# Flies, how to get rid of **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 10, 2026, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258 "2026-08-10T01:00:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/1 "2026-08-10T01:00:59Z")
The thread on ants reminds of the fact that we have been invaded by flies. Any thoughts on how to deal with them? What happened is that our air conditioner has stopped working. Try to get an air conditioner repairman to come in early August; we actually have an appointment with one on Thursday. So we have had to open the door to the balcony of our condo overnight to get some cooling. And there is no screen on that door; who needs if if you have air confitioning? Then the flies invaded. Buggers. Any thoughts? I tried putting some honey on a spoon and found them on the edge licking, but none got trapped in it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/2 "2026-08-10T01:11:10Z")
There’s nothing special about these, versus any other product with a UV light and an adhesive surface, but they do work really well. [![](https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/f72d9283-394a-4a03-b774-fbeafcc92609.8e382e5db86d028c22f1e91c4ab8fd5f.jpeg) ](https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/f72d9283-394a-4a03-b774-fbeafcc92609.8e382e5db86d028c22f1e91c4ab8fd5f.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/3 "2026-08-10T03:08:07Z")
Sorry to say that that has not been my experience. I bought a couple and tried them for a few months during which they caught almost nothing. I now use [these things](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L68W4K2?th=1) on our windows and they work well for fruit flies and other small midgets and things. They don’t catch as many regular house flies. We live on the North Shore of Boston. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/4 "2026-08-10T03:32:10Z")
Indoor bug zappers. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/5 "2026-08-10T03:36:32Z")
Fly swat. I have a tennis racket zapper one. You gotta be a dead eye with that. Until you close that window you’re not gonna get rid of them very well. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/6 "2026-08-10T04:04:52Z")
I’ve had better experience with the Zevo traps, which I just leave plugged in. For actual fruit flies, a cup of vinegar left out is an effective trap and costs almost nothing. They’re attracted to ripening and rotten fruit so they are attracted to the smell of vinegar. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/7 "2026-08-10T12:54:50Z")
Yeah, the vinegar/soap traps didn’t work for us, either. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/8 "2026-08-10T12:56:32Z")
What a coincidence! I think I just mentioned these in another thread: BugBane Fly Strips. They’re ugly as home-made sin, but it’s astonishing how they “fill up” with flies. Your SO will hate them. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/9 "2026-08-10T12:59:55Z")
I’ve had the best luck with old fashioned fly paper. It comes in rolls and I hang a few of them in inconspicuous places near a window. For occasions when there is a nuisance fly in the room I’m in, I have one of these: [bugasalt.com](https://www.bugasalt.com/) It is very effective and a lot of fun. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/10 "2026-08-10T13:19:56Z")
Yeah, tried that, too. The only things that have worked for us are the strips I linked to above, an ordinary fly swatter, and for the [occasional massive infestations](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-these-fing-flies-coming-from/1022565), Raid. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/11 "2026-08-10T13:21:58Z")
These are great. We have two in the house: kitchen and a bathroom. In the kitchen we had better success after removing two other nighttime light sources (a night light and the light in the fridge’s water dispenser). After a couple of weeks we no longer saw drain flies, which is what prompted the purchases. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/12 "2026-08-10T13:54:15Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Yeah, the vinegar/soap traps didn’t work for us, either. Then you don’t have fruit flies. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/13 "2026-08-10T14:00:45Z")
First, you need to physically block access. Yes, that means you need screens, at least temporarily. Next, you need to remove food and water access. Those extend the lifespan of any interlopers and potentially allow them to reproduce. Clean everything. No unwrapped fruit or nuts or whatever. No dirty dishes or pans. Nothing holding water in the sinks. Finally, you can capture or kill them as a last resort. I find a dark room with a bright window attracts flies. Swat them as they land. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/14 "2026-08-10T14:37:05Z")
Maybe not. I’m not an entomologist. They’re small and seemed to originate near our (indoor) composting bin. Vinegar didn’t catch them, but the strips in the window do. If I can, I try to get a close-up of a corpse on a strip for possible ID. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/15 "2026-08-10T14:54:20Z")
I’m no entomologist either but I know that when I was plagued with small flies in and around the kitchen (that I suspected were fruit flies), I placed a small cup of vinegar out and a few days later found them drowned in the cup and no more flying pests and that’s consistent with their attraction to ripening and rotting fruit. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/16 "2026-08-10T15:05:02Z")
I’m not denying your experience, I’m just saying my bugs, whatever they were, didn’t fall for it. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/17 "2026-08-10T15:15:27Z")
I always got a piece of paper, trapped the flies under a clear plastic cup, put in one or two small isopropyl-alcohol wipes in the cup with the flies, and fumigated them that way. A makeshift gas chamber. The flies will buzz about and get frantic after a couple minutes, and typically are dead in 20. Sure, one could just slap them with a swatter, but that leaves a nasty gunk mess of germs. The fumigation method is much more sanitary. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/18 "2026-08-10T15:43:04Z")
Easy fly go toward the light, darken the house and open the door they will all just leave ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/19 "2026-08-10T18:14:37Z")
Yeah, that works with fruit flies, not house flies. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258/20 "2026-08-10T18:22:52Z")
When I have flies in the house, I carry my pump-action Bug-a-Salt gun with me. There is something so satisfying about pumping it like a shotgun and blasting them one by one. Just don’t do it anywhere near stuff where you don’t want salt to get on things, such as near electronics or in your workshop (machines), and so forth. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-how-to-get-rid-of/1032258.md?page=2)