jar + pieces of banana (or any fruit, really), + a small paper funnel to discourage them from flying out. the paper is almost unnecessary as I learned, because once they're in, they're in freaking heaven and don't want to leave. but it helps keep them in when you grab the jar and wash them out outside. i found this to be massively effective within a few hours.

Caroline, you might want to check out this article: http://www.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of-drain-flies.htm

My husband and I had what we thought was a fruit fly problem, too. However, after we researched it we realized we had drain flies. YUCK! BLUCK! and more YUCK! We had never had this problem until we moved into a rental with a garbage disposal. Following the advice of above article eradicated our problem.

This works great.

Cider vinegar and a drop (or two) of dish soap. Did this at my old apartment where we had a nasty fruit fly problem and it worked wonders.

That is brilliant! I have been fighting fruit flies all spring! Can't wait to do this immediately. Thanks so much @ohwoah

Apple cider vinegar with a drop of liquid soap in a little bowl. Tried and true. You'll see results in less than an hour.

Works like magic. Everyone I have recommended it to raves about how well it works. When things get really bad, I put out several in the places they congregate.

+1 to cider vinegar and dish soap in a little jar. Would add to that that I put a strip of plastic wrap over top and secured it with an elastic - punch some holes in the plastic and voila, instant fly trap. It keeps the saucy ones in :)
Sluicing the drain regularly with boiling water over a vinegar and baking soda combo works wonders too to kill the little devils.

Fruit fly prevention–wash fruit when you get it home. This washes the eggs away before they hatch.

I am throwing my full support behind the apple cider vinegar. Tried & true.

We had a fruit fly problem last year and did the vinegar and funnel trick. Worked really well.

Since you know they're in the drain, I'm with katycanada - pour a bunch of boiling water down the drain.

And I've had good luck with the cider vinegar trick...my advice is to get the most pungent vinegar you can get. I once had some strong organic cider vinegar and it caught twice as many flies.

I made a trap a few years ago. Take a 2L pop bottle, cut off the top half around where the top of the label goes, fill the bottom with apple cider vinegar and a few drops of dishsoap (the dishsoap breaks the surface tension so when they land on the liquid they fall in. Take the top piece of the top bottle, remove the lid and tape it upside down where you cut it out. The sides are slippery so the flies fall in, but they're too clumsy to find their way out. It works disgustingly well.

Does it need to be apple cider?

If they are redish they are fruit flies. If they are black they are drain flies. I had them in a rental (with no garbage disposal). The problem was finally solved, after much effort, by an exterminator who had to come twice. Once was to kill the larvae so no new ones would hatch and soon after to kill the live flies.

I tried the vinegar treatments for ages and finally gave in! Doesn't work on the drain flies I had...

My favorite method is WAY easy. Just leave an inch of red wine at the bottom of the bottle after dinner. Leave it out, uncorked over night.

In the morning, most of the suchers are stuck in the bottom!

We had this problem the first year we had our disposal. We used the cup of vinegar with a drop of dish soap method. We found out; however, that these nasty bugs will find all sorts of places to hide. So if you don't cover all bases they will return. Our secrets to success were to be super certain that there was no food (crumbs, etc.) left out. get rid of plants (at least in that room), clean the sink thoroughly daily and rinse with at least a quart of BOILING WATER (this kills the ones hatching in the disposal, change the cup of cider & soap daily and keep doing so for at least 3 days of "no little critters".

I never had much luck with the cup of cider vinegar and funnel method.

We bought some clear sticky traps that hang in the window, works on the little fruit gnats and the larger Drosophila fruit flies too. Also, let your houseplants dry out between waterings, otherwise they like to lay their eggs in the dirt.

It was a post on this very site that changed my life forever!

http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/insects-pests/fruit-fly-death-trap-055578

I do vinegar in a jar with saran wrap on the opening. Poke a few holes with a fork (not near the edge) and those little suckers go in and can't get back out and drown....works every time!

The old cleaning recipe is to use baking soda and white vinegar, let sit for five minutes then pour boiling water to clean off. You can even use an old toothbrush to scrub the edges clean if needed. In all the places I have lived it has worked like a charm

i tried filling a jar 1/3 with beer and putting holes in the jar lid. put 1 drop of dish soap in there so the flies get sucked in after they touch the surface of the fluid. worked like a charm! i'm pretty sure i found the method on this site...

They are breeding in the drain; running it won't do any good.

I got so frustrated I poured a cup of bleach down the drain. Worked instantly and I only needed to do it once.

I don't use apple cider vinegar but balsamic vinegar and it works wonderfully! I pour a bit into a glass, make a paper funnel to fit inside, and tape around the glass-funnel seam to keep the buggies inside. Good luck!

I swear by the vinegar/soap/plastic wrap or funnel trick. I use any kind of vinegar, but apple cider or red wine works best. Also, I keep fruit clippings in the freezer until they can be taken to the compost pile or in the fridge in the pig slop bucket--never in the trash, then the flies will emerge from the fruit when the larvae become adults.

I've found whiskey works best! Pour some in a small cup, cover with saran wrap and poke holes in the top a fork. If you pour a little some for yourself too, you'll forget about the flies!

I had the same problem once. I tossed all fruit, turns out, a couple weeks later I realized there was a second bag of potatoes under the kitchen island...they were rotten...Once they were gone, so was my problem!

I've found a honey and vinegar mixture works best in a jar with a piece of saran wrap secured to the top with a couple small holes poked in it. If you have a bowl of fruit or something on the counter that seems the be the source of your woes, put the jar about a foot from the bowl on the counter.

vinegar in a juice glass + paper funnel (as mentioned plenty of times above)! I didn't have apple cider vinegar so I used red wine vinegar. The flies coudn't tell the difference.

My husband thought I was crazy but when I has 8 fruit flies drowned in a glass of vinegar after a day he ate his words.

*had

Seconding the comment that bananas bring them out. I lived with three other girls in undergrad, and we got a ton. I did everything I could to get rid of them but we always found out.

Turned out one of the girls bought a banana, sort of covered it up, and forgot about it. I found it when it was the peel and a puddle of goo. Getting rid of that got rid of the flies.

Buy a carnivorous pitcher plant and set it up in your kitchen. I can't guarantee that it is the most effective deterrent, but it is the most awesome.

It needs to bee apple cider vinegar, and the stronger the better!

I had this same problem in an apartment. Pour 1/4 cup of bleach down every drain in your place and plug it up for 30 minutes. Then run water down the drains to clear them of the bleach. Problem solved.

We have this exact problem every spring no matter what. Sadly, we live in an apartment surrounded by....less than savory folks, to put it nicely. So it continues to be a problem.

Our trick:
- Grab an old plastic container from the recycles (or rinse out one you were going to throw away anyway), one with a low edge and wide top works best
- pour in some beer and throw in some pieces of fruit (cores, peels, whatevs) if you have them
- cover with plastic wrap, secure around the outside edges with a rubber band (so they can't get out), and
- poke just a few holes in the plastic with a thumbtack (or similar).

The plastic dish is handy because then you can just throw those suckers away without having to look at or smell the beer/fruit/smelly/dead fly concoction you've been growing.
Depending on how bad the problem is, you can leave them out for about two days before there are enough dead flies inside to keep new ones away. Then toss and start over.

I also used apple cider vinegar in a jar. You poke a few holes in the top of the lid and they get in, but not out.

I agree that those are not fruit flies, but drain flies (or possibly sewer flies). The fruit fly remedies are fine, but not for the pests you have.

Oh gross, I'm so sorry. I know people who swear by the apple cider vinegar thing, but I've always found that if I get rid of whatever piece of fruit seems to be causing the problem that they are gone within a day or so. Their short lifespan works in your favor here! That said, it sounds like you are already being pretty diligent about the cleaning, so that may not help you at all. Good luck!