5 days ago
UK households urged to mix 35p kitchen staple with soap to banish flies
If you're being plagued by flies this summer, no need to pull out the fly swatter just yet - household experts have shared a cheap and nifty trick to keep them far away from your home
It can be incredibly frustrating to find your home and garden inundated with flies as the warm weather picks up – luckily this expert tip will send them packing.
Flies tend to reproduce at a higher rate over summer due to the warmer temperatures, which means you can quickly end up with a massive infestation if you're not careful. This is particularly frustrating if you're growing fruit or vegetables in your garden, or if you plan on leaving food items, like fruit bowls, out on the kitchen counter. Flies are drawn to decaying matter and will feed on your leftovers and garden plants.
Worse than creating an annoying noise, these airborne pests are also known to spread disease. This includes E. Coli, which is a bacterial infection that can cause diarrhoea, stomach cramps and nausea.
READ MORE: Monty Don urges gardeners to do urgent weeding task in June
Fortunately, you don't have to whip out the fly swatter, or turn to a nasty pesticide to get rid of them. According to experts there's a great way to repel flies using household ingredients.
All you need is a bottle of vinegar and dish soap. Healthline writes: 'A mixture of vinegar and dish soap can help you trap flies such as fruit flies.'
First, you should mix equal parts water and vinegar in a glass. After you've done that, add a few drops of dish soap into the glass.
Next, cover the glass with plastic wrap, and make sure that you secure the plastic wrap with a rubber band. Finally, you should poke some small holes in the top.
Healthline continues: 'Flies will be attracted to the vinegar in the glass and will fly through the holes. However, the dish soap causes the flies to sink instead of being able to land on the vinegar.'
Flies are attracted to vinegar due to its strong, fermented scent, which somewhat resembles the aroma of overripe or decaying fruit. It also contains acetic acid, which is a chemical that builds up during fruit fermentation.
These tiny insects like to feed on the microbes that live on overripe or decaying fruit and so are drawn to this acid by their sense of smell. Hence why the vinegar makes such an effective lure.
You probably have a bottle of vinegar lying around in your kitchen cupboard – but if not, don't worry. You can pick up 568 ml of Distilled Malt Vinegar from Sainsbury's for just 35p.
If you're not a fan of the smell of vinegar in your home, another tip that might work is leaving out cucumber. It sounds strange, but it's believed that flies are actually repelled by cucumber due to its smell.
Simply place cucumber slices next to entry points in your home, like doors and windows. Equally you should place them in other areas where flies like to congregate, including bins.
