What causes fruit flies and gnats

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First of all, what causes fruit flies in the house?
How to get rid of fruit flies using a DIY fruit fly trap
1. Apple Cider Vinegar and Plastic Wrap
2. A paper cone, vinegar and old fruit
3. Vinegar and dish soap
4. Old wine or beer
5. Aunt Fannie's FlyPunch
Can I just use bleach kill fruit flies?

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The average lifespan of a fruit fly is 40 to 50 days—aka much longer than any of us would like. Gnats, on the other hand, have shorter lifespans, but their ability to reproduce at rapid speeds means once you swat one, there's pretty much always another one buzzing around. Not only are they a nuisance, flies can transport bacteria (think Salmonella and E.coli).

Fruit flies and gnats are both extremely hard to get rid of. But if you use a multiphase plan of attack, you should be able to spare not only your produce and plants, but our sanity as well. Not only that, you can also prevent them. Here's everything you need to know if you have a gnat or fruit fly problem.

RELATED: 8 Plants That Repel Bugs and Mosquitoes

fruit-flies and strawberry

Fruit flies can lay up to 500 eggs at a time near the surface of fermenting (ripening) foods or other organic materials like the soil in your houseplants. They can also lay their eggs in sink drains, garbage disposals, empty bottles and cans, garbage bags, and even damp mops and sponges.

To the naked eye, most wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two. Both gnats and fruit flies are only about 1/8-inch long. The biggest difference is where they like to hang out. Fungus gnats are most likely to be gathered around your indoor potted plants, while you'll find fruit flies around unrefrigerated produce in your kitchen and rotting food in the trashcan. Thankfully, you can get prevent and get rid of both gnats and fruit flies the same way.

First, you'll want to keep in mind that houseflies breed in moist or damp environments. "Common places in your home include the sink area (around, in, or under it), damp clothes or rags, and potted plants," says Blaine Richardson, an associate certified entomologist and COO at EDGE-The Service Company, a pest control company. "Clean these areas with non-chlorine bleach (mixed with water) and do what you need to avoid future moisture build-up."

Keep your windows and doors sealed tight. If you want to open the window to let the breeze in, make sure you have a screen to deter any flies from getting inside.

Don't leave ripened fruit or vegetables—like bananas, onions, tomatoes, or potatoes—exposed; keep them in the refrigerator until the problem is resolved. Fruit flies also tend to like alcohol and other sugary drinks, so be wary of keeping things like an open bottle of wine and juice products out on the counter.

If prevention methods don't work, you might want to use an insecticide specifically for gnats, Richardson says. The Environmental Protection Agency advises customers to look at product labels carefully: read the ingredients list, follow the directions to a tee, and check if it has an EPA registration number, which means it's been reviewed by the organization. Product labels will also have the words "Caution" (least harmful), "Warning" (more poisonous than "Caution" products), and "Danger" (very poisonous or irritating).

Fly traps are important control tools that continue to eliminate new adults as they emerge. While a pyrethrum-based aerosol insecticide may be used to kill adult flies if you can hit them, it won't take care of any eggs or larvae lurking in your kitchen.

Store-bought fly traps will prevent the flies from breeding and can be purchased at your local hardware store. These disposable fruit fly traps, which are baited with a nontoxic lure, can catch about 2,000 flies each, and can last for one month. One of our favorite traps to buy is Aunt Fannie's FlyPunch which is nontoxic and super easy to use.

RELATED: This $9 Fruit Fly Trap Caught a Disgusting Amount of Bugs in My Kitchen Overnight

Rather DIY than buy a trap? A simple, free, and effective homemade fly trap can be made with a few household items. Here's how.

Form a cone-shaped funnel with an 8-by-10-inch piece of paper. Seal the funnel with tape while leaving a small opening at the narrow end.
Place funnel into a clean, empty wine bottle or jar.
Bait the jar with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar.
Place one or more of these traps on counters or in pantries where the pests are seen most often. The fruit flies enter the trap easily, but can't fly out. After you trap all visible flies, kill them with spray or release them outside.
Re-bait and replace jar traps, if necessary.

Pro tip: Don't have vinegar on hand? You can use a slice of ripe banana instead.

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Those buzzing, pesky, little fruit flies are the last things you want to find in front of your face — especially when you're cooking dinner or sitting down to breakfast. And for such little pests, they sure prove a tough challenge to get rid of once they arrive.

Fruit flies reproduce at a rate that can only be described as astonishing: According to Orkin, a pest control company, female fruit flies lay hundreds of eggs in a very short time, commonly on moist foods like overripe fruit and vegetables. Then, within 24 to 30 hours, those eggs hatch into larvae, or maggots, that feed on the food source on which they were laid. Within about a week those larvae become sexually active and not more than two days later, start the cycle over again — leaving you with way too many fruit flies to stomach.

Fortunately, there are simple and effective ways to get rid of fruit flies indoors fast — maybe not instantly, but certainly in one day or overnight — using fruit fly traps that you can DIY at home. All it takes to stop these irksome insects in their tracks is some strategic cleaning and a few household supplies.

First of all, what causes fruit flies in the house?

According to the experts at Orkin, fruit flies are attracted to ripe, rotting or decayed fruit and produce, as well as fermented goods like beer, liquor and wine, but they can also inhabit trash cans and garbage disposals if sufficient food is present — which is why you might struggle with fruit flies in the kitchen sink.

And, unfortunately, considering their reproductive prowess, this means those two tiny fruit flies will quickly multiply into a critter problem that can feel almost impossible to control.

To cut off fruit flies from their food source and prevent them from entering your home, take these preventive measures to avoid getting fruit flies.

Throw out overripe produce
Store fruits and veggies in the fridge
Wash produce as soon as you get home to remove any potential eggs or larvae
Take out the garbage regularly
Clean up spills ASAP, especially fruit juice or alcohol

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

A fruit fly trap is a very effective solution — and one that can be assembled in as few as five minutes. These DIY traps can also be tailored to suit what you already have on hand, eliminating the need for a hasty trip to the grocery or hardware store.

First, you may want to double-check that your pests in question aren't drain flies, which lurk around drains or garbage disposals, or fungus gnats, which prefer overwatered houseplants. For those critters, you'll want to check out our guide for how to get rid of gnats.

Fruit flies usually appear light or dark brown in color with red eyes. If you're sure you've identified the critters correctly, then try one of these effective remedies to get rid of fruit flies in your kitchen.

1. Apple Cider Vinegar and Plastic Wrap

Danielle Daly

For this DIY fruit fly trap, apple cider vinegar is more effective than white vinegar, since it’s a touch sweeter. 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. Here's how to do it:

Pour a little apple cider vinegar into a glass.
Cover the opening with plastic wrap and secure with a rubber band.
Poke a few small holes for the fruit flies to enter.

2. A paper cone, vinegar and old fruit

Danielle Daly

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. Do it yourself:

Place a little vinegar and a chunk of very ripe fruit in a jar.
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.)

3. Vinegar and dish soap

Danielle Daly

If you find your fruit flies impervious to 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.

4. 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.

5. Aunt Fannie's FlyPunch

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."

Can I just use bleach kill fruit flies?

If you notice fruit flies in your drain, you might be looking for an instant fix — like pouring bleach down the drain. But experts say this isn’t the most effective solution. Doing so might kill some larvae, but it will not kill enough of the eggs or larvae to eliminate the problem. That's because bleach passes down the drain too quickly to do a thorough job. You're better off using one of the traps above!