House flies enter homes primarily in search of food, warmth, and breeding sites. They are attracted to a wide variety of organic materials, including food waste, decaying matter, and animal feces. Kitchens, garbage bins, pet areas, and even indoor plants can become attractive breeding sites.
Flies typically come inside homes by gaining access through damaged screens, cracks in the foundation, open doors, or open windows. Other times, flies may have bred inside, coming in on stored produce or the soil in potted plants. Fortunately, you can often get rid of indoor flies through environmental changes.
Vacuum: Use a vacuum cleaner to remove any flies and potential breeding sites. Wipe Surfaces: Clean all surfaces with a disinfectant, especially areas where you notice flies. Fly Traps: Consider using fly traps, such as sticky traps or electric fly zappers. Place them where you see flies most often.
Food Sources
Flies are naturally drawn to spoiled or rotting food, overripe fruits, and garbage cans filled with organic matter. These sources provide ample nourishment and breeding sites, making your home an attractive environment for them.
Poor Sanitation: Lack of cleanliness in and around the home can create an environment conducive to fly breeding. Accumulated trash, dirty dishes, and uncleaned surfaces can attract flies. Openings in the Home: Flies can enter through open doors, windows, and cracks or gaps in walls.
Cinnamon – use cinnamon as an air freshner, as flies hate the smell! Lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint and lemongrass essential oils – Not only will spraying these oils around the house create a beautiful aroma, but they will also deter those pesky flies too.
Check cracks around windows, doors, and vents as possible entry points. It is crucial to determine where the breeding sources are located and how they are entering the buildings. Rural areas where farms are present may be more problematic for the higher number of breeding sites than areas in an urban setting.
Apple Cider Vinegar and Dish Soap
Sprinkle sugar on top to further entice the flies. The dish soap will break down the flies and kill them, while the vinegar attracts them. If you don't have apple cider vinegar, try stale wine or beer, says Irenicus, as the aging scents attract flies.
Screens can have rips, holes, and unsealed cracks between the frame and the screen. Flies also come in through openings around plumbing and pipes, vents, and cracks in the foundation. If you have holes in your air conditioner filters or cracks around the unit, flies can come through without you even knowing.
Drain flies are very small, measuring between ⅙ and ¼ of an inch long. They have small, hairy bodies that are brown-gray or black that have a fuzzy appearance. Their wings are also hairy and shaped like leaves. When a drain fly is at rest, the wings sit over the body like a roof for protection.
The entire life cycle of a cluster fly generally takes four to six weeks to complete. However, by invading and overwintering indoors, a cluster fly infestation can persist for several months and continue to be a nuisance until proper removal measures are implemented.
For fast knockdown and killing flies, but no residual control, some aerosol fly sprays are available which contain synergized pyrethrins, tetramethrin or resmethrin (also called SBP-1382). These are appropriate for fast results and safe application around people, pets and food before or during picnics and outings.
The best homemade fly trap is one that can attract both house flies and fruit flies. To lure both outdoors, mix scraps of rotting meat, like fish or chicken, with sugar or honey. When indoors, the best bait is old fruit or honey. Liquid dish soap is exactly what you need to drown the flies.
Flies get inside for a number of reasons, usually in pursuit of trash, rotting food, or moisture. A common house fly is attracted to decaying organic matter like feces and rotting meat. Drain flies, on the other hand, are attracted to moisture and will lay their eggs inside of drains.
Not only that, but adult flies lay their eggs in the matter as well – and they lay a whole lot of them. Dead animals, rotting meat, or open compost heaps can draw these pests into your home. Structural gaps, such as cracks in walls or poorly sealed windows, provide entry points for flies seeking warmth or shelter.
Homeowners typically find house fly eggs in moist, decaying organic material like trash, grass clippings, or feces. Elongated and pale in color, they appear in clusters and hatch quickly after being laid by the female fly.
Essential oils like lavender, peppermint, and eucalyptus can keep flies away from your porch or any other outdoor space. Choose a scent that's pleasing to your nose, whether it's a spray, candle, or plant, then use or place it liberally around your home.
Vinegar and Dish Soap - Fill a bowl slightly with apple cider vinegar, wine or honey with some dish soap (washing up liquid). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap with punctured holes or leave uncovered. Flies will be attracted to the smell and will get stuck within the liquid.
Create a fly and wasp repellent.
This DIY pest repellant should be a staple in the Southern home. Pour equal parts water and Pine-Sol in a spray bottle to spritz on outdoor furniture, the deck, and indoor areas where flies are most likely to flock, such as kitchen countertops.
House flies pick up bacteria, fungi, and viruses and then spread these pathogens by contaminating food and water. Several health problems can develop from house fly infestations. These include food poisoning, dysentery, and tuberculosis. Regular cleaning will limit areas where house flies are able to breed.
Housefly repellent
You can make use of natural oils such as citronella oil, lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint, neem, and lemongrass. Try mixing them with rubbing alcohol or water and fill them in a spray bottle.
If you're unsure which drain is the source, line a clear plastic cup with a very light coating of vegetable oil or petroleum jelly and invert over the suspected drain for several days. This will help catch emerging adults and identify breeding sites.