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Exterminating Fruit Flies in a Home

By Rowyn Bass
April 2023
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Recommendation
Introduction
The purpose of this report is to provide my best recommendation on how to rid a home
of fruit flies. I recommend using the DIY method of using dish soap, apple cider vinegar
and plastic wrap for cost efficiency, which, in my opinion, is worth more than the labor
required. In what follows I will explain my methodology, provide an account of the
results of my research, discuss those results, and conclude with my recommendations
for exterminating fruit flies from a home, most commonly, a kitchen. Besides obviously
making fruit inedible, fruit flies also severely decrease the comfort in a kitchen, because
of their annoyance and the association between uncleanliness and fruit flies. Thus, it is
very important to remove them from a room that one plans to spend time in.

Methodology
My overall approach to finding credible
information was searching through
many internet-based sources, both
commercial and nonprofit in order to
determine the best ways to rid a
kitchen of fruit flies, and found the two
relatively simple methods that are most
popular. I looked at personal blogs that
are simply giving advice, particular bug
exterminating business sites and I also
looked at instructional videos. The
keywords I used were kill fruit flies,
exterminate fruit flies, humanely
removing fruit flies, and fruit fly traps. I
did use a couple “How To” articles for the most instructive sources. I bookmarked sites
and documents, and took notes on the instructional videos. After gathering all the data, I
cross checked many sources to guarantee the most accurate and effective information
across both the commercial and nonprofit sources. By fact checking and comparing
different resources, it seems that there are two main options that most sources agree
on; between homemade traps and store bought, the choice lies in effectiveness, labor,
and price. Though the homemade trap seems to be the first and most popular method, it
is important to consider the store bought trap in as much of an unbiased manner as
possible.

Limitations
Though I have used this DIY method beforehand in my household, I am not an
experienced exterminator. Though this method may remove fruit flies that are currently
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in a room, it may not treat the underlying problem if the bugs have found their way into a
more permanent occupation of a building, most commonly by laying eggs in sink drains.
Lastly; Each source explains that because apple cider vinegar is fermented, it attracts
the bugs, and the store bought trap has some sort of smell that also attracts the fruit
flies. This must be taken into consideration for use, because it could be unpleasant to
individuals who are sensitive to aromas if they are required to stay in a small, poorly
ventilated space.

Results
I learned that there are essentially two ways to trap to rid a room of fruit flies. Either a
liquid immersion trap or a sticky paper trap. The DIY trap is a liquid immersion and the
store bought is usually a sticky paper trap, though there is some variation. The liquid
immersion trap creates a layer of dish soap to coat the bugs, and then drowns the
insects when they get into the apple cider vinegar, to make sure they stay in the trap.
The store bought traps usually are just scented sticky paper that the bugs are held on
when they interact with the trap.

The major findings of my research on exterminating fruit flies are as follows for price,
efficacy and extermination method, and first time setup and upkeep labor for both of the
types of traps.

Price Point Breakdown

$9.99-$17.97 for a store bought plug-in fruit fly killer on Amazon. These either come in
one or two packs of traps, and some of them offer refillable inserts. When one trap
becomes full, purchasing an entire new trap or new insert is commonly required.

Apple cider vinegar (ACV) and dish soap (DS) with plastic wrap (PW) = ACV -> 2.12
(Walmart) (3.29 Target) + DS -> 2.94 (Walmart) (4.49 Target) and PW ->1.97 (Walmart)
(2.60 Target) [200 ft] = Total $7.03-$10.38. You will also need some sort of jar, cup, or
bowl, but the vessel is the dealer's choice. This is obviously more of a one-time
purchase for multiple uses. However, to combat the cost efficiency, there is also a labor
cost to consider as the store bought traps are pretty much just “unpack and go”, this
method does require a bit more work to set up. However, there is certainly more
reusability in this method as all of the ingredients required to create more traps are
already available and will not need to be repurchased.

Efficacy and Type of Extermination

Most of the store bought traps work similarly to a sticky trap for flies. There is just an
added scent aspect, and usually it is contained in a bright plastic container. This means
that the fruit flies will crawl down into the trap, get stuck on the paper, and eventually
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die. Efficacy is difficult to test with living creatures, and different amounts of bugs in
every situation, but both are efficient ways to remove fruit flies.

In contrast, the DIY technique captures and kills flies in a much more efficient manner,
as they get coated in the soap and drown in the Apple Cider Vinegar. There is certainly
less chance for survival in the DIY method. Efficacy is as equal as can be tested with
the store bought traps.

Setup and Upkeep Labor

The store bought trap is certainly less labor intensive overall. There are the more
common traps that you simply unpackage and place in the room, and when the
efficiency drops, you buy a new trap and repeat. There are other traps that you do have
to remove the sticky part inside and replace it when the efficiency drops.

For the DIY Apple Cider Vinegar trap method, you will have to either (1) fish out the
dead bugs after it becomes relatively full or (2) dump out and clean the whole trap, and
reset. This does make the DIY process more labor intensive when it comes to setup and
re-setup, but it does remove the extra cost of re-setup that the store bought traps have.

Discussion of Results
The overall conclusions that can be drawn from the results from my research process
are that the DIY method beats the store bought on price, especially for continued use,
but the store bought trap wins when considering labor.

Beginning with the price point, the store bought trap is much more expensive than the
more DIY approach, purely because of how much use and reuse one can get out of
buying the materials for the DIY method. Store bought is more expensive at the start up,
and more expensive to reset than the DIY method because of the need to buy more
inserts or a whole new trap.
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Continuing with labor, the self-made traps do take more time and energy to set up.
Whereas the store bought traps are less labor intensive to assemble and place, then
replace when finished, the DIY method requires a multi step process to function.

Finally for effectiveness, both seem to succeed in this category overall. While it is
difficult to measure because of the variety in bugs, rooms, and overall situations, both
are labeled as effective solutions by my research.

Conclusion with Recommendations

Considering Setup Time Cost

and Labor
Reusability Replacement
Time and Labor
Store Bought Trap Low (+) High (-) Low (-) Low (+)

DIY Trap High (-) Low (+) High (+) High (-)

Here I have attached a visual aid for the pros and cons for both of the types of traps,
disregarding efficacy because of testing inability.

After completing my research, I can confidently recommend the DIY Apple Cider
Vinegar, if you have the time to set up, and reset the trap. I think it entirely depends on
how much time, effort, money and area you have to cover, but with the DIY method you
get much more reusability and more traps for less than the price of one store bought
trap. There is also the pro of the DIY method being more environmentally friendly and
creating less waste, which may not affect a company, but would certainly affect a home,
and general perception. I do also believe that there is a certain pride in making one’s
own solution to a problem they have been struggling with, and watching that succeed.
To contrast, if this issue needs to be solved in a bigger, more corporate environment, it
may make more sense to buy store bought traps because of their setup and
replacement time being lower than that of the DIY trap. But, this is focused on a smaller
space and thus I would continue to recommend the Apple Cider Vinegar method. It is
more cost effective, and has high reusability because you are buying more of the
ingredients that are needed for one trap.

Thank you so much for your time. If you have any further questions or concerns, please
do not hesitate to email me at rbass@unm.edu
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Works Cited

Food Network Kitchen. “How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies.” Food Network,
https://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/articles/How-to-Get-Rid-of-Fruit-Flies.

“Fruit Fly Facts: Get Rid of Fruit Flies in the House.” Orkin,
https://www.orkin.com/pests/flies/fruit-flies.

Johnson, Richard. “Fruit Flies.” USDA APHIS | Fruit Flies, 6 July 2022,
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/plant-pest-and-disease-pr
ograms/pests-and-diseases/fruit-flies/fruit-flies-home.

Potter, Michael F. “Fruit Flies.” Entomology, University of Kentucky College of

Agriculture , https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef621.