Flies Driving You Nuts? Make Your Own Homemade Fly Catchers

For over a decade flies are out in full force and if you’re like me, who can’t stand the sight of them. You must have made homemade fly catchers for these pesky flies. Not to mention, they can be a huge nuisance when they’re buzzing around your head. Luckily, there are homemade fly catchers that you can make to get rid of these pests.

In this blog post, we will discuss how to make your own homemade fly catchers using everyday items you probably have lying around your house!

What Is A Homemade Fly Trap?

You might be surprised to learn that you can make your own homemade fly traps right at home! All you need is a plastic bottle or an empty soda bottle, some sugar water, and a little bit of patience.

According to a pest specialist during harvest and canning season, the kitchen areas become a hive of fly swatters and become areas of fly problems. House flies, gnats and fruit flies are all at home here.

Some environmentalists and eco-conscious homeowners prevent the use of sprays and chemicals as pest control or to attract flies. Hence, the DIY fly trap comes to the rescue.

Making a fly trap revealed that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Because there are so many flies out there. The type of fly trap and fly bait varies depending on the fly species being targeted.

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Types Of Insects

Flies come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Identify the type of insects or flies you have at home and determine the type of fly trap you should use.

Common House Fly

On the back of its body, the common housefly bears four dark gray/black stripes. Although they only live for about 21 days, they are capable of laying thousands of eggs during that time.

Big in comparison to other fly species, the horse fly can be yellow, brown, or black in color with a large head that dwarfs the rest of its body. These little critters are a pain in the neck. The women, at least.

Gnats and Mosquitoes

Gnat is a common name for several insects, particularly those in the families Mycetophilidae,

Flies and mosquitoes are members of the same family. Gnats, which are technically little flies, are also known as blackflies or midges by certain people. There are gnats all throughout the world because they lay their eggs in wet regions like rivers and streams.

When gnats and mosquitoes are nearly the same size and have wings that are more than twice as long as their bodies, it might be difficult to tell them apart. For one thing, they don’t use their proboscis to attack humans or pets.

Candles scented with citronella and scented with lemon or vanilla, lemon, and even lavender seem to repel gnats, who prefer fruity scents. At the very least, a few spritzes can hold pests at bay.

Fruit fly

These flies are the most bothersome of all the little buggers. During the canning season, in particular.

Fruit flies are attracted to rotting, decaying, or ripe fruits and vegetables. They also prefer alcoholic beverages like beer, whiskey, and wine, which are fermented. Drains, garbage disposals, trash cans, and mop buckets can also be breeding grounds for fruit flies.

They don’t sting, yet fruit flies can be annoying. Fruit flies do not assault humans however, they can irritate the skin, resulting in a rash or a cluster of red lumps. There have been cases of this all over the world. Hence they are incredibly inconvenient. Moreover, they are so filthy, they pose a health risk to both people and animals.

Blow Fly And Bottle Fly

The bright light from windows and certain light bulbs entice them within. Dog feces, garbage, and compost piles are popular outdoor sources of flies. Also dead rats, birds, and other small animals.

Although they pose no threat to people, blow flies are a nuisance to pets. Blow flies can lay their eggs on dead flies or dead animals or even in the wounds or sores of living animals, depending on the variety you encounter.

Myiasis, the development of larvae within tissue, is the scientific term for this phenomenon. Hence, these flies are more than simply a nuisance. They can be harmful to animals as well.

What Makes Fly Traps Effective at Home?

DIY fly trap is built on a few interesting fly “facts”.

Using Flies Eyesight

Flies have poor eyesight. It is possible for them, however, to detect movement and changes in light pattern

Using Fly’s Keen Sense Of Smell

Flies are drawn to sweet bait such as fruit scented soap. The smell of sugar or fruit will draw flies, as would the smell of rotting foods, flesh and animal droppings or feces.

Homemade Fly Bait: Attract Flies

Best Indoor Fly Bait

In order to make your homemade fly trap effective, you need a pungent bait that will lure house flies and fruit flies. We prefer to use a sweetened ACV mixture for this purpose. This includes:

Apple cider vinegar (ACV) – 1/4 C to 1/2 C ACV. Fruit flies are drawn to the scent of the apple cider vinegar.

Sweetener – two to 4 tablespoons of sugar or fruit cubes such as apple chunks, banana and melon cubes. One tablespoon of dish soap is all it takes to attract houseflies. Flying is made more difficult, if not impossible when wings and legs are coated in liquid dish soap.

DIY Homemade Outdoor Fly Trap Bait

Horse flies and gnats/mosquitoes are the primary targets of our outdoor homemade fly trap. Unlike the house fly/fruit fly, these flies prefer a somewhat different attractant or bait.

In order to get rid of flies, your DIY trap should have at least three inches of water in the bottom of the bottle fly trap.

Rotting foods, rotting fruit, animal droppings that has more unpleasant odor make a more pungent bait. You can use protein sources like raw meat or fish. The more stench the bait is, the better. So, let your imagination run wild.

1-2 Tbsp of dish soap helps lure more flies. Longer is better when it comes to food decomposition in water. It will also get more offensive over time. If the fly trap is to be used in a sensitive region, it is best to place it above the area’s nose level.

How To Make a Homemade Fruit Flies Catcher?

Homemade Fly Trap In An Empty Soda Bottle

Materials:

• Serrated knife
• Permanent marker
• Cutting board
• Hole punch (optional)
• Two-liter soda bottle
• Bait, such as overripe fruit, or vinegar (optional)
• Piece of wire to hang your trap (optional)

Instructions

1. The Cutting Line should be drawn on the surface
2. Using a permanent pen, trace around the bottle’s rim, just below the tapered neck.
3. Remove the cap from the bottle
4. Cut down the line with a serrated knife, severing the bottle’s top. To avoid scratching your counter or table, use a cutting board when chopping.
5. Putting together the fly trap.
6. To complete the fly trap, remove the soda cap and then flip the top of the bottle upside down and slide it into the bottom like a funnel.

Bottle Fly Trap And Vinegar

Materials:

• Serrated knife
• Permanent marker
• Cutting board
• Hole punch (optional)
• Two-liter soda bottle
• vinegar (optional)

Instructions:

1. You may use vinegar to catch flies. Fruit flies love vinegar fly traps since they’re simple to create and effective.
2. Make sure you have a shallow plate or bowl on hand before you get to work.
3. Add some bait and a few inches of apple cider, possibly sweetened with a little sugar, to the container.
4. After that, lather up with some fruit-scented dish soap. Flies cannot settle on the liquid because the dish soap breaks the surface tension. As a result, they succumb to the water and drown.
5. You can use this trap as-is, but we recommend covering the bowl with saran plastic wrap or a plastic bag you’ve pierced a small hole in so the flies can’t resist the fragrance and dive right in to drown in the liquid.
6. Make sure that the hole is large enough for the flies to get through.
7.  In this manner, even if the flies don’t fall into the liquid, all flies will be imprisoned. In some cases, fewer flies make it into the trap because of this strategy, but in others, the trap can catch flies. They’ll keep coming if you’re using the appropriate kind of bait, though.

Make a Fly Trap from a Wine Bottle

Materials:

• One ripe mango
• One bottle of Chardonnay or old wine
• paper cone shape funnel

Instructions:

1. Fruit flies are drawn to crimson liquids that are sweet and sugary inside the wine bottle. You can choose both red or white wine as a fly trap. White wine can be just as effective as red wine.
2. Leave roughly an inch of wine in an almost-empty bottle.
3. Once you’ve done that, cut a hole, about an inch, in the center of a huge piece of cone shape paper so that flies may get into it.
4. Place the paper funnel in the wine bottle’s narrow opening, and if necessary, tape it using scotch tape to secure it in position.

Again, the fly’s poor intelligence allows it to squeeze through the tiny opening, but it cannot get out. If you don’t have a wine bottle, any cup, soda bottle or mason jar or any glass jar will suffice. Put a paper cone on top of the bait and liquid mixture. Use it in areas where there is a fly problem.

Outdoor Homemade Fly Trap Using Transparent Soda Bottle

Materials:

• Soda bottle
• Sharp scissors or a sharp knife

Instructions:

1. Utilized a 2 liter seltzer water bottle to make a fly trap out of recycled soda bottles.
2. We used a box cutter to slash through the hard plastic with ease. You might also use a good pair of sharp scissors or a knife.
3. Select a fly trap bait from the selections above to use outdoors
4. Just snip the upper part off the bottle 2-3 inches down from the bottom of the pour spout to construct this outdoor version. When flipped over, this generates a “funnel”-like structure. Your “funnel” can be filled with whatever bait you choose, and then inserted into the bottle. Pour enough liquid in the bottom half of the bottle.
5. Much preferably if you use hot water. So once flies enter inside the bottle it will disturb the surface tension of the water causing the flies to drown on it.

If you want to hang the fly trap, use twine or string to hang the bottle. Ten minutes is all it takes to make your own fly traps at home. The decrease in the number of dead insects is well worth the time spent making them.

Homemade Fly Strips Paper

Materials:

• Scissors
• A saucepan
• Cookie sheets
• drying racks
• Tongs
• A large spoon for stirring
• A brown paper bag
• Sugar 1/4 cup
• Honey or Corn Syrup 1/4 cup
• 1/4 cup water

Instruction:

Using a Paper Bag, Make Several Strips and Mix and heat the ingredients together. Alternatively,

1. Cut a 12″ x 2″ brown paper bag into strips.
2. If you can’t find paper bags at your local supermarket, you can use takeout bags from restaurants or paper lunch sacks. A roll of construction paper from a dollar store can also be used.
3. If you heat the sugar syrup too long, you run the risk of burning yourself.
4. Avoid overheating your sugar mixture by keeping an eye on it and not overcooking it. Make sure you follow adequate burn first aid if you come into contact with hot syrup.
5. Using an equal-parts mixture of each of the three sugars and water, bring to a boil. Stirring continuously, heat until sugar is dissolved.

Set Strips Aside until Ready to Use

• Gently immerse the strips of paper in the sugar-water combination after taking the pan off of the stovetop. Make sure they’re well-saturated by letting them sit for a while.
• Allow the strips to soak in the sugar mixture for a few hours or even overnight for maximum stickiness. Remove them from the cold mixture with caution.
• Allow the strips to dry before moving on.
• Assemble your drying rack by stacking a baking sheet on top of it. To facilitate cleanup, it’s a good idea to line the cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper before baking.
• Tongs can be used to remove the strips of paper from the sugar mixture. Be cautious if you haven’t allowed the strips to sit for an extended period of time. The sugar syrup may still be hot, so be careful.
• The fly strips should be allowed to dry completely before being removed from the drying rack. Just hang your flypaper where flies are an issue and admire your hard work!!
• Your flies will be glued to your fly strip. To avoid harming people or pets, keep your fly strip paper up high and out of reach. You could end up with a sticky and possibly furry mess if you don’t.

Homemade Mason Jar Fly trap

Materials:

• Apple Cider Vinegar or White Vinegar
• Sugar
• Water
• A few drops of Dish soap
• A Mason Jar or Empty Bottle

Instructions:

1. The idea here would be to draw the insects in, then drown them in a pool of water. This is what the mason jar looked like after pouring 1/4 cup sugar, 3-4 inches of apple cider vinegar and a half-cup of water.
2. There is no need to dissolve sugar, just whisk it a little bit. You may add an apple cider vinegar because vinegar mix attractant is the best if you’re not sure exactly what kind of flies are bothering you at home because nearly all flies are drawn to it.
3. If you want to hang your jar, you can attach something to it. Some of the lid’s holes can be used to hang string or other materials. Saran wrap with holes poked in it can be used in the absence of or unwillingness to ruin an actual lid like I did, or as an alternative, you can simply place it on top of the jar to keep out the flies.
4. A rubber band or lid of a jar can then be used to keep it closed. An empty two-liter bottle cut in half and the original opening turned upside down can be used in its place if no jar is available. This is something I’ve done in the past with success. It’s just not as attractive.
5. This needs to be cleaned out once you’ve captured a good number of flies, which will not take long. If you’re disgusted, just dump everything out of the jar. You can save money by simply emptying and rinsing the container and starting over with a new batch of attractant.

Other Ways To Repel And Catch Flies

• If you don’t want to fuss with sticky flypaper, a fly trap made from a bottle and a few other basic ingredients can be made in only a few minutes.
• To get rid of flies, there are many additional low-cost options, as well. Take a look at the following options:
• Keep the flies confused by running fans.
• Maintain a clean and odor-free environment in your home or workplace.
• Relocate trash bins away from buildings.
• Ensure that the screens on the doors and windows of the kitchen are not damaged by keeping kitchen compost and waste sealed with a lid.
• All your dishes and household stuff will be a feast for fruit flies if you leave food scraps out. To avoid attracting flies, wash your dishes right away after eating, or at the very least, rinse them off so there is less food for them to feast on.
• Fruit flies aren’t just interested in the food on your plate; they’re also interested in your trash. Make sure you’re utilizing a trash can with a lid to keep the critters out of your garbage, as well!
• Humidity should be kept in check.
• Keeping fruit flies out of your kitchen is as simple as keeping it as dry as possible. In addition to being inexpensive and easy to use, moisture absorbers can help keep excess moisture at bay.

Tips To Make Your Fly Trap Effective

• Make sure the bait you choose is floating in enough water to drown the flies in these traps, whichever flavor you pick. They will drink anything from water to juice to vinegar to wine.
• Add a dab of vinegar to your trap to keep bees and other beneficial insects out of it.
• To ensure that the flies drown, add a small amount of dish soap to the water.
• Flies will be drawn to the aroma and funnel down, according to this trap’s underlying logic. They can’t figure out how to get back up the funnel, so they tumble into the sea in an attempt to get away. You can forget about them. It’s also effective!
• Your handmade fly trap can be hung up with a piece of string if you so desire.
• For this, two-liter soda bottles work best, but you may use any clear plastic bottle you have on hand. As an added bonus, the interior of the old juice jug was coated with sticky juice residue.
• Although it’s unlikely that the flies will notice. Since flies prefer sweeter foods, it’s possible that this extra-sweet Tupelo honey may entice them even further.

Conclusion

So there you have it – several ways to make your own homemade fly catchers. These solutions are all-natural, affordable, and effective, so give them a try the next time those pesky flies start driving you nuts.

Make sure to practice safety handling of materials when creating your own fly trap to avoid accidents or allergies. Do you have any other tips for keeping flies at bay? Share them in the comments below!