You can kill drain fly eggs and larva by pouring a mixture of salt, baking soda, and white vinegar down your drain. You can also capture and kill adult drain flies by making traps baited with apple cider vinegar. A mixture of white vinegar and dish soap in a spray bottle kills drain flies as soon as you spray it on them. Finally, if you have drain flies in outdoor areas, you can make a homemade bug repellent out of vinegar, water, and dish soap.
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How Long Does it Take to Get Rid of Drain Flies with Vinegar?
You can kill drain flies within seconds or days using vinegar, depending on the method you use. Spraying a mixture of white vinegar and dish soap onto adult drain flies kills them almost instantly. Pouring a vinegar, salt, and baking soda mixture down your drain can kill drain flies overnight. Apple cider vinegar traps lure drain flies over time, but can wipe out an entire population of invasive flies in just 2–3 days,
4 Tips to Exterminate Drain Flies with Vinegar
Vinegar is a natural, inexpensive, and effective way to kill drain flies. If you want to eradicate drain flies fast without using any chemicals or pesticides, use these vinegar solutions:
Vinegar Drain Cleaner
As their name implies, drain flies love drains. In fact, they lay their eggs in drains where residual water has allowed the bacteria-laden film to grow on the walls of the pipes. When the eggs hatch, drain fly larvae feed on this bacteria before transforming into adult flies. To get rid of drain flies and kill the bacteria inside your plumbing, use this vinegar-based drain cleaner:
- Pour 1 cup of baking soda (128 g) into the drain that is infested with flies.
- Mix 1 cup of vinegar (240 ml) with ½ cup of salt (74 g).
- Pour the salt and vinegar solution into the drain.
- Allow the solution to foam and work overnight.
- The next day, bring 8 cups of water (2 liters) to a boil.
- Pour the boiling water down the drain.
Once you pour the vinegar down the drain, it will react with the baking soda to create a vinegar foam that fills the drain pipe. The acetic acid in the vinegar will kill drain fly eggs, larva, and the bacteria in the drain. The boiling water adds a little extra power to make sure all the drain flies are dead. This solution is one of our top ways to get rid of drain flies.
Vinegar Traps
You can capture and kill adult drain flies with apple cider vinegar. Killing adult drain flies gets rid of the buzzing nuisance in your home. It also prevents the drain fly infestation from continuing by killing adult flies before they return to their breeding ground. Here’s how to make these simple—but effective—traps.
- Fill 2–3 bowls halfway with apple cider vinegar.
- Add a few drops of dish soap to each bowl.
- Cover each bowl with plastic wrap.
- Use a rubber band around the outside of the bowl to keep the plastic wrap in place.
- Poke 4–5 holes in the plastic wrap with a pencil or pen.
- Place the bowls in the rooms where drain flies are congregating.
Drain flies will be drawn to the smell of the apple cider vinegar and enter the trap through the small holes in the plastic wrap. Then, the flies will be unable to leave. They’ll fall into the apple cider vinegar and drown. The dish soap helps to prevent drain flies from escaping the vinegar. This trick also works well for other bugs. If you have a fruit fly infestation, they will also be drawn to apple cider vinegar traps.
Vinegar Spray Bug Killer
The acetic acid in vinegar is strong enough to kill drain flies on contact. So, there’s no need to spend money on a chemical bug spray. All you need is white vinegar, dish soap, and an empty spray bottle. Here’s how to make your own bug-killing spray:
- Pour white vinegar into a spray bottle.
- Add 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of dish soap to the spray bottle.
- Cap the spray bottle and shake vigorously to mix the vinegar and soap.
- Spray the mixture directly onto drain flies to kill them in seconds.
Simply keep this spray handy in the room that has been invaded by drain flies (also known as sewer flies, moth flies, and filter flies). Whenever you spot an adult drain fly, spray it with the vinegar mix. Within a few seconds, the fly will be killed by the vinegar.
Vinegar Bug Repellent
Although apple cider vinegar lures drain flies into traps, white vinegar repels these insects. If drain flies are congregating in your yard, place an open container containing a mixture of vinegar, water, and soap in the area to drive off the flies. Here’s how:
- Fill a bucket or other container halfway with water.
- Fill the remainder of the bucket with white vinegar.
- Add a few tablespoons (10–20 ml) of dish soap to the container.
- Set the open container in the area of your yard infested with drain flies—the scent of the vinegar will drive them off.
If you have drain flies outside, it’s only a matter of time before they invade your home. To prevent this, it’s a good idea to find out what is attracting them and eliminate the problem. Standing water in a bucket can provide a breeding ground for drain flies. Moist compost heaps, soggy areas of your yard, and leaking septic tanks also contribute to drain fly infestations. Dump out any containers that have standing water, consider moving your compost heap to a protected bin, and make sure your septic tank is properly serviced to ensure drain flies avoid your yard, even without the help of vinegar.
Will White Vinegar Attract Drain Flies?
White vinegar does not attract drain flies. In fact, it repels drain flies. Open containers of vinegar are a great way to keep drain flies out of your home and yard without resorting to chemicals. If you want to attract drain flies to traps or fly strips, use apple cider vinegar. The sweet smell of the apple cider will draw drain flies closer, making it easy to capture and kill them.
Will Vinegar Kill Drain Flies?
Vinegar is a great tool for killing drain flies. In fact, there are several ways to use vinegar to fight back against flies gathering near sink drains or a bathroom drain. The best tactics are:
- Make a foaming drain cleaner from baking soda, salt, and vinegar to kill drain fly eggs and larvae in your drain.
- Make traps with apple cider vinegar to lure and drown drain flies.
- Spray a mixture of white vinegar and dish soap onto adult drain flies to kill them instantly.
- Place open containers with a mixture of vinegar, water, and dish soap in outdoor areas to drive off drain flies.
Drain flies are a frustrating nuisance, but you can kill them quickly by using vinegar in a variety of ways. This makes it easy and cheap to get rid of invasive drain flies without calling an exterminator.
