Under $50 Scores: The Katchy electronic insect trap keeps fruit flies out of my kitchen
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I cook on a daily basis, usually all three meals a day. I might be making something as simple as a fried egg topped with chili crisp or as elaborate as braised chicken breasts. But no matter what it is, the kitchen tends to get messy and the trash fills up quickly — think a light dusting of flour all over the counters, discarded eggshells and splattered oil. As a rule, I try to clean as I go, but even so, the inevitable fruit fly appears buzzing around my face like a tiny menace. These fruit flies multiply in clouds as if by magic and they are aggravating, unsanitary little creatures that were almost impossible to get rid of, until I found the Katchy insect trap.
I have tried pouring scalding-hot water down the kitchen sink drain to kill their eggs or leaving a jar filled with vinegar out on the counter to trap them, but these momentary fixes are never long-term solutions, especially in the summer when the flies are even more pervasive. The Katchy is the only really reliable way I have found to banish fruit flies from my kitchen.
Katchy Insect Trap
This handy electric gadget works by attracting insects with the glowing UV light and trapping them on a glue board. It's quiet and discreet and can be stored away when not in use. This is the only product I have found that successfully eliminates fruit flies from my kitchen.
How I found the Katchy Insect Trap
Last year, Katchy sent me this insect trap to try out and I’ve been using it ever since. At the time, it was the peak of summer. Every time I stepped in the kitchen I spotted another fruit fly, so I was desperate for a solution, and welcomed the chance to test out a sample.
Why it’s a score
I was a little wary of setting up an insect trap in my house, mostly because I felt it would add more clutter to my small kitchen. But the Katchy is worth the space it takes up on my counter alongside the rest of my kitchen appliances. It stands upright, whereas most other bug zappers need to be hung up. I also appreciate that it’s lightweight, which makes it conveniently portable. I will often move it next to our garbage can or the pail where I discard my daughter’s diapers in order to address the fruit flies that tend to gather in those specific areas.
To operate it, all you have to do is unlatch the door at the bottom of the machine. On the inside of the door, you’ll find a tray where you place one of the included circular sticky boards — this is where those pesky fruit flies (or mosquitoes, although it doesn’t work on house flies) go to die. The fact that the glue trap is hidden on the interior of the Katchy is one of its stand-out benefits because you never have to actually watch a pile of dead insects gathering on the trap or counter.
Once it’s switched on, the Katchy is blessedly quiet. All it emits is a barely detectable whirring noise and a glowing blue UV light to attract the flies. Usually, once I’m done cooking, I set up the Katchy on the counter and go about the rest of my chores, and I barely notice it working.
I switch it off a couple hours later, and at that point I will check the trap to see how many fruit flies it has caught. Right away, before even opening the thing up, I notice that my kitchen is finally devoid of any buzzing critters. The glue traps themselves offer surprising longevity, picking up around five or so flies at a time, so I can reuse the same trap a few times before it needs to be tossed out.
Although the Katchy comes with four glue boards, replacement packages will have to be purchased separately when they run out. The boards are $14 for a pack of 16, which should last you at least a year, depending on how bad a fly problem you need to tackle.
When I’m not using it, it can be unobtrusively stored too: I just wrap the cord around the base and hide it on the lower shelf of my bar cart where it’s out of sight. This winter has offered a much-needed break from any fruit fly invasions in my kitchen, but once summer arrives I know I’ll be using the Katchy every day. Better yet, I have finally stopped experimenting with at-home remedies for fruit flies, which amount to nothing more than old wives’ tales — it’s been the foolproof solution to keeping my kitchen spotless and bug-free.
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