Why do restaurant fly lights and cleaning fail to stop flies?
Fly lights and standard cleaning routines like mopping floors and wiping tables miss the hidden breeding sources where flies reproduce, such as drains or incoming food deliveries. This ongoing infestation persists in kitchens and dining spaces despite daily maintenance, driving owners to constantly search for root causes.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Using fly lightsDid this help you?
- 2Mopping floorsDid this help you?
- 3Wiping down tablesDid this help you?
- 4making simple apple cider vinegar traps with a few drops of dish soapDid this help you?
- 5Mixing water, apple cider vinegar, and a drop of dish soap inside a cup with a paper funnel coneDid this help you?
- 6Adding a piece of ripe fruit or wine into the trap instead of white vinegarDid this help you?
- 7Pouring boiling water or specialized treatments down drainsDid this help you?
- 8Using a store-bought electronic plug-in fly trapDid this help you?
- 9Trapping them in a jar with a piece of banana and plastic wrap poked with small holesDid this help you?
- 10Using UV light traps with glue boardsDid this help you?
- 11Installing high-voltage zappers in storage and back areasDid this help you?
- 12Using PVC strip curtains or air curtains at entrancesDid this help you?
- 13Swatting flies one by oneDid this help you?
- 14putting out dishsoap/apple cider vinegar trapsDid this help you?
- 15taking apart the pipes to look for rotting foodDid this help you?
- 16boil water and pour it down the drainDid this help you?
- 17Using apple cider vinegar with dish soap trapsDid this help you?
- 18Using plugin insect trapsDid this help you?
- 19Covering drainsDid this help you?
- 20Cleaning with bleach waterDid this help you?
- 21Using vinegarDid this help you?
- 22Setting apple trapsDid this help you?
- 23Using fly stripsDid this help you?
- 24Considering a bug bombDid this help you?
- 25Mixing apple cider vinegar with dish soap in a containerDid this help you?
- 26Using beer, red wine, or white wine as liquid baitDid this help you?
- 27Mixing instant yeast with warm water to create bubbling aromaticsDid this help you?
- 28Using sourdough starter mixed with waterDid this help you?
- 29Leaving an open bottle of witch hazel in the infested roomDid this help you?
- 30Using apple cider vinegar trapsDid this help you?
- 31Pouring boiling water, bleach, or enzyme cleaners down drainsDid this help you?
- 32Covering drains at night to test for breeding sourcesDid this help you?
- 33Using plug-in flying insect trapsDid this help you?
- 34Killing adults with an electric bug zapper racquetDid this help you?
- 35Sucking the flies up with a vacuum cleanerDid this help you?
- 36Trying the vinegar trap methodDid this help you?
- 37Setting up UV light trapsDid this help you?
- 38Manually killing the fliesDid this help you?
- 39Deep cleaning windows and doorsDid this help you?
- 40Locating and fixing hidden drain leaks or moisture buildupDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Last month I had a serious fruit fly infestation at home so I set up basic DIY traps I found on the internet”source ↗
“I had a forgotten banana situation and once the banana was dealt with about a thousand fruit flies drowned in a bottle of witch hazel I left open in the bathroom.”source ↗
“I used some of my sourdough starter mixed in water when I wasn’t happy with the results from apple cider vinegar.”source ↗
“Fun story, at home growing up we had a huge fruit fly problem, so for my fifth grade science project, I decided to try and see what entices them the most.”source ↗
“We had a fruit fly 'bloom' at my dad's. They went from nothing to super annoying over 2 days and were all hanging out in one spot.”source ↗
“i tried the soap + white vinegar "hack" didnt work, i tried it in various different formulas/ratios and they just kept landing on the rim of the cup/bowl so it didnt not work at all.”source ↗
“the most annoying thing is that they are in my bedroom, amd i have hoovered, cleaned surfaces with bleach, cleaned / shampoo'ed the carpet, empited out all drawers and cupboards but there is nothing”source ↗
“I’ve been struggling with a resurgence of flies after almost completely getting rid of them- then this happened- just now I was washing the dishes, and I had a scrub daddy sponge in the sink besides the one I was using. I went to move it and SO MANY flies came crawling out of it!!!”source ↗
“WE HAVE A HORRIBLE FRUIT FLY INFESTATION!!! I am so freaked out I could pack up and leave.”source ↗
“I put a little apple shaped thing I bought with apple cider vinegar in it in the kitchen and master bath - where the problems are. They seem to work but they are definitely not keeping up with this volume!!!”source ↗
“Like where are they coming from? How are they getting in? Pest control companies won’t help?”source ↗
“these fruit flies have gotten into my house and I’m panicking.”source ↗
“There has to be at least a hundred in here and I know they multiply fast. WHAT DO I DO??”source ↗
“I did the stupid ACV with dish soap that never works and I have a single xevo plugin. But there’s so…many…”source ↗
“Hi i recently took over additional space with full kitchen and tables. We have fly lights but still seem to have issues. We mop floors and wipe down tables Any suggestions ?”source ↗
“These have been hanging around in my bathroom, saw some in the kitchen too. What’s causing them?”source ↗
“Running a back-of-house space (or managing one) and flies are a constant fight, sprays aren't great around food prep, and swatting one-by-one obviously doesn't scale.”source ↗
“I was gone from my apt for a week, and got fruit flies. I have tried everything. Covering drains, cleaning everything with bleach water, vinegar, the apple traps, fly strips etc.. NOTHING is working. There are so many now.”source ↗
“over the past couple weeks I have noticed these little phorid flies increasing in number.”source ↗
“I can sit there and kill like 50 of them over a short period of time and they just keep spawning more, its making me feel so crazy and so disgusting.”source ↗
“I feel like im going crazy I kill sooooo many every day.”source ↗
Where this came up
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