15 Ways to Get Rid of Flies in Your Home

When the summer comes around, flies come too. Whether you live in a big city, outskirts of a city, or in a town – flies are everywhere. They fly and crawl on almost anything, faeces in particular, then they land on kitchen tops and food, and contaminate them. Although flies may not seem dangerous, they spread various infections. It’s time that you learn to get rid of the flies in your home. There are many effective remedies for flies. Read on to find out!

Use Natural Fly Repellents

There are a number of things readily available in our houses that can be used to trap and kill house flies. Here are some effective home remedies for flies in the house.

1. Hot Pepper Repellent

To get rid of the flies in and around your house use hot pepper. They avoid flying around these plants or landing close to foods containing hot pepper. The irritation is thought to be caused by their inability to breathe whenever they smell hot pepper. Therefore to get rid of them, grow some hot pepper plants in your garden to keep them away and to stop them from breeding. You can also grow a pepper plant in your balcony. Make a powerful all-natural hot pepper fly repellent spray by following this:

• Use 2 or 3 hot peppers depending on the concentration you want and blend them finely in a food processor.
• Add 3 – 4 cups of water and continue blending them to get a uniform mix.
• Seal this mix in an airtight container and place it in the sunlight for about a week.
• Strain the liquid and transfer it to a spray bottle.

2. Basil

Basil, a culinary herb, is especially used in Italian cuisines. Its aroma can repulse flies. Fruit flies and house flies simply cannot stand it. To get rid of flies in your home, grow the basil plant in your garden or in your balcony similar to the hot pepper plant or along with it if you wish. You can also make an insect repellent spray with basil leaves. Here’s how –

• Pick a few basil leaves and squeeze them a little to form cuts in the leaves.
• Steep these leaves in hot water for about 30 minutes.
• Strain the leaves and use the liquid as a spray.

3. Ginger Spray

Ginger spray is an all-natural and powerful fly repellent that’s easy to make and works like a charm. Similar to hot pepper and basil leaves, the strong odour of ginger repels flies and keeps them away from your house. A mixture of ginger and water is also an effective insect repellent that is used in farms. The strong, repulsive odour of ginger keeps most flies at bay. To make ginger fly repellent follow these steps:

• Add 2 spoons of finely dried ginger powder to a bowl containing 4 cups of normal water.
• Stir the mixture well so the ginger essence mixes well with the water.
• Strain the mix and transfer the liquid into a spray bottle.
• Spray the repellent wherever the flies tend to accumulate.

4. Essential Oils

Many essential oils have strong odours that chase flies away. Making a spray out of a mixture of these oils is a wonderful way to keep the flies away from your house. To prepare this spray, you would need some oils with strong odours such as clove oil, thyme oil, peppermint oil, lemongrass oil, and cinnamon oil. The procedure is as follows:

• Add 10 drops of each essential oil to the spray bottle.
• Pour 2 cups of water and 2 cups of non-flavoured vodka.
• Blend the ingredients together by shaking vigorously.

5. Apple Cider Vinegar and Eucalyptus Oil

This insect repellent concoction is especially effective against house flies. You will need ¼ cup of witch hazel, ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar and about 60 drops of eucalyptus oil. Follow the following procedure:

• Add the witch hazel and the apple cider vinegar to the spray bottle and shake well.
• Now add the eucalyptus oil to the mixture and shake well to prepare the repellent spray.
• This concoction can also be applied on the skin to repel house flies.

Use Traps to Get Rid of Flies

If the organic sprays aren’t able to keep them at bay, it’s time to take it up a notch. Fly traps are effective in trapping and killing flies that have already entered your home.

1. Vinegar Fly Trap

An effective way to get rid of fruit flies in the house is to use the vinegar trap. Fruit flies are primarily attracted to rotten or fermented fruits. Therefore, fermented fruit products such as apple cider vinegar and wine are an excellent bait to lure in the flies. A simple trap can be made with fermented liquids to take out fruit flies in the house.

• Pour some apple cider vinegar into a glass and cover it with a clear plastic sheet. Use rubber bands to tightly secure the sheet to the glass. Using a needle create a hole big enough for fruit flies to crawl into the glass. These holes will let the flies smell the vinegar in the glass. Once they crawl in, they won’t be able to fly out of the holes. They’ll eventually drown.

• Pour some vinegar into an open bowl and add a few drops of dish soap to it. The soap reduces the surface tension of vinegar and when the flies try to land on the mixture, they sink and drown.

2. Commercial Light Traps

Light traps work by attracting flies and swatting them with a jolt of electricity. Commercially available light traps are quite efficient in attracting all kinds of flies that wander into your living space such as house flies, wasps, mosquitoes, tiny moths, etc. They lure insects using an ultraviolet lamp. The ideal way to go about setting up your light trap is as follows:

• Position your light trap about 4 to 6 feet over the floor.
• Choose a place such that the light trap isn’t visible to the outside through a window or door so it won’t attract any flies from there.
• Use light traps designed for homes as the larger high voltage traps can create a bit of a mess.

3. The Flypaper Trap

One of the simplest home remedies for flies in the kitchen is flypaper. Commercially available fly papers are ribbons with sticky, sweet-smelling glue coated on its both sides. The smell attracts flies and traps them in the glue when they land on the paper. Sometimes these sticky coating also contains an insecticide to kill the flies. If you wish to make your own flypaper trap, you will need strips of brown paper and some corn syrup. Follow these instructions:

• To make the flypaper trap, cut 2-inch wide strips out of a brown paper.
• Pour equal parts of corn syrup and water into a saucepan and heat the mixture till it boils. Keep it stirring continuously.
• Allow the mixture to cool down a bit and soak the strips in the mix for 4-5 hours to let them absorb it well. Let it dry for 2-3 hours.
• Hang the fly strips in your kitchen or any other area of your house where you see flies in huge numbers.

4. Electronic Swatter

Portable electronic insect swatters are an excellent tool to quickly get rid of the flies from your house. Electronic swatters are like badminton rackets that have three layers of electrified mesh. An ON/OFF button controls the charging of capacitors inside that built a high voltage. To use this, pick up the swatter and gently sweep it in the air. Flies fly right in between the mesh and are struck by a high voltage spark which kills them instantly. A word of caution: Try not to touch the mesh with your bare hands while the swatter is working. It can give you a sharp jolt.

5. The Honey Trap

A honey-water fly trap works well to trap small fruit flies and is simple to make. The principle is the same; honey water is sweet smelling, and the aroma lures fly into the trap. For this, you’ll need a tall glass or a jar and some tissue paper.

• Roll the tissue paper up into a cone that snugly fits the glass and sits a little over the honey-water mixture in it.
• Snip the end of the cone a little to make a small entrance to let the flies enter but not big enough to allow them to escape as well.
• As the flies get attracted to the honey and water mix, they will fly into the cone and get trapped in the glass with no way out.

How to Clean Your House to Keep the Flies Away

To keep your house free of flies, it’s essential to ensure they don’t get attracted to your house in the first place. Here are some tips to keep your house free of flies.

1. Clean Food Spills Immediately

Flies are attracted to food, fruits, and anything that seems appealing in your space. They are most attracted to moist or rotten foods. Therefore whenever you spill food, clean it up immediately.

• Store all the moist food in an airtight container and snacks or pet food go into Ziploc bags.
• Wash dishes soon after use to avoid them sitting in the sink for too long.

2. Keep the Garbage Disposal Area Clean

The garbage bin is the hot spot for flies in your house. Dispose the waste or compost in sealed bags and empty the garbage bin frequently. Your waste disposal area should be well lit, preferably by sunlight, so it doesn’t get damp and encourage the growth of microbes.

3. Clean Up After Your Pets

If you have a pet cat or dog at home, their litterbox could become a breeding ground for all kinds of flies if you don’t pick up after them soon. Flies prefer to lay eggs on poop and can release dozens of eggs at a time. They can hatch in as little as 24 hours and lead to an infestation. So clean up after your pets.

4. Clear the Drain

Your drains are a magnet for flies as they are filled with rotten organic material. The outlets in your kitchen and bathrooms should be cleaned once a week with disinfectant drain cleaners to kill any pests breeding inside.

5. Block Their Entry Points

Although flies can enter inside every time you open the door, they often come through openings in the window, vents of insect screens that you’re unaware of. Frequently check for these entry points and fix them.

Keeping your house free from flies is a never ending process. Flies are always waiting for a chance to fly into our homes and breed. Your first line of defence should be prevention.  Keep your house and surroundings clean at all times so that the flies don’t come anywhere near your house, and if they do, then try the above-mentioned remedies to get rid of them.

Also Read:

Home Remedies to Get Rid of Mosquitoes at Home
How to Get Rid of Cockroaches Naturally
Effective Home Remedies to Get Rid of Bed Bugs