Help!!! Disgusting Flies All over the Place!

Updated on August 24, 2009
E.N. asks from Clearwater, FL
5 answers

It curdles my stomach just to have to write this - but we seem to have a major housefly invasion. I just counted 16 on our windows alone. I need a child and pet-safe solution for getting rid of these flies - NOW - before our weekend guests arrive.

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So What Happened?

Well, when my husband came home and noticed the situation, he started smacking at them and we realized that they seemed to be adolescent flies, not very fast yet. So we purchased a couple fly swatters from Walmart and took care of them that way. They were all gone within a half hour. There have been a few stragglers, but they are easy to handle.

I plan to try the plastic baggie and penny thing - at our new house - and am excited to see how well it works.

More Answers

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D.M.

answers from Chicago on

Sorry I don't have any good suggestions on how to get rid of them, but I did want to offer you peace of mind. We had this problem a couple of years ago, and I took it personally to mean that I wasn't keeping my house clean enough. But when I went to the hardware store to get some fly paper, they were out (because everyone else was having a problem with them too!). The guy told me that this time of year is when they go nuts and are everywhere and that there's really nothing you can do about it. So although they're annoying, just know that it has nothing to do with you, it's just part of nature.

Good luck! The fly swatter will probably be your best bet!

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J.W.

answers from Chicago on

We just had this problem too. Make sure you take out all the garbage in the house. Then we bought a fly-paper trap at Home Depot that we hung from the curtain rod on the window where they were most gathered. It caught a bunch and it was out of reach of everyone. Other than that, you could just get a fly swatter and get rid of as many as you can before your guests arrive. Good luck!

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M.S.

answers from Chicago on

I just received an email about flys:

Don't know if it works. but I attacheed the email below.
Let us know if it does! At least it seems safe!

This Subject: Keep flys away!!!!

We went with some out of town friends to Sweety Pies on Sunday for breakfast, and we sat in the enclosed patio section beside the house. We happened to notice a couple of zip lock baggies pinned to a post and a wall. The bags were half filled with water, each contained 4 pennies, and they were zipped shut.

Naturally we were curious! Ms Sweety told us that these baggies kept the flies away! So naturally we were even more curious!

We actually watched some flies come in the open window, stand around on the window sill, and then fly out again. And there were no flies in the eating area!

This morning I checked this out on Goggle. Below are comments on this fly control idea. I'm now a believer! More comments not included here were about pet dogs and fly problems.

Zip-lock water bags

Sue says:

Many people swear that a zip-lock bag filled half-way with water and attached over entry-ways will repel flies. No one yet knows how or why it works, but there is speculation that it has something to do with the way the moving water refracts light. If you have tried this please use the comments form at the bottom of the page to share your results with the rest of us.

Ann Says:

October 5th, 2008 at 5:51 pm

I did tried the ziplock bag and pennies this weekend. I have a horse trailer with full LQ. The flys were very bad this weekend while I was

camping. I put the baggie with pennies above the door of the LQ. NOT ONE FLY came in the trailer. The horse trailer part had many. Not sure why it works but it does!!!!!!!

Danielle Martin Says:

September 20th, 2008 at 8:43 pm

Fill a ziplock bag with water and 5 or 6 pennies and hang it in the problem area. In my case it was a particular window in my home. It had a slight but significant passage way for insects. Every since I have done that, it has kept flies and wasps away. Some say, that wasps and flies mistake the bag for some sort of other insect nest and are threatened by this.

Maggie Says:

June 7th, 2009 at 11:40 am

I swear by the plastic bag of water trick I have them on side porch (our house entry) and all around the basement door. We saw these in

Northeast Mo at an Amish grocery store & have used them since. They say it works because a fly sees a reflection & won't come around.

Just DJ Says:

May 16th, 2009 at 7:25 pm

Regarding the science behind zip log bags of water? My research found that each of the millions of molecules of water presents its own prism effect and given that flies have a lot of eyes, to them it's like a zillion disco balls reflecting light, colors and movement in
a dizzying manner.

When you figure that flies are basically prey for many other bugs, animals, birds, etc., they simply won't take the risk of being around

that much perceived action. I moved to a rural area and thought these "hillbillies" were just yanking my city boy chain but, I tried it, and it worked immediately! We went from hundreds of flies to seeing the occasional one, but he doesn't hang around long.

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J.D.

answers from Chicago on

Hi E. call A Pest Control company.

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M.S.

answers from Chicago on

E.,

I just got over this myself. I found out that I had larvaes all over my living room. Gorst I found 2 larvaes under a rug area and them I found more under my living room carpet at the edge. I freaked out and I started to vacuum everything, I pulled the edges of the carpet and I sprayed the area, then I vacuum. Also I emptied my girls room and cleaned it. I only found 2 larvaes there. I went in the basement and looked for more there. I found quite a few. My husband bought moth balls and left some in the basement. All the flies fell on the ground. Upstairs we just tried to get them one by one, since my girls are little. Eventually we got rid of them, but the second day we did see about 15 on the window ourselves:(
Now as soon as I see a fly I catch it.

Good luck, I hope you can get rid of them.

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