Are all kinds of vinegar more or less the same?

[kenny1999]

I watched a video on Youtube suggesting that a mixture of vinegar, tablespoon sugar and dish-washing detergent will trap and kill common flies. I don't normally use vinegar and I don't understand vinegar very well. I can see that there are many different names for vinegar in supermarket. Are they more or less the same? Will one attract flies while another doesn't?

By the way, I found another method which was to make a mixture of cheap beer and white sugar. I think it's easier to do with only cheap beer and white sugar, but will this method work as effective as the first method? (i.e. vinegar+sugar+detergent)

[pzkpfw]

I just did a quick google, and all the first hits suggest apple cider vinegar. Easily bought in any relevant shop.

Maybe the "fruitiness" is what attracts the flies?

Having said that, they are fruit flies, not common house flies.

(I agree with iNow.)

 

Edited June 5 by pzkpfw

[zapatos]

30 minutes ago, kenny1999 said:

I watched a video on Youtube suggesting that a mixture of vinegar, tablespoon sugar and dish-washing detergent will trap and kill common flies. I don't normally use vinegar and I don't understand vinegar very well. I can see that there are many different names for vinegar in supermarket. Are they more or less the same? Will one attract flies while another doesn't?

By the way, I found another method which was to make a mixture of cheap beer and white sugar. I think it's easier to do with only cheap beer and white sugar, but will this method work as effective as the first method? (i.e. vinegar+sugar+detergent)

As we generate a lot of produce from our garden it is not uncommon for us to occasionally have a fruit fly problem. I have never found any of the vinegar, beer, detergent, etc. methods to be useful. We have only found that immediately disposing of any imperfect produce will result in fewer fruit flies. One caveat though; if you cannot find why you keep having fruit flies after clearing out any bad produce, it is likely they are breeding in your sink's drain. Simply pour in boiling water a few times a day and in a couple of days they will be gone.

[pzkpfw]

I just remembered a detergent-only method described in a Kurt Vonnegut book (for common house flies):

You fill a bowl with soap bubbles. Raise the bowl up towards a fly sitting on the ceiling. The fly drops a little before trying to fly away - and falls into and is caught by the bubbles.

(Amusing in the book, no idea if anyone ever tries that.)

 

[zapatos]

34 minutes ago, pzkpfw said:

I just remembered a detergent-only method described in a Kurt Vonnegut book (for common house flies):

You fill a bowl with soap bubbles. Raise the bowl up towards a fly sitting on the ceiling. The fly drops a little before trying to fly away - and falls into and is caught by the bubbles.

(Amusing in the book, no idea if anyone ever tries that.)

 

With horse flies you can slowly approach it from above, moving your finger in a circle as you descend, then when close enough just squish it!

[iNow]

2 hours ago, zapatos said:

With horse flies you can slowly approach it from above, moving your finger in a circle as you descend, then when close enough just squish it!

Old house in Texas. Had a fly like this land on a bay window in the kitchen. Discovered quickly that day it was single pain glass when I smushed the fly with my now bleeding thumb. Taught myself that weekend how to glaze a new pane into a bay window.  And squished the fly, so it was basically pure win. 

[zapatos]

4 minutes ago, iNow said:

Old house in Texas. Had a fly like this land on a bay window in the kitchen. Discovered quickly that day it was single pain glass when I smushed the fly with my now bleeding thumb. Taught myself that weekend how to glaze a new pane into a bay window.  And squished the fly, so it was basically pure win. 

😂

[TheVat]

Time flies like the wind,

fruit flies like a banana.

 

 

[John Cuthber]

"Are all kinds of vinegar more or less the same?".
Yes, but I checked once and discovered that my local supermarket was selling Balsamic vinegar at a higher price pre litre than the champagne.

Fruit flies are typically attracted to alcohol which is released by decaying fruit, but also present in vinegar.
It would be interesting to compare it with "non brewed condiment" in that regard.

[exchemist]

On 6/6/2024 at 1:37 AM, iNow said:

Old house in Texas. Had a fly like this land on a bay window in the kitchen. Discovered quickly that day it was single pain glass when I smushed the fly with my now bleeding thumb. Taught myself that weekend how to glaze a new pane into a bay window.  And squished the fly, so it was basically pure win. 

"single pain" appears to be a Freudian slip.😄

[iNow]

6 hours ago, exchemist said:

"single pain" appears to be a Freudian slip.😄

I noticed it too, and left it bc it made me laugh ✌️

[LuckyR]

My understanding is that the fruit you bring in the house already has fruit fly eggs on it so rather than washing the fruit right before consumption (thereby allowing the eggs to hatch on the counter), rinse off the fruit right after bringing them into the house.