Few household nuisances are as infuriating as fruit flies. They appear from seemingly nowhere, multiply at an alarming rate, and no matter how many you swat away, there always seems to be more.
The good news is that getting rid of them doesn't require any fancy products, just a bit of know-how.
The lifestyle team at Lottomart have shared their tried-and-tested approach to sending fruit flies packing, and it all starts with understanding what draws them in the first place.
A spokesperson for Lottomart explained: "Fruit flies are attracted to sweet, sugary liquids and fermenting food, and they only need the tiniest amounts to thrive. Even a small piece of overripe fruit or a sticky residue in the bottom of a bowl is enough to keep a whole colony going."
The very first thing you should do is go through your fruit bowl and remove anything that's overripe, damaged, or past its best. Fruit flies feed on decaying sweet food, so eliminating their food source is the fastest way to begin starving them out.
Once you've cleared out anything suspect, give the bowl itself a thorough wash. Check that any remaining fruit is genuinely fresh and in good condition, as even a small bruise on an apple can be enough to keep fruit flies coming back.
"People often clean around the fruit bowl rather than actually washing it," the Lottomart spokesperson added. "But residue builds up at the bottom, and that's exactly what fruit flies are feeding on."
Once you've tackled the fruit bowl, there's one more step that most people overlook, and it's arguably the most important. Each evening, pour a full kettle of boiling water mixed with washing soda crystals down your kitchen drain. If you have an overflow, it's worth doing the same there, too.
Fruit flies lay their eggs in the damp, organic matter that builds up inside drains, meaning you could be clearing the adults away on the surface while a fresh batch is hatching below.
"The drain is where most people's fruit fly problem actually lives," the Lottomart spokesperson said. "Boiling water and washing soda will break down the build-up and kill any eggs that have been laid, so do it every night for a week, and you'll notice a significant difference."
Repeat the process consistently and your fruit fly problem should be a thing of the past, with no traps, no sprays, and no mystery required.
