Despite their name, fruit flies are just as likely to thrive in your bathroom sink and shower drains as they are to thrive on your kitchen counter or in the fruit bowl on your dining room table. How does one get rid of them?
Can fruit flies come from drains? And what causes them?
Fruit flies need three things: food, moisture and a place to live and breed in. Well guess what? Your bathroom drains and sink are perfect for them! They totally fit the bill: dark and humid, full of gunk and grime. It’s everything they could ever want. Besides eating the biological debris stuck in your drains (like hair, grime and dead skin cells), fruit flies will also lay their eggs there, up to hundreds at a time, and once these eggs hatch, out come larvae, who quickly develop into bothersome adult fruit flies who go on to infest the rest of your home.
Will bleach kill fruit flies in drain?
While fruit flies are no super mutant insects resistant to toxic chemicals like bleach, unfortunately, bleach alone does not get rid of drain flies in most cases. It will surely kill a few and clean your pipes a bit, but it will not coat the grime, so the solution will be temporary and minimal. Fruit fly larvae are very small and would be able to use the organic debris as a shield to avoid being harmed by the bleach.
Bleach is also as harmful to us as it is to pesky insects, so it might not be the safest product to use. Some homes also have older pipes, which might be harmed by the corrosivity of the bleach.
You’re going to want something that’ll be able to completely dissolve the thick film of decaying organic gunk that the fruit lives thrive in.
What do you put down the drain to get rid of fruit flies?
So, if bleach isn’t the best solution, what are some other household products we can use that’ll yield better and more long-term results?
A significant amount of boiling water tends to do the trick, killing any eggs, larvae and adults flies as well as dissolving the grimy film coating your pipes, effectively destroying their breeding grounds and source of food.
You could also use half a cup of salt and a half a cup of baking soda mixed with a cup of white vinegar. Pour it in the drain and let it do its thing overnight. In the morning, pour some boiling water in.
If you can remove the filter from your drains, do so and scrub them manually, getting rid of any visible gunk. Boiling water would help loosen it up, and the bleach would help clean it.
How do I get rid of fruit flies without apple cider vinegar?
You don’t necessarily need apple cider vinegar to get rid of fruit flies by trapping them. It is often used because to fruit flies, it gives off the fruity smell of fermentation, which attracts them to the source of the scent. You can use other fermented substances like wine, beer or juice, and have the same results. One could even use a ripening fruit, or milk and honey. When using anything mentioned before, also add in a bit of dish soap to change the consistency of the liquid so they’re unable to leave the trap.
Most of the time, these DIY traps are quite effective and yield quick, long-term results. You can quickly make the simple traps with things in your bathroom cabinet or fridge. All you need is a container, and something to attract them with, ironically. Many people swear by these homemade traps as the most efficient and cost effective to get rid of a fruit fly infestation. This is all done after maintaining proper hygiene in your bathroom and in your kitchen, as well as making the drains environments not so suitable as breeding grounds for any future or remaining flies.
How do you naturally get rid of fruit flies?
The aforementioned solutions are pretty ‘natural’. You won’t be needing any costly or harsh products, since you can make the basic traps using household products most people already have in their homes.
Besides these traps, the only thing you can do is maintain proper hygiene by:
- Making sure your rags, towels, mats and mops are clean and dry
- Throwing out the trash often
- Cleaning your drains every once in a while
- Making sure any gunk or grime in your bathroom is quickly disposed of
Otherwise, you could wait until winter and hope the cold wipes them out. But that’s unlikely. Once they’ve settled, you’ve got to do something about it. So now that you’ve read this article and know more about fruit flies in your drain, get ready for war!
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