They are especially annoying in summer: buzzing, buzzing flies. It feels like they come into the apartment at lightning speed and unfortunately don’t disappear again anytime soon. We have tips for you on how to prevent flies from entering in the first place and which home remedies you can use to drive them away.

What helps keep flies away?

The annoying house flies are often attracted by fruit or food leftovers lying around in the open. To prevent the annoying flies from appearing in your home in the first place, you can take the following preventive measures:

  • Cover food: bowls of fruit, plates of leftover food or half-full cooking pots in the kitchen should always be covered directly. The scent of the food attracts flies.
  • Avoid rotting fruit: For houseflies, rotting fruit is an ideal breeding ground because of the moisture it creates. Larvae can hatch in as little as eight hours at room temperature. Therefore, check the fruit bowl regularly.
  • Wipe down the table: You should remove crumbs and food scraps left on the table, as they also attract flies.
  • Empty trash cans frequently: Food that has already ended up in the trash can still gives off an enticing scent for flies. Therefore, it is important to always close the trash can lid and empty the trash can regularly. This way, you will not only drive away flies, but also avoid unpleasant odors.
  • Close windows: It’s hard to do in the summer, but unfortunately necessary if you don’t want flies: keep windows and doors closed as much as possible. Because in this way you simply block the access of the little animals. With fly screens, you can continue to ventilate as usual and deny the flies access.

Home remedies against flies

If flies have made themselves at home in your apartment, you can quickly put the pests to flight with the following home remedies:

  • Cloves: simply stick the cloves into a lemon half to keep flies away naturally.
  • Laurel oil: The smell of this home remedy flies do not like at all. Add a few drops of laurel oil to water, soak a cloth with it and then place it on the windowsill.
  • Essential oils: Used as a fragrance lamp or a few drops dropped on a scented pillow, essential oils also help as a home remedy against houseflies. Lavender or eucalyptus oil are particularly effective. By the way, essential oils such as lavender oil not only repel flies and mosquitoes, but are also said to keep wasps away.
  • Cayenne pepper: Dissolved in warm water, hot pepper is the perfect repellent for flies. Simply place a small bowl with the mixture where you don’t want flies to go. Works with chili, too, by the way.
  • Matches: If you have problems with flies on plants, you should stick matches into the potting soil with the head down to keep flies away.
  • Plants as a scent barrier: Certain plants are very effective at repelling flies because their scent beats the insects into flight. These include geraniums and lavender, but also useful plants such as basil or tomatoes.

Make fruit fly trap yourself

In the trade there are many fly traps, but these baits attract the insects almost more. To get rid of the little fruit flies, there is a simple remedy: mix some water with fruit juice and vinegar in a bowl and add a drop of washing-up liquid. The flies will be attracted to the vinegar and the juice. Because the dishwashing liquid destroys the surface tension of the water, the fruit flies drown in the mixture. You can place the dish anywhere in the house where the flies are buzzing around.

Make fly paper with home remedies: Here’s how

To make the effective flypaper yourself, you first need to put about 1.5 pint of sunflower oil in a pot. Then add some honey and resin, heat the mixture and wait until it becomes sticky and viscous. Now dip narrow strips of baking paper into the mix and let the prepared strips dry and cool. Place the finished fly paper in places where flies appear more often.