At best, they’re annoying, hovering in your peripheral vision. At worst, they’ll multiply into swarms, carrying germs as they go. That’s why learning how to get rid of fruit flies is vital, especially if you love a countertop fruit bowl. “They especially love fruit bowls because their favorite food is acetic acid, the main component of fruit fermentation,” says Tracey Brooks of Wondercide, an Austin-based company that makes plant-powered pesticides. “They voraciously feed on fermenting foods, sweet foods (like nectar), and yeast—compost piles are their Disneyland,” she says.

To keep these pests from making you bug out (not-so-fun fact: adult fruit flies can each lay around 400–500 eggs during their lifespan, and eggs hatch within hours), we talked to Brooks about how to avoid them and what to do if you already have a fruit fly problem.

We’ve already mentioned that fruit, especially rotten fruit, is a breeding ground for fruit flies. Brooks points out that acetic acid can also be found in vinegar, wine, and yeast, which is why these flying insects are also attracted to those foods. Essentially, she says, “They love anything that’s yeasty and starting to ferment.”

That means that even if you keep your fruit bowl fresh, you might be attracting flies with cocktails and open containers of wine, uncovered charcuterie boards, and even empty cans or jars in your recycling bin. Even mini morsels can be problematic. “Tiny food crumbs left on your kitchen sponge or countertop are a feast for the fruit fly,” says Brooks.

The good news is that fruit flies don’t bite or sting, and they don’t spread diseases to humans. However, they can carry bacteria from dirty surfaces (such as your garbage cans) to clean ones (like that crisp apple in your fruit bowl), so they can contaminate your food. The bacteria they can carry includes listeria, E. coli, and salmonella. That’s why it’s important to get rid of them as soon as they appear. It’s also a good reminder to always wash your produce before eating it, even if you’re just grabbing it from a container on your countertop.

Fruit flies rarely go away without some intervention. As mentioned earlier, fruit flies reproduce fast. “One female fruit fly can lay approximately 500 eggs,” says Brooks. “So the little ones will quickly appear in your home and then start to breed themselves. And so on. Worst case, you’ll be overrun with thousands and thousands of fruit flies in your home.” That’s why getting rid of these buggers at the first sign of an issue, then keeping your home spick-and-span, is the best way to go. “Fruit flies also carry germs and can cause some pretty bad health issues,” says Brooks. “So keeping them off the food you eat and surfaces you touch is a top priority.”

Because “the more the merrier” definitely doesn’t apply to these annoying insects, you’ll probably want to bid them adieu—permanently. The most common way to kill fruit flies is to drown them in a DIY mix of dish soap and vinegar. Though if you don’t want to go the DIY route, there are ready-made traps you can buy to do the deed. Another method is to use rubbing alcohol. Here’s more on how to make each method happen.

There are a number of DIY fruit fly traps you can create using simple household ingredients. Consider the following four methods.

You can make a straightforward fruit fly trap with items that you likely already own: vinegar and dish soap.

• A fourth of a cup of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
• A few drops of dish soap
• A container to hold your liquid bait

1. Mix: To create a DIY fruit fly trap, mix a quarter cup of either apple cider vinegar or white vinegar with a few drops of dish soap.
2. Set the trap: Leave the mixture on a counter or surface near fruit fly activity. The idea is that the irresistible vinegar attracts the fruit flies, while the soap breaks the vinegar’s surface tension and drowns them.
3. Wait: Soon you should see dead fruit flies in the liquid.
4. Repeat: Clean your vessel and remake the mixture every few days.

Tip: You can even find vessels made specifically to hold DIY bait, including a dish that has a lid perforated with small holes and a faux fruit option.

Don’t have vinegar on hand? Don’t stress. In a bind, you can use overripe fruit and a small piece of plastic wrap to make an easy fruit fly trap.

• A chunk of overripe fruit
• A piece of plastic wrap
• A glass or small bowl
• A rubber band
• A toothpick

1. Add fruit: Place the fruit (a banana, chunk of melon, or an apple are all great) in a glass or small bowl.
2. Cover: Cover the opening of your container with plastic wrap that’s stretched taut. Use a rubber band to secure the wrap.
3. Poke: Use a toothpick to poke a few tiny holes in the plastic wrap so that the flies can get in (lured by the fruit), but they won’t be able to easily escape.
4. Set: Place your trap nearest to where you’re noticing the infestation—whether it’s the kitchen sink, trash can, or a fruit bowl—and give it about 12 hours to do its job. Better yet, place a few traps around the room to be even more effective.
5. Repeat: Clean, remake, and reset the trap every few days until the infestation goes away.

The idea here is the same as the vinegar and dish soap trap, but the materials are different. In this case, you’ll create a trap with a funnel that’s easy to enter, but tricky for fruit flies to escape.

• Vinegar or a piece of overripe fruit
• A glass or small bowl
• Sheet of paper
• Scissors

1. Add bait: Once again you’ll use either vinegar or overripe fruit as bait, placing it at the bottom of a glass.
2. Create a cone: Roll a piece of paper into a cone and give the tip a tiny snip, creating a slight opening. Put your cone in the glass tip side down, leaving a few inches between the paper and your bait.
3. Set trap: Place the trap near your sink, trash can, fruit bowl, or other location where you’ve seen fruit flies.
4. Repeat: Clean, remake, and reset the trap every few days.

We call this method the “alcohol spritz.” While it might sound like you’re hosting these unwanted houseguests for a cocktail party, it’s actually a quick and lethal way to clear them out.

• Rubbing alcohol
• A spray bottle

1. Fill spray bottle: Add 91% isopropyl alcohol to a spray bottle.
2. Spray: Spritz directly on fruit flies. Try to avoid spraying your fruit in the process. Not only should you avoid consuming rubbing alcohol, it can also damage the fruit’s skin and make it spoil much faster

Bonus tip: Spray the mixture in your drain, around your trash can, or other areas you’ve seen fruit flies. In addition to killing live bugs, it also kills their eggs and larvae, so you’ll be sure to avoid a new batch of bugs cropping up.

If you don’t want to go the DIY route, there are also a number of premade traps available to purchase. Wondercide makes a plant-powered Fruit Fly Trap, which the company says works quickly and remains effective for up to three weeks. It’s a self-contained solution that you’ll simply pop open and place on your kitchen counter. If the container doesn’t quite go with your kitchen aesthetic, Brooks recommends repurposing an empty candle jar to hold your Wondercide. Additionally, Wondercide makes an Indoor Pest Control spray that kills and repels fruit flies, in addition to ants, roaches, spiders, and moths.

Aunt Fannie’s FlyPunch! Fruit Fly Trap, available on Amazon, is another countertop solution. It uses a specialized blend of vinegar and fermentation to lure and eradicate the produce-loving pests. The container resembles a spice jar, so it’s not entirely out of place in the kitchen.

If you have tried the above methods but are still surrounded by little bugs, you might have gnats. “Fruit flies are closely related to gnats, but belong to a different insect order,” says Brooks. “In fact, fruit flies and fungus gnats are similar in size and both cause many of the same issues inside the home, so they’re often confused for one another.”

They do have differences in appearance. Fruit flies are usually brownish with large, red eyes and oval bodies. Fungus gnats, on the other hand, are dark gray or black with small eyes and longer bodies, resembling small mosquitoes. But because fruit flies are only about an eighth of an inch as adults, it might be more helpful to assess where they hang out rather than the way they look. Brooks says, “You’ll find fruit flies around ripening fruit and sinks. You’ll typically find fungus gnats around the soil of houseplants.”

The above methods should solve your fruit fly problem and should help reduce gnats too. You can also place sticky traps in your plant’s soil as an extra line of defense against gnats.

Just because you’re in the open air doesn’t mean you have to invite fruit flies to your next barbecue or picnic. If you’re dining alfresco, place one of the traps mentioned above on your patio or picnic table. Additionally, if you have an outdoor outlet, plugging an oscillating fan in can be super effective at keeping the bugs at bay since they don’t do well flying into strong breezes. Lighting a citronella candle or two will also help since, like mosquitos, fruit flies are repelled by the scent. If you’re headed to a picnic and don’t want to lug traps, fans, or candles (understandable), add a few drops of citronella oil to a cloth napkin and place it near your fruit bowl or bottle of wine for an easy and super portable repellent.

Fruit flies can’t stand the scent of herbs, such as rosemary, mint, basil, lemongrass, and lavender. “If you have a green thumb,” Brooks says, “bring these fragrant plants into a container garden inside your kitchen.” Hang fresh sprigs in your kitchen, or grind up herbs and keep a small dish on your counter—especially near your fruit bowl—to keep these pests at bay.

Another idea is to grow a small herb garden in your kitchen. You’ll get natural pest control and fresh ingredients for your cooking. Likewise, consider growing fresh herbs in your garden near your patio to maintain a fly-free zone near outdoor dining.

Other scents that are particularly off-putting to fruit flies are essential oils, including peppermint, eucalyptus, lemongrass, and tea tree. Add an essential oil to a diffuser, or mix one with water and add the solution to a spray bottle to spritz around your home. Here’s a bonus: It’s not only fruit flies that are repelled by essential oils. Many insects can’t stand the scent. So you’ll also be keeping ants, spiders, moths, and mosquitos at bay at the same time.

If you want to prevent a fruit fly infestation in the future, get rid of all pest food sources—including overripe fruit, past-their-prime veggies, fruit juice, and empty wine bottles—in the first place. You’ll also want to keep fresh produce, snacks, and any red wine on your bar cart covered.

• Get rid of overripe fruit. Why taunt fruit flies in the first place? Once your produce is past its peak, get rid of it. You’ll immediately avoid a major fruit fly magnet.
• Keep countertops clean. Sometimes we focus only on the largest pieces of fruit fly bait, like the whole banana or peach in your fruit bowl. But don’t overlook small crumbs or spills on your countertops and tables. “Since fruit flies can smell the odor of rotting food, keep your kitchen spotless and you’ll greatly reduce your chances of attracting these bugs,” says Brooks. Keep all surfaces—including your floors—tidy, wiping them down with soap and water or a kitchen cleaner.
• Wash produce thoroughly: Brooks also adds that you’ll want to be sure you don’t bring stowaways home from the farmers market. “Wash produce you bring home from the grocery store and keep what you can in the refrigerator away from the fruit flies. Wash produce before eating it to ensure you’re getting rid of fruit fly eggs that might be on the surface.”
• Clean kitchen drains. Garbage disposals and sink drains can also collect food scraps, aka fruit fly buffets. Wipe down your sink and drain areas as regularly as you do your countertops. You can also clean your garbage disposal by adding a cup each of baking soda, white vinegar (once again, vinegar for the win!), and boiling hot water. This will clean out any potential fruit fly temptations.
• Keep a tidy fridge. Your refrigerator should be a bug-free zone because its seal keeps fruit flies from getting in, and they can’t survive in the interior’s cold temperature. However, spills on the exterior of the fridge can attract these pests, so make sure the door, handle, and gasket areas are all wiped down. If you do notice fruit flies buzzing around your crisper drawer it’s also worth making sure you’re fully closing the fridge and that the door’s seal is intact.
• Wipe down your bar cart. As mentioned earlier, fruit flies are big fans of red wine. They’re also attracted to beer and any other fermented drink. If you have a bar cart, make sure you keep it clean. Also, be sure to keep opened bottles of wine covered and the sides of bottles free of any residual dripping.
• Check your garbage cans. A haven for spoiled and sticky food, your garbage and recycling cans are like Disneyland for fruit flies. Take your garbage and recyclables out regularly and wipe down any residual spills or crumbs.
• Repair screens and windows. Check for holes in screens and any cracks around window sills so you avoid making it extra easy for flies to enter your space. If you have a window air conditioner, you’ll also want to check the seal around its perimeter for any gaps.
• Avoid purchasing damaged produce. Be sure to fully inspect produce at the grocery store or farmer’s market before bringing it home. Otherwise, fruit flies may be hitching a ride right into your home.