of the sink we didnt use that much. Obviously the U bend was full of organic matter and they love it! We got rid of all food items from the surfaces (fruit in the fridge etc) and then a load of bleach/ drain cleaner regularly down the plug holes seemed to fix it for us.

[gamerchick]

Where did you find the maggots?

[dailymaillazyjournos]

My kitchen seems to be full of the little buggers whenever I buy herbs in a pot. I've just taken one with chives outside because they were all swarming around it. They do seem to come from the soil rather than the plant itself. Also attracted to bins, esp if got fruit/veg/peelings in. When I had a really bad dose of them, I bought some window stickers that were impregnated with insecticide and within a day or two the poor little beggers were dotted all over them like a bad rash. I felt like a murderer :(

[dailymaillazyjournos]

It was these I got.
www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/rentokil-advanced-fly-trap-window-stickers---4-pack-076836

[bialystockandbloom]

Banana skin in a tupperware box. Cover very tightly with cling film, but make a few tiny holes in. After a couple of days they'll all be in the box but can't get out.

I started my first ever MN post on this topic (gosh I'm exciting) about 9 years ago. This tip worked so well that I've never forgotten it.