How to Make an Apple Cider Vinegar Fly Trap

Nothing makes your house feel more unclean than bugs. Whether it's ants walking across your kitchen floor, or midges holding meetings in your sink, you can't help but feel that every room needs to be scrubbed down until the insectoid interlopers get the hint they aren't wanted. You may even be tempted to go for the nuclear option; fumigating your home with bug bombs or aerosol cans. The thing is, though, you're going to be breathing the same air and absorbing the same chemicals as your enemy in those cases. That's why you need to take a step back to deploy something that will be deadly to them, but which couldn't hurt you even if you drank it.

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Making An Apple Cider Vinegar Fly Trap

Apple cider vinegar, as the name suggests, is made from apples and apple cider. It looks like light brown cider, and it has a slightly fruity scent to it. It's extremely acidic (to the point it can damage your teeth if you try to drink it straight), but small quantities are added to dishes, salad dressings, and other foods for flavor and spice.

It also makes phenomenal bait for your unwanted guests.

What you need to do is buy some apple cider vinegar (a 64 ounce bottle costs you a little over $3), a cup (a small glass is ideal, but a Solo cup will work just as well), and some Saran wrap (an entire roll of which is no more than a few dollars). Once you have these three ingredients, assembling your chemical weapon is easy. Pour about an inch or two of the vinegar into your cup, and cover the top of the cup with the plastic wrap. Put a rubber band or a hair tie around the plastic wrap to keep it tightly in place, if you need to. Poke some small holes in the plastic wrap with a toothpick (or the tip of a knife, if that's what you have on hand). Once your trap is assembled, place it near where the enemy tends to settle in.

Then The Waiting Begins

Once the trap is in place, you'll notice the insect population starts dropping dramatically. What happens is the bugs (particularly those who attracted to fruit and sugars), will investigate the trap. They'll make their way in through the holes, and get close to the vinegar. Once they're in they won't be able to get out again, and they'll eventually succumb to the apple-scented drowning pool. Even the evidence of other bugs who didn't escape won't deter newcomers; they'll just buzz right in, and never make their way out again.

Then, once the problem is solved, you can pour out the results on your lawn. Or, if you used a totally disposable setup, you can just throw the entire trap away!

While you might be tempted to just put these traps all over the place, a little bit goes a long way when it comes to vinegar. A single trap is usually enough to clear out a small room, but two in a kitchen should have your space bug free within a few days. A week, tops.