How to get rid of fruit flies using a DIY fruit fly trap:

Make a trap with apple cider vinegar and plastic wrap
For this DIY fruit fly trap, pour a little apple cider vinegar into a glass, or just remove the cap from a bottle. (It doesn't have to be full — nearly empty will also work.) Cover the opening in plastic wrap and secure with a rubber band. Then, poke a few small holes for the fruit flies to enter. They can't resist the scent of vinegar, and they won't be able to exit once they're inside.

For an even better chance at success, make several of these traps and place them around your kitchen.



Trap flies with a paper cone, vinegar, and old fruit.
Place a little vinegar and a chunk of very ripe fruit in a jar. Then, roll some paper into a cone and stick it into the jar, placing the narrow opening down. (You can recycle or compost the homemade funnel afterwards.) The smell of rotting produce will help entice the fruit flies into the mixture, but the cone part of this fruit fly trap makes it difficult for them to get out.



Drown flies by leaving out a bowl of vinegar and dish soap.
If you find your fruit flies impervious your plastic wrap or paper cone traps, try adding three drops of dish soap to a bowl of vinegar, and leave it uncovered. The soap cuts the surface tension of the vinegar so the flies will sink and drown.



Put out an almost-empty bottle of old wine or beer.
Like vinegar, fruit flies love the smell of wine. Try leaving out an open bottle with a little leftover liquid — the skinny neck will keep the flies trapped. The Old Farmer's Almanac also recommends using stale beer to attract fruit flies to a DIY trap. Add a couple of drops of dish soap to either for surer success.

Buy Aunt Fannie's FlyPunch! on Amazon.
The chemists in Good Housekeeping Institute were excited to see this product cross their desks, especially Senior Chemist Sabina Wizemann, who found that it worked better in her home than other DIY remedies she's tried.

The mixture uses the active ingredients sodium lauryl sulfate (a surfactant used in soaps) and malic acid (found in fruit) and comes in a stand-up jar. All you have to do is open the top, set it on your counter, and "watch the cycle of life unfold."