How to ward off houseflies

Try Yellow Porch Lights

Yellow light has been proven to repel flies. To cut down on the number of flies hanging around your doors waiting to get inside (at least at nighttime,) try switching out the white or clear light bulbs in your porch lights with yellow light bulbs. While this isn’t helpful during the day, it can help keep flies away at night, which can make a big difference during the summertime especially when flies tend to be most active and have the largest population.

Set Fly Traps

You can buy fly traps at the store or make a DIY fly trap at home. There are a variety of fly trap “recipes” on the internet. One method of making a DIY fly trap is to use an old soda bottle filled halfway with sugar water and old fruit. This can be hung in an area that flies typically frequent; the rotten fruit will lure them into the bottle, which will be hard for them to escape, especially once they get their wings wet with sugar water. While fly traps full of dead flies aren’t the most appealing thing to have hanging around your house, the dead flies will actually help attract more live flies to the trap.

Scrub Your Garbage Cans

Speaking of routine cleaning, it’s easy to remember that the best place for trash is the garbage can. But what about the can itself? Give those cans a good scrubbing every now and again. You can use your mop bucket to dump hot water from the tap into your garbage can, along with some soap. (Since you’ll be dumping the soap out into your yard or nearby rain ditch, a natural soap that is environmentally friendly and biodegradable would be best to use.) A long-handled scrub brush, such as the kind that is typically used to clean cobwebs from ceiling fans, would be perfect for this job. Once you’ve thoroughly soaped and scrubbed your garbage can, dump out the soapy water and rinse it out until the rinse water runs clear. A final spray of disinfectant will leave your garbage can smelling much better than it did before you took the time to clean it.

Clean Up Behind Pets

Check your yard for pet droppings. While it’s easy to forget to do this when you let your dog into the yard for a quick potty break, it is important to check afterward and quickly remove any feces that your pet might have left. Pet droppings are a major attractant to flies, so this is an easy way to cut down on the number of flies hanging out (and reproducing!) in your yard, which helps lower your chances of developing a fly problem inside your home. 

Call West Termite, Pest & Lawn today for professional pest control.