Do you often find yourself battling a swarm of fruit flies in your kitchen while making dinner or while chilling in your TV lounge munching on your favorite snacks? You’re not the only one. Flies, along with other creepy crawlers with wings, can be incredibly annoying, not to mention dangerous if you don’t get rid of them. Like any homeowner, your first instinct would be to grab an insect spray from your supply closet, but what happens if you’ve run out? Do you leave what you’re doing and head to the store to get one? Or, do you roll up a magazine and start swinging wildly?
There’s no way to completely stop flies and other annoying pests from finding their way into your property. However, there are effective ways to get rid of them without spending heavily on bug sprays, repellent coils, and other store-bought solutions. One quick solution is building a DIY fly trap to lure indoor pests and stop them from causing a nuisance and a health risk.
In this post, we’ll be sharing a simple guide on making a homemade fly trap using some common household ingredients so you can reap the financial and convenience benefits of do-it-yourself pest control.
How Flies and Other Pests Cause Damage Indoors
Flies and other indoor insects inflict damage upon properties and residents in different ways, including:
Disease
Flies, mosquitos, fleas, and other insects are common carriers of diseases, such as malaria, dengue fever, diarrhea, and typhoid, to name a few. They can harm people as well as their pets like cats and dogs, leading to unnecessary medical bills.
Allergies
Another health problem associated with indoor pests is allergens. Many insects carry allergens into the home that cause skin irritation and other allergic reactions. Moreover, their feces can pollute the air and cause breathing problems for people with asthma.
Indoor Plant Damage
Many indoor pests, especially those with chewing mouthparts (cockroaches, aphids, etc.), start feeding on your indoor plants, which can result in holes and defoliation. Flies, in contrast, damage plants by laying eggs in their leaves or stem, which then grow into larvae and start feeding on the plant. Although house flies have a short lifespan, they can reproduce quickly, so the last thing you need is for a minor issue to escalate into a major pest infestation, and that too at the expense of your beloved plants.
How to Make a DIY Fly Trap for Indoor Pests
While there’s nothing wrong with calling pest control professionals or buying store-bought solutions, DIY methods are cost-effective, simple, and effective in their own right. So, if you’re looking to summon your inner DIYer and take on this ridiculously simple project, here’s how to make a homemade fly trap:
Tools/Equipment
- Knife
- Spatula (to mix)
- Small container (plastic bottle, jar, plastic box, etc.)
Supplies
- Apple cider vinegar
- Dish soap
- Honey or sugar syrup
- Food or animal waste (optional)
Steps
Prepare the Fly Trap Container
The first step is to decide what you’ll be using as the base of your flytrap. We recommend using a large water or soda bottle since it’s a great way to recycle. To start, cut the bottle using a knife or blade and make the bottom half slightly taller than the top. Next, remove the bottle cap and place the upper half aside.
Fill the Bottle
Next, fill the cut bottle with water, and then add a few splashes of apple cider vinegar and dish soap to decrease the surface tension, allowing flies and other pests to fall in and drown easily. The reason we’re using vinegar is in case of a rogue bee that accidentally finds its way into your home during spring or summer. Vinegar is a natural repellant, so it’ll help keep them away. However, it will still trap and kill any rogue wasp that finds its way into your living room or kitchen.
Prepare the Fly Trap’s Mouth
Once your bottom container is ready, the next step is to grab some honey, maple syrup, or sugar syrup and thoroughly spread it across the bottle’s mouth. If you don’t want to waste honey or other household products, you can use rotting meat, decomposing fruit, bones, or animal droppings for the job. This will lure even more flies and other creepy crawlers with wings to their death.
Set Your DIY Fly Trap
Once you’ve made your flytrap, all that’s left to do is strategically place it in a fly hotspot, such as your kitchen, bathroom, or living room. You can find any corner or tabletop to place and remove it when you’re done. Alternatively, you can punch two holes at the top and hang your fly trap anywhere using a wire or sturdy string. Once the trap is full, all you have to do is toss the dead flies and indoor pests into the trash and refill the trap with the same ingredients.
Tips to Keep Flies Away from Your Home
Building a homemade fly trap is a great way to trap and kill flies and other unwanted bugs. However, wouldn’t it be better not to have a bug infestation problem at all? There’s no way to stop bugs from finding their way in completely. Still, there are some effective tips to keep them away:
- Correctly dispose of food waste by covering your dustbins with a lid.
- Clean food and liquid spills as soon as possible.
- Keep any food on your counter or tabletop covered, so flies don’t land and start feeding on it.
- Keep all entry points (doors and windows) closed after dark, or keep the entryway lights dim or closed.
- If you own pets, make sure you clean up their feces to stop flies from breeding on them.
- Remove any dead flies and insects, so they don’t attract other insects that eat them.
Conclusion
And there you have it – How to make a homemade fly trap to get rid of indoor pests. This simple yet effective trap can help you save a lot of money on bug spray and other insect repellants. More importantly, it can be used as a natural alternative to conventional solutions often loaded with harmful chemicals. However, if flies and other pests become a constant nuisance inside your home, you should call professional pest control services to inspect the problem and eradicate any infestation. This is just one of the hundreds of DIY pest control solutions you can find online so feel free to innovate and test out other fly trap ideas.
