If you live in an environment where there are lots of flies around, you might be wondering how to get rid of house flies without chemicals, especially with children in the house. Here is a post for you and your family to get rid of house flies naturally!

How to Get Rid of House Flies Without Chemicals

These are some ways you can get rid of house flies without chemicals:

1. Place bug mesh at all windows and door openings
2. Use a piece of raw fish gut to distract them away from your home
3. Install fly traps around your property
4. Grow fly-repelling plants
5. Use natural fly deterrents such as eucalyptus oil or fresh orange peel

How to Get Rid of House Flies Naturally

Dealing with house flies was always a problem from my memories of childhood in Jamaica. I guess our tropical climate lends itself to that.

But why should we be concerned about house flies? Well, apart from just being a royal nuisance, houseflies pick up disease-causing germs from various sources of filth then transfer them via their mouths, vomitus, feces and contaminated external body parts to our food.

That means houseflies can cause outbreaks of diseases such as:

1. diarrhea
2. shigellosis
3. food poisoning
4. typhoid fever
5. dysentery
6. tuberculosis
7. anthrax
8. ophthalmia
9. even parasitic worms!

(Anyone feeling motivated to get rid of houseflies yet?)

However, for those of us who are seeking to live a more natural, organic lifestyle, and those of us with children around, we want to avoid the knee-jerk reflex of grabbing a can of toxic insect spray.

So, what can we do to get rid of flies naturally? Here are some ways to get rid of houseflies without the chemicals!

Enclosing Your Home with Mosquito Mesh Gets Rid of Flies Without Chemicals

Covering all windows and doorways with mosquito mesh is a great non-toxic way to keep flies out of your home. I experienced the beauty of this simple chemical-free way to get rid of flies. Can you imagine being able to have raw meat open on your kitchen counter without fear?

I can’t tell you how happy I was!

To get this done you can buy pre-built window screens like this self-adhesive one:

For completion, you should also get something for your doorways like this magnetic piece that opens either left or right!

But here’s a secret for you – if you have windows, doorways and other openings that are not standard measurements or if you love DIY projects, you should definitely buy mesh in bulk and cut and install it to your taste.

The Raw Meat Trick is Another Non-toxic Way to Get Rid of Flies

If you are having an outdoor event or are always spending time outdoors, this might be the way to get rid of flies from around you. It also works to keep flies at a minimum for your indoor space, if you haven’t been able to install your own window and door meshes yet.

I call it the raw meat trick, and preferably, you should use raw fish parts like the guts after you have cleaned your fish. But raw chicken scraps will do just fine as well.

Here’s how to get rid of flies without chemicals by using the raw meat trick:

1. Obtain your fresh, room-temperature fish guts
2. Identify a spot in your yard that’s away from your functional space – the more out-of-sight, the better.
3. Toss the fish guts in that spot and watch the difference unfold as the hours roll by

You will begin to notice that most of the flies in that vicinity will have opted to gather at your lure leaving your home and surroundings virtually fly-free!

You may be wondering if this really works. Well, I have experienced this method, and yes, it definitely works – as long as the fish guts are far away from any disturbance. The only drawback is that the raw fish guts will not last forever (think the sun, ants and perhaps larger animals), so you need to use that short interim to get your house meshed!

Keep Your Space Clean as a Way to Get Rid of Flies Without Chemicals

There is an old saying I grew up hearing in Jamaica: “Where no bones are provided, no dogs are invited!”

That saying may not seem to have anything to do with flies, but the principle is clear – if I don’t provide the attraction, then no dog (well, flies) will come.

So, what are flies attracted to?

Flies aren’t very picky. They will congregate on all of the following:

• Food
• The containers and wrappers that touched food
• Surfaces touched by hands that touched food and drink
• Drinks
• The containers that once had drinks
• Feces
• Body fluids
• Pets
• Garbage cans and bags
• Decomposing organic matter (wild animals that died etc.)

That means you have to stay on top of maintaining a clean home.

                             

 Here are a few things you need to keep a watchful eye on to maintain a clean home:

1. putting things away – as they say, “a place for everything, and everything in its place!”
2. carefully disposing of your garbage – decomposing or burning works too, depending on the space you have and where you live
3. covering food your children left – do I have a witness?
4. mopping up spills – it prevents accidents too
5. giving the pets their bath – they can track dirt into your home, and they don’t wipe their butts after going!

Installing Fly traps will Get Rid of Flies Without Chemicals

The ideal family-friendly fly trap is simple to set up, requires no special bait, and is of course, chemical-free, like this one:

This fly trap works because flies will get naturally attracted to the fresh bait you place in the bowl. When they have had their fill, they fly upwards by instinct, pass through the hole at the top of the cone, then get trapped in the net. They eventually die!

Thankfully, you can get to see it in action before you make a purchase:

Did you say, “Way cool!”

I thought you would!

And by the way, this fly trap is actually reusable, which saves you money, since you only buy it once!

ORDER FLYFIXED FLY TRAP

Growing Plants that Repel Flies will Get Rid of Flies Without the Chemicals

As a homemaker, one of your priorities is to add beauty to your space, both indoors and outdoors. That’s why you might be thrilled to know you can grow certain flowers to both chase flies away and beautify your home in one go!

Now let’s find out what some of these fly-repelling plants are:

• Marigold
• Lavender

• Bay leaf
• Catnip
• Lemon grass (aka fever grass in Jamaica)
• Basil
• Mint
• Sage
• Chrysanthemums

In a case like this, Jamaicans would say we are using one stone to kill two birds. That’s another way of saying we are getting the beauty of the plants while tapping into their dual function of getting rid of houseflies without the chemicals!

What Other Natural Fly Deterrents Get Rid of Flies Without Chemicals?

In conclusion, here are a few other non-toxic ways to get rid of flies in your home. (There are other methods like burning citronella candles or using a variant of a pepper spray but those did not sound safe for a home with young children.)

1. Cut up fresh orange peel and put it on a plate
2. Put a few drops of eucalyptus oil on a cloth and hang it near doors and windows.
3. Place mint on kitchen windowsills.

 

What natural methods do you use to control flies in your home? Let me know in the comments!

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