# How to kill flies without a flyswatter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 6, 2001, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-flies-without-a-flyswatter/80003 "2001-09-06T10:14:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![thicksantorum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@thicksantorum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thicksantorum)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-flies-without-a-flyswatter/80003/41 "2013-05-27T11:45:48Z")
Flypaper is great until the first time you accidentally brush against it and can’t get the crap off your skin without acetone. A tip for fruit flies and gnats: mix dish soap with apple cider vinegar and leave a saucer of it sitting out. They’ll poison themselves pretty quickly. Even better, build a trap: cut the top off of a soda bottle, flip it upside-down, and replace it so that you have a funnel leading into the lower half. Pour in a little bit of bait (vinegar for fruit flies, sugar syrup for houseflies) mixed with dish soap. This ensures they die in one place instead of all over the room. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-flies-without-a-flyswatter/80003/42 "2013-05-27T11:53:16Z")
> [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](#): > > Put a roll in each room of your house, hanging from the chandelier. Made me laugh - chandeliers indeed. I just get the butler to swat them. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-flies-without-a-flyswatter/80003/43 "2013-05-27T13:33:28Z")
I dunno too much 'bout flies, but this [electric tennis-raquet-thing](http://www.walmart.com/ip/BiteShield-Electronic-Racket-Zapper/11988154) works fine against mosquitos. And it makes a really satisfying sound–ZAP!!!-- when you get the bastard… ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-flies-without-a-flyswatter/80003/44 "2013-05-27T14:19:28Z")
Bugasalt Fly Gun. Uses salt shot-gun style, one shot per fly. Guy has serious working machine, looking for investors. Looks like fun. (PETA I assume you know where I live.) [Vid](Http://youtu.be/-oYl-Lm9a6U). [Mosquito laser,](http://intellectualventureslab.com/?page_id=563) with a few tweaks (cite to developer). This is serious with big names and money, developed for anti-Malaria programs. [Excerpt from TED](http://www.ted.com/talks/nathan_myhrvold_could_this_laser_zap_malaria.html). Wiki history [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_laser). Photonics fence. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-flies-without-a-flyswatter/80003/45 "2013-05-27T14:39:39Z")
I have a Bug-a-Salt gun and it does work. Range is a few feet. I’ve not tried wing shooting yet. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-flies-without-a-flyswatter/80003/46 "2013-05-27T15:02:40Z")
I always found that towel whipping them locker room style did the trick. Or just waiting 12 years for them to die 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-flies-without-a-flyswatter/80003/47 "2013-05-27T16:06:55Z")
Inasmuch as the OP has admitted to fabricating some aspects of his post, this may be irrelevant or immaterial or both, but before I read his confession, I wanted to say that if he’s too lazy to buy a fly swatter, where would he get the energy to buy flypaper? That’s internally inconsistent. Ok, never mind. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-flies-without-a-flyswatter/80003/48 "2013-05-27T16:34:51Z")
Rolled up newspaper works pretty well when you have no flyswatter. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-flies-without-a-flyswatter/80003/49 "2013-05-27T17:47:01Z")
Early fly swatters were just a striking surface with a handle. You could duplicate that with things around the house. Related: I asked my girlfriend for a newspaper. she told me to just use her iPad. The spider never knew what hit it. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-flies-without-a-flyswatter/80003/50 "2013-05-27T21:34:38Z")
I don’t know why you don’t just get a cat or two. But not de-clawed. Mine are, and they seem to be trying to catch things with their phantom claws. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-flies-without-a-flyswatter/80003/51 "2013-05-27T21:38:39Z")
> [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](#): > > Put a roll in each room of your house, hanging from the chandelier. Damn, how old is this thread anyway? ---
**Author:** ![RearEchelon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RearEchelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RearEchelon)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-flies-without-a-flyswatter/80003/52 "2013-05-28T00:10:14Z")
> **[Bug-A-Salt: The Original Salt Gun | Bug-A-Salt](https://www.bugasalt.com/)** > > Insect hunting as sport has entered the 21st Century with Bug-A-Salt. Our insect eradication devices fire ordinary table salt to kill pesky flies. We ship to all 50 states. Fast Shipping. Fire your flyswatter! Bug-blasting salt shotgun. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-flies-without-a-flyswatter/80003/53 "2013-05-28T02:17:28Z")
> [@RearEchelon](#): > > [http://bugasalt.com/](http://bugasalt.com/) > > Bug-blasting salt shotgun. Want. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-flies-without-a-flyswatter/80003/54 "2013-05-28T06:38:38Z")
> [@RearEchelon](#): > > [http://bugasalt.com/](http://bugasalt.com/) > > Bug-blasting salt shotgun. > [@toofs](#): > > Want. Ordering one tomorrow! 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-flies-without-a-flyswatter/80003.md?page=2)