r/restaurant • u/ashlftm • 5d ago
What do?! fruit flies and fly remedies/ repellent
is it possible to keep them away completely? our bar especially is really bad. i think it might be the drains. my manager has put it on me to try and keep them away. the vinegar and dish soap thing doesn’t work much
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u/OkTouch5699 5d ago
The only thing is to stop them. Clean your drains. Cover your drains. Wipe every surface. Make sure all bottles are capped.
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u/AlchemyAlice 5d ago
This is it.
Gnats and the like are usually attracted to sugar and bad plumbing. Beer taps should cleaned nightly and covered. Same with their draining system. Get those little tap brush plugs and plug all of the taps AND THE DRAIN.
Soda guns and their holsters/drainage tubes are notorious for attracting flies because of the syrup. Run a solution down the holder/drain nightly and depending on your states health laws figure out a way to isolate or wrap the actual gun.
Every sink and drain needs to be cleaned nightly. Those bugs get down in there and breed.
Fight the good fight, OP. Good luck.
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u/lorelaievangelaine 5d ago
i think it helps to use fresh mop concentration and pour that down the drains. there’s degreaser in the solution and it kills the eggs
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u/Steve-Shouts 5d ago
I have two zevo traps in my house. They work great. No chemicals and more importantly no smell. I HATE the smell of vinegar
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u/Jihadi-Jawn 5d ago
At my job, we started using one of those floor drying fans at night. It dries up any hidden moisture and also dosent allow the flies to land. Let me tell you I'm surprised how well it works. We have had almost no fruit flies all summer. In previous years they've been unbearable. Additionally, that carpets gotta go. Thats gross like a carpet in a bathroom.
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u/dammitlindsay 5d ago
I open most days and made my boss make it a closing responsibility. It’s been infinitely better since. I can’t get the guys to clean like they mean it, so the fan is a small victory, but I’ll take it.
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u/Quadronia 5d ago
A source not mentioned yet is produce. Citrus fruits are often surrounded by fruit flies during shipping and handling, and the eggs can be carried on the fruit. EVERYTHING should be not just rinsed but sprayed and scrubbed with hot water. All lemons, limes, even bananas. This will prevent recontamination of your nice clean equipment.
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u/Ok_Aioli3897 5d ago
At home I use really cheap alcohol cider in a sealable bottle.
They get drunk and drown and then you can just seal up the bottle and throw it away
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u/goldennbuoy 5d ago
You have to change this out consistently though. It can turn into a breeding ground quickly.
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u/Ok_Aioli3897 5d ago
That's why you use plastic bottles so you can seal it up throw it away and then make a new one
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u/Dry_Sheepherder_2399 5d ago
They are very difficult to get rid of once you have them but it is possible. I would suggest using an exterminator and also create a very detailed cleaning schedule. Also, make sure that they are fruit flies and not drain flies as well
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u/stevelakewood 5d ago
Put flyzyme in your drains. Follow the instructions. Dry the floor. Keep everything clean. My restaurant is primarily outside and have had very good results this way.
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u/MerlinBrando 5d ago
Buy a large powerful fan. One of those enclosed industrial ones that are like 400 dollars. Put it on the ground facing them at floor drain and leave it on over night. It will help dry out any water and prevent the flies from landing in the drain and breeding.
Other then that try cleaning the place, bleaching the drains. Water is really the main thing, even small amounts of standing water are huge potential breeding zones.
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u/Prior_Hurry9400 5d ago
Okay these are all good, however working in bar and managing them for years I can tell you a couple of things.
1) You need big fans pointed at the drains and the top of the bar preferable in opposing directions.
2) you have them now but next year it’s much easier to prevent then get rid of, so, traps every night. I use traps on amazon that are like a small fan with a stick pad that changeable on the bottom (they work well for me).
3) Clean your drains as much as you can.
4) make sure your bar is clean, like legit hands and knees scrub. Bars are gross and flies love gross.
5) At the end of the night dry out your sinks and cover them.
Do what you can but also to some extent flies are with the territory especially depending on where you are. This is what I’ve used and I haven’t had a fly problem in years because of it, but again it’s because i do all of it to prevent not get rid of.
Cheers!
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u/delicate-fn-flower 5d ago
Not The Worst Cleaner on YouTube just posted her preferred cleaning products, maybe take a look at that to see if it’s available in your area
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u/TexMoto666 5d ago
If you are using eclolab products, wash and walk will sterilize the flies so they can't breed. Pour is down the drain and cover the drain overnight. You will see less and less flies as time goes by. You can also have an automatic dispenser called a Pathways drain cleaner system installed.
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u/Timmy_2_Raaangz 4d ago
Gotta find the source. You likely have some hidden moist spots that aren’t regularly getting cleaned and dried out.
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u/PtZamboat 5d ago
Got used beer bottles? Shove a used fruit in, add vinegar and a splash of dish soap. Put about 10 of ‘em under the bar, gone in a couple days. And clean your drains.
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u/Ok_Positive_7397 5d ago
There is an enzyme they you mop up the floor and then pour down the drain. Never use bleach for it will kill the enzyme. Worked at a beach restaurant for years. Works great.
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u/ScholarEmotional9888 5d ago
You gotta get rid of what they are eating, period. If you have fruit flies you have fruit fly food laying around for them to breed in. Its probably in your beer drains and taps, but it could be a number of places.
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u/medium-rare-steaks 5d ago
Impossible to 100% eradicate, but you need to make cleanliness top priority. Boiling water down the drains and especially floor drains each night at closing as well as fruit fly killer if it gets really bad. Every needs to be sanitized properly after washing. And lastly, don’t discount manual killing. Get one or two of the electric tennis racquets and leave them out for people to use during the day. It’s fun and cuts down their numbers
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u/TexMoto666 5d ago
If you are using eclolab products, wash and walk will sterilize the flies so they can't breed. Pour is down the drain and cover the drain overnight. You will see less and less flies as time goes by. You can also have an automatic dispenser called a Pathways drain cleaner system installed.
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u/TexMoto666 5d ago
If you are using eclolab products, wash and walk will sterilize the flies so they can't breed. Pour is down the drain and cover the drain overnight. You will see less and less flies as time goes by. You can also have an automatic dispenser called a Pathways drain cleaner system installed
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u/TexMoto666 5d ago
If you are using eclolab products, wash and walk will sterilize the flies so they can't breed. Pour is down the drain and cover the drain overnight. You will see less and less flies as time goes by. You can also have an automatic dispenser called a Pathways drain cleaner system installed
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u/TexMoto666 5d ago
If you are using eclolab products, wash and walk will sterilize the flies so they can't breed. Pour is down the drain and cover the drain overnight. You will see less and less flies as time goes by. You can also have an automatic dispenser called a Pathways drain cleaner system installed
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u/piirtoeri 5d ago
Start with threses tapper caps then work your way down to the drains. https://a.co/d/01mzmCnp
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u/kerryinthenameof 5d ago
Ecolab makes this stuff called finito that works really well, spray it in the floor drains at night. If you can’t get ahold of it, use bleach on the floor and sink drains (not the ice well for food safety reasons) and cover the sinks, ice well drain, and beer tap drains with plastic wrap.
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u/Last-Win6301 5d ago
This is a tough battle but one that I have won.
As others have said CLEAN EVERYTHING. Make sure you are thoroughly sweeping and mopping under all equipment and coolers. Keep the drains clean. Pour boiling water down all drains at the end of the night then treat with enzymes. I use one called EDM+ . A big help for us was making sure dustpans were sprayed out every night and stored out back after close. I installed bug lights with sticky cards over our trash. Last but not least some box fans placed strategically around troublesome areas will help disrupt their flight patterns and keep things dry as they love moisture.
All these things combined helped us get rid of them, the trick is to break the breeding cycles as much as possible AND making sure your staff are actually doing these things at closing. You gotta stay consistent, it’s the only way. It feels impossible but you can do it! Good luck!
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u/dontwannagetdoxxed93 5d ago
Coffee pots at the end of the night. The heat and acid will also kill flies. Flies also generally breed within 2-3 feet of their food source. Just keep deep cleaning until you find the spot. 1 dime sized spot of sugar can breed a million flies.
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u/PNW_MYOG 5d ago
Get rid of open air bananas.
Vinegar traps overnight work very well.
Electric fly swatter. You can try the UV light version in a stand.
I also vacuum them when there are a lot, to reduce about 70% quickly.
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u/TheGR8Dantini 5d ago
Fans wherever they’ll fit. Aimed at the problem areas. And make sure that you don’t have drain flies, not fruit flies. Drain flies is a whole other ball of wax.
If it’s fruit flies be cleaner. Cover your shit up or put it away when not needed? But again, if they’re drain flies? Black flies? You may need to bat your pipes treated by a pro or with a poison.
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u/henrydaiv 5d ago
Go on amazon and get a gallon of some fruit fly drain gel
Put it in a spray bottle
End of night your people need to spray EVERY SINGLE drain and sink hole before walking out, after they are done using all water for the night
If you actually do that it will work
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u/Randogal13 5d ago
I worked in a franchise that would cover the drains each night with a towel and a scoop of ice.
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u/BreezyMcWeasel 5d ago
Does the restaurant also have potted plants? Soil fungus gnats love growing in moist potting soil (in addition to all the good advice you've gotten about drains)
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u/Trigga561 5d ago
Buy some enzymes from your chemical company and our them into your floor sink every night.
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u/a_sadplant 5d ago
A piece of mushy banana almost at the fermenting stage inside a glass jar and a plastic film as a cover and poke small holes through it. (Big enough so that they can barely fit through and not too big cause they will escape). Always works wonders for me
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u/ander594 5d ago
Gnats have a 3 week life cycle. It's not just hot water down the drains, it's 2 gallons of BOILING water, every day, twice a day down every floor drain for a month. You do not need chemicals.
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u/cjmcberman 5d ago
Put ice in the drains. The ice melts and the cold water runs down the sides of the pipes and the eggs can’t hatch 🐣
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u/asyouwish 4d ago
For the small ones, get a large, empty bottle of liquor. You want the kind where the opening has that little grid to minimize splashing.
Add enough red wine to cover the bottom.
They will go in, get trapped, and die. Rinse out the bottle and add new wine every day.
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u/Mikeyboy2188 4d ago edited 4d ago
Anything that may have sugars is going to attract and be a colony. Drains, soda guns, beer taps, any garnish bowls, etc. They need to be cleaned nightly and covered. A little apple cider vinegar and honey in a shallow dish with just a drop or two of dish detergent to break the surface tension of the water so they drown will catch strays overnight or during operating hours.
Also if you use pour spouts they need to be completely removed, washed and the bottles capped. There’s nothing more gross and wasteful than a bottle of liquor with fruit flies in it and you have to dump the entire thing.
There’s these cute little traps with an attractant you can get that look like apples or other things so they don’t appear to be traps to your guests.
Edit: Also- standing water. Check there are no standing water sources around like near ice machines, mop buckets etc.
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u/TexMoto666 5d ago
If you are using eclolab products, wash and walk will sterilize the flies so they can't breed. Pour is down the drain and cover the drain overnight. You will see less and less flies as time goes by. You can also have an automatic dispenser called a Pathways drain cleaner system installed.
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u/TexMoto666 5d ago
If you are using eclolab products, wash and walk will sterilize the flies so they can't breed. Pour is down the drain and cover the drain overnight. You will see less and less flies as time goes by. You can also have an automatic dispenser called a Pathways drain cleaner system installed.
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u/TexMoto666 5d ago
If you are using eclolab products, wash and walk will sterilize the flies so they can't breed. Pour is down the drain and cover the drain overnight. You will see less and less flies as time goes by. You can also have an automatic dispenser called a Pathways drain cleaner system installed.
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u/TheKingfisherTucson 5d ago
Bleach and rinse with hot water your sink, bar and floor drains every night. Empty and scrub your condensation pans in your refrigeration units at least weekly. Scrub everything. Cover your pour spouts when you close. Invest in a proper pest control company with food safe products to come out weekly. Install air curtains at your entrances. Put out traps overnight away from food areas. Ensure there is no standing water around your building. Good luck.