Moved into a new flat and am being driven mad by fruit flies

[withtmfs]

Only moved in a few weeks ago. the entire place was cleaned before I decorated. I have no idea where they are coming from.

I have covered the drains in the sink after cleaning them, No bin with anything in it in the kitchen yet, no food anywhere except in the fridge.

I did have them before for a week or so in my old flat and I just left some apple cider vinegar out and it sorted them out. I did the same here and there was none in it when I checked.

They are constantly flying into my face, I can't make a sandwich or a drink without them instantly appearing out of nowhere, and the worst by far is my cats litter tray, They are everywhere in it.. I empty and clean it thoroughly every two days and pick any waste out of it as soon as he does it so I'm not sure how to stop them. Even went as far as buying a new covered litter tray and they are still there.

They are also all over my windows in the morning and are in every room. all over my shower curtain etc.

They are driving me insane.

Anyone any ideas on what to do?

thanks.

This sounds like a proper infestation!

How often do you open windows?

Windows are open on the latch all the time. I can't open them more than that because of my cat unfortunately.

Are they definitely fruit flies? What are they feeding and hatching on, I wonder?

I'd go for lots of sticky catchers where they seem to congregate as a non-toxic starting point.

Is there any smell?

Do fruit flies go in cat litter? I'd give a pest controller a call and just ask them if they sound like anything else.

My experience of fruit flies is your previous one - they're a a nuisance in summer but usually die off after a few weeks as it gets colder

Rentokil. Sounds like there is an infestation, could be living in the walls.

Get Rentokil in autumn then again spring.

Do you have plants in pots? There’s a kind of little fly that lives in compost, could that be it?

I was wondering about houseplants too.. if they're tiny and you have a plant in your kitchen I'd be suspicious it's that

Yes, also thought of fungus gnats. I had a bit of an infestation last year in a large house plant - put traps out and covered the soil with pebbles, did the trick.

I had them for a few weeks and eventually worked out they were in a little plant I'd got. It was covered in them when I looked! Got rid of that and they went in a couple of days

These aren't fruit flies. They are similar though.

I worked on a renovation project and they were everywhere gathering in the walls, cracks in the skirting boards etc. I think you need rentokil.

Bleach, bleach, bleach and fly spray.

They might drown in the apple cider vinegar or, they'll breed in it. No fresh fruit until they've gone even in the fridge. They get in to a closed bottle of Sarsons malt vinegar!

Bleach, ditch and spray is the the only way I've to work.

Not ideal but you'll get done in a couple of days.

Apple cider vinegar in a little dish with a good glue of washing up liquid, draws them too it but they can't fly away once they're in it

Glug not glue 🤦‍♀️

Buy some sundew plants. They’re sticky and much better than anything else I found. I tried everything. They work for both fruit flies and fungus gnats.

Fungus gnats. We're plagued by them, at the moment.

Once I had a similar problem and I was baffled at where they were coming from. What I then discovered, in one of the kitchen cupboards that was like a corner cupboard so had a bit that you couldn't immediately see inside without sticking your head in, there was a bowl with what I can only assume (based on the level of decomposition) was a kiwi fruit in hiding inside. Absolutely rancid - they'd created this big nest in the kiwi fruit. Hundreds of them. I flung the bowl out of the window in disgust and never spoke of it again!

Get a small ramekin and put half a centimetre of something like red vermouth in it. Cover with clingfilm and put a 5p sized hole in the top. Leave near to where you have seen them most. Works every time. If they have managed to mate though, it may take some replacing and redoing until they are gone.

What kind of cat litter is it? Some of the biodegradable stuff can be bad for this.

I had a load and worked out it was a pot plant in my living room that was the problem. Got rid of it and they were gone.

Had another Infestation this summer. No idea where they came from but just made kept emptying bins and flushing out sinks. After a couple of weeks they disappeared again. Non around now that it's got cooler.

We also had them, came in via a pot plant. Chucked it, cleaned the plugholes etc daily and they soon died out.

Are you sure these are not drain flies? Google them.
There might be a sewage leak somewhere in the building