Little insects that invade your home, such as tiny sugar ants, gnats, and fruit flies, can be a tedious pain in the butt, especially during the warmer months. When the temperatures rise and get hot and humid, these pests get even more active.
But if you want to get rid of fruit flies without resorting to pesticides and other poisons (which you probably don’t want to use in your kitchen anyway, especially if you have small children and/or pets), then you’ll be pleased to hear that in this article, we’ll show you how you can use essential oils for fruit flies.
Well, to get rid of them, that is…
Essential Oils For Fruit Flies
The fruit fly is an annoying insect, especially considering its incredibly tiny size. They reproduce rapidly. They are most active during the summer season when warm and moist temperatures allow for their proliferation in your home environment.
The fruit fly is an annoying insect, considering its incredibly tiny size. They reproduce rapidly. They are most active during the summer season when warm and moist temperatures allow for their proliferation in your home environment.
Fruit flies are especially drawn to overripe and/or decaying fruit, hence their name! But any other organic produce that contains sugar or fructose will also attract these tiny beasts, including open bottles of wine. You can use this as bait to make a homemade fruit fly trap.
Fruit flies also hang out near drains, especially near piles of dirty dishes, and garbage, where there is decaying organic material and scraps of food residue. They may even congregate on your mirror, where they are probably attracted fruity scents from your hair care products that misted on to the mriror.
These places are also where they lay their eggs, sometimes up to 500 at a time, when they find a suitable spot. And the larvae can hatch within days, creating a new swarm of fruit flies that will cause havoc in your home.
So, to begin getting rid of them, you’ll need to throw out any overripe fruit, keep your kitchen counters clean of any spills, and empty your trash can daily.
In addition, if you have anything open that is sugary in substance, including condiment bottles, then you’ll need to refrigerate them or put them in sealed containers. Fruit flies will be attracted to anything that ferments.
So, to begin getting rid of them, you’ll need to throw out any overripe fruit, keep your kitchen counters clean of any spills, and empty your trash can daily.
The most common ways people control a fruit fly infestation are by scrubbing down surfaces with detergents like ammonia and bleach, as well as pouring these cleaners down any drains that may be infested.
However, these harsh chemicals aren’t needed to do the job properly.
Luckily though, there are more natural ways you can use to remove these pests from your home, and that includes using essential oils.
The great thing about using essential oils to get rid of fruit flies, is that you can either make a homemade bug spray or diffuse them to add a pleasant scent to your home that will also keep fruit flies at bay.
So, let’s take a look at the properties of the best essential oils to use for fruit flies…
1. Cedarwood
Cedarwood has a balsamic, sweet, and woody aroma that also gives off a subtle hint of spice. It is known as a great sanitizer for surfaces, which is why in the Far East, cedarwood essential oil is used as an insect repellent floor cleaner. It also repels pests like fruit flies, termites, bees, mosquitoes, flies, and even cockroaches!
2. Cinnamon
The essential oil derived from cinnamon bark is another great insect repellant. It works especially well to get rid of fruit flies, ants, mosquitoes, and even bed bugs. They all hate the smell.
However, cinnamon essential oil is also toxic to fruit flies, so they will definitely stay away from your home.
3. Citronella
Fruit flies also hate the smell of citronella, which has a strong and very sharp citrus scent that is also well known for keeping annoying mosquitoes from biting you.
If you make a homemade fruit fly spray (see our recipe below) that includes citronella, you can even use it as a natural insect repellent for yourself when dusk comes and the mosquitoes come out.
4. Clove
Many consider clove essential oil to be one of the best for getting rid of a fruit fly infestation. It works fairly quickly when mixed with any of the other essential oils that we’ve mentioned here.
5. Eucalyptus
The strong and fresh astringent scent of eucalyptus essential oil is very soothing for humans, but is extremely disliked by fruit flies. This makes it a great natural deterrent.
Again, it works especially well when it’s combined with any of the other essential oils that we’ve mentioned.
6. Lavender
The fragrant and pleasant scent of lavender makes this another great essential oil for repelling fruit flies, which hate the smell, even though it is slightly sweet.
By using lavender essential oil in an oil diffuser, you will regain a scene of peace and calm in your home, while also keeping these pests away from your kitchen.
7. Rosemary
An Italian research study published in 2012 found that the essential oil of rosemary was remarkably toxic to adult Mediterranean fruit flies.
Rosemary’s pleasant and fresh evergreen scent is also great for humans, as it calms the nervous system while energizing the mind.
8. Tea Tree
Because of its very strong astringent smell, tea tree essential oil is considered to be one of the best essential oils to get rid of fruit flies. In fact, it has been used for centuries as a natural insecticide, because it is also effective against pests like some varieties of mosquitoes and cockroaches.
Washing kitchen cloths in a tea tree solution, which you can use to clean counters, will help to repel fruit flies in your home.
Make Your Own Essential Oil Fruit Fly Spray
If you want to get a bit creative and make your own homemade essential oil fruit fly spray, which will also help to deter other annoying pests from invading your kitchen, then combine the following ingredients in a spray bottle:
- 1 cup of apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup of witch hazel
- 40 drops of the above-mentioned essential oils, which you can mix and match to suit your own preference.
You can use this homemade concoction to spray down your kitchen countertops, as well as the sink area and drains.
And if you clean and spray inside of your trash bins before putting in the garbage bags, this will help to further deter fruit flies from gathering and laying eggs.
Fly Away
If you’ve been plagued by a fruit fly infestation, you now know where to turn: essential oils. Using essential oils for fruit flies is an easy and natural way to not only get rid of these tiny pests, but you will notice a difference within a day or two if you use the oils mentioned above to do it.
And what’s not to like about that? We do hope that you found this article helpful so that you can prevent another fruit fly attack from invading your home.
