What Attracts Fruit Flies to the Garbage Disposal?
Fruit flies, fungus gnats, and drain flies are all attracted to the smell of fermented fruit, and moisture. Your moist kitchen sink drain has ample supply of both, as your garbage disposal fills up with rotting food particles. Your garbage disposal can become a moist breeding ground for fruit flies and other insects.
Fruit flies aren't harmful, but they can still carry bacteria and viruses into your kitchen. Cleaning your kitchen sink drain and garbage disposal will help prevent fruit flies and fungus gnats from breeding in your home.
How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies in the Garbage Disposal
Step 1: Set Up a Fruit Fly Trap
Set up a fruit fly trap to immediately get rid of adult flies. You can do this by pouring apple cider vinegar into a small bowl or jar, and add a couple of drops of dish soap. Mix well, then seal with plastic wrap. Poke tiny holes in the cling film for the flies to enter, and place the trap near the area where fruit flies are flying around.
Step 2: Pour Baking Soda Down the Drain
Pour a generous amount of baking soda down your garbage disposal. This will deodorize and clean the blades, which will help get rid of fruit flies. Sprinkle the powder around the sink drains, and other areas where you suspect fruit flies live.
Step 3: Follow with White Vinegar
Follow immediately with one to two cups of white vinegar. The mixture should bubble and kill fruit flies, as well as their larvae. White vinegar should also break down the greasy food bits and particles left in your drain, as well as any mold or mildew in your pipe lining that drain flies may be feeding off of.
Step 4: Add Ice Cubes and Rock Salt
Add ice cubes and rock salt down the disposal. Garbage disposals have blades where food can easily get stuck in and rot, attracting fruit flies and drain flies. Ice and rock salt gets crushed between the blades, and acts as a scrubber to get rid of the grime without having to scrub the drain yourself with a metal pipe brush, which can be dangerous.
Step 5: Run the Garbage Disposal
Run the disposal to start crushing the ice. As the blades move through to crush the ice, the ice and salt clean the blades and pipe lining, removing the source of food attracting fruit flies in the first place.
Step 6: Pour Boiling Water
Pour boiling, hot water down the drain as you're crushing the ice. Doing so simultaneously will clear the drain of fruit flies, and kill their larvae and eggs. Pouring boiling water into the drains will also help ease the stress of the blades as they crush through the ice. Boiling water will wash away food residue, oils, and grime stuck in the pipes as well.
Preventing Fruit Flies in the Kitchen
Preventing fruit flies in the kitchen means to get rid of any sources of food and breeding grounds where a fruit fly problem may occur. This includes cleaning your drains, covering fruits, and sealing garbage to prevent fruit flies from thriving in your home. Here are a couple of tips you can do:
- Toss out rotten fruit as these attract fruit flies coming from outside. Rotting fruit is often the start of an infestation, as the smell of fermentation is what attracts insects to fruit.
- Cover garbage and trash cans, particularly ones that hold fruit peels or rotting food in it. Your kitchen trash can is like a feast for fruit flies, so be sure to cover it at all times.
- Clean your kitchen regularly. A dirty kitchen will attract more insects than just drain flies, so it is important to keep your kitchen clean. Wipe away any spills as they happen, and clean your sink, stove, and fridge on a regular schedule.
Keeping Your Space Clean
Keeping your home clean is the best way you can deter pests from entering your home. Don't fret the cleaning, and instead let our professional cleaners at Luce Home tackle the chores for you! We'll get rid of all that grime and dust in your home so you won't have to worry about attracting flies!
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