Save Those Plastic Bottles To Keep Flies Out Of Your Kitchen Once And For All

There is not a lot worse than trying to cook food in the kitchen while flies buzz around your counters and ingredients. These pests are infuriating at best, and unhygienic at worst, but luckily there's a surprisingly effective homemade trap you should try. It only requires repurposing an old plastic bottle and then utilizing a few sweet ingredients that are probably already sitting in your pantry. Simply cut an empty water or soda bottle a quarter of the way below the cap. Take the bottom part of the bottle and fill it with warm water, honey, and brown sugar to make the bait. Then, unscrew the cap of the top part, flip it upside down, and wedge it into the base. This will create a funnel trap. Make sure to tightly tape the area where the two pieces are wedged in place so that the flies can't escape through any gap.

The sweetness of the sugar and honey is what draws the flies inside, but because there's a narrow funnel opening, they will then struggle to get back out. This hack is great for larger house flies both indoors and outdoors, and it can also help with removing fruit flies from your kitchen too. Plus, you can switch up the bait inside. For fruit flies in particular, they are very drawn to fermented smells so you can try it with apple cider vinegar or some old juice you have in the back of the fridge, then add a few drops of dish soap to the mixture so the fruit flies can't escape once they're in. You can also use rotting meat, if you can stomach that smell yourself.

This is a hack that is worth trying as you can implement it easily across different spaces where flies are becoming a problem. If you've been looking for ways to get rid of kitchen flies, then it could be worthwhile placing the trap around produce bowls, bins, sinks, or anywhere food scraps or moisture tend to build up. You can also think about placing traps near windows, back doors, or darker corners of the kitchen where you notice them gathering. The traps can also work in outdoor areas like patios or near compost bins if flies are becoming a concern there too.

While some situations call for DIY traps to deal with the flies you can see, you also need to work the issue from all angles to eliminate the source of where they are laying their eggs in the first place. Regularly cleaning, ensuring you have good airflow to reduce moisture, or simply moving your kitchen trash bin farther away from doors and windows can do wonders, especially when implemented as part of the puzzle alongside trap tricks like this funnel one. And of course, it is always satisfying that you can repurpose empty plastic bottles in your garden or home instead of throwing them away. It only takes one bottle that was destined for the recycling bin to make a trap that could ensnare enough flies to keep your kitchen much more pleasant.