Two common mistakes are welcoming swarms of fruit flies into your home

Fruit flies are a nuisance to deal with – especially when you’re trying to enjoy a meal at home.

If their incessant buzzing wasn’t already enough to drive you around the bend, these pesky insects aim to land on your food and vomit, with the fluid breaking it down into something they can actually ingest themselves.

But fear not – one cleaning guru is here to help. The TikToker known as Amanda Rose has shone a light on the surprising ways we may be unintentionally inviting them in.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this all boils down to the way we store our food and keep kitchen waste which are both tasty dinner options for fruit flies. “Tis the season to kill fruit flies […] demolish them,” she said (@_amanduhh__), before zooming in on a sink clogged with food.

“If your garbage disposal looks anything like mine and you have fruit laying around that you haven’t thrown away that’s getting old, most likely you have fruit flies by now […] Today I’m going to show you everything that I’m going to do to get rid of these fruit flies that aren’t paying rent.”

First up, Amanda targeted her unclean sink which she believes is a big perk for fruit flies. Grabbing white vinegar, baking soda and a pot of boiling water, she worked to unclog it.

“So, the very first thing, cleaning up the kitchen drain,” she explained. “This is the main source, fruit flies can make nests down here and live off of the food in your drain. So, what I did first was shove a ton of baking soda down there.

“I boiled white vinegar and poured the vinegar down my drain. I’m sure some people will comment ‘vinegar and baking soda cancel each other out’. Yeah, don’t mind them. See the bubbles? It’s cleaning – also boiled hot water and poured that down just to ensure I got all the baking soda. It’s good as new.”

Next up, Amanda worked to employ some fly traps. While you can buy various traps at DIY stores, there are a few easy ways to make them at home using just a couple of cupboard ingredients.

This includes apple cider vinegar which Amanda claimed to be the best solution of all. She went on: “I used raw apple cider vinegar put Saran wrap over it, poked holes on top so they cannot get out. And so far, this way has been the most effective way to kill them.

“Now for the last [trap], I used white vinegar and dish soap and left it uncovered.”

This was quick to garner attention on TikTok, with various viewers chiming in with their own homemade solutions. One person wrote: “Y’all boiling water down your drains 2x a day until they’re gone! They lay eggs in the drains so boiling water washes it out.”

Meanwhile, another added: “Apple cider vinegar has always worked for us too!”, as someone else joked: “Fruit flies be having keys to your house or something.”