Keeps flies away

My husband recently ate at an outside restaurant and noticed a bag of water on each table. The bag was half full of water and tied up on a stand so it wouldn’t touch the table…so it could vibrate and wiggly. He was told it would keep the flies away. So to test the idea, we took a ziplock Baggie and filled it half full of water, made a small hole in the top and ran a kite string thru it. We attached it to the metal “knocker” on our back door. Our dog food on the back porch attracts flies. Guess what? After two weeks, I have only found one fly that slipped thru the doorway when I had it wide open. Kewl, huh?

33 thoughts on “Keeps flies away

  1. Liz

    Planting lavender in a pot and placing it near your door will also help keep the flies away.

  2. pam

    i tried the plastic bags for my flies whow it really worked ive spent so much money on fly spray and it would work for a few minutes im amazed thanks

    1. Karen

      Because the light deflects on the water making the flies gets disoriented and so that’s why they hate it.

      1. Karen

        You can also hang those crystal shiny stuff…that shines on birds and bugs eyes thus making them go away.

  3. Frankie

    Thanks for reminding me of this. I had heard this a couple of years ago but had forgotten. I will surely try it.

  4. Frankie Post author

    I have heard that the reason this works has to do with the water’s reflection and the fly’s sight. Maybe the water magnifies the fly’s image and scares it. Don’t really know and I am just guessing. I just know it works for me.

  5. Frankie

    I recently set a big bowl of water on a all table next to my back door. It is a clear glass vase that probably holds a gallon of water. It did the trick and no flies but you must keep the water bowl crystal clear. I let mine get dirty because I was on vacation for a week and I immediately had flies again. Cleaned the bowl and put new water, the flies disappeared off my back porch.

  6. Aurora Sue

    I have a farm and three horses. There are so many flies you can’t go out there to feed the horses. I have bags of of stuff that smell, basically amounts to poo smell in a bag. It has a hole in top and they come to it go down into it and can’t come back out. So your telling just plain bags of water will do this. I’m going to try this is week to see if it works. I will be back after a week to let you know.

  7. Jeff

    I recently moved into a new home and the flies are a big issue. I tried the bags of water above the doors and it doesn’t seem to work. How far above the door should the bags be? Should I add pennies to the bags?

  8. Frankie

    Jeff,
    I put one bag of water on the side of the door that opens…hanging on the outside light fixture. I recently found that a container of water…clear…like a vase…on a table right near the door helps, too.
    You did use a clear bag. didn’t you? Like a zip lock sandwich bag. It needs to be able to make a clear reflection, I believe.

    Hope this helps. Put more than one if you need to. I have the bag about a foot away from the door. I still get an occasional fly that sneaks by but it is a lot better than it use to be.

  9. steve

    Was sure this doesn’t work….On vacation in GA. and being swamped with flies. Tried the bag and pennies thing, and in about 10 minutes they mostly had gone. A few young ones hanging around a bit but they also leave in a couple of minutes. Had I not seen it myself I would say this was an old wives tales….So far I’m impressed.

  10. gina

    Is that all you do is a half a bag of water and you don’t add anything in the water what about using a drink bottle with water?

  11. Frankie Post author

    Yes, you close the top of it. The restaurant that had them on the table looked like the bags you get when you buy fish at Walmart. Like I said, I use a baggie and zip lock it closed and hang it from a tack or on a nail. The water will evaporate eventually and especially if you leave it open.

  12. Frankie Post author

    I still had a few flies every now and then but I could tell a difference almost immediately. If you have a light fixture by your entrance of your door, tie the bag to the fixture so it will be really close to your door. I just used a zip lock baggie, added water and it was about a foot from my door but up high, about four feet. I didn’t put pennies or anything else in it, just water.

  13. Cheryl

    I am having a huge problem with flies . None of my windows are open but everyday I have a new crop of flies by my kitchen door transom window . I have sprayed the window with bug spray which kills the flies and I have to clean up their bodies where they drop but then next day there are more. How are they getting in?

    1. Frankie Post author

      That is a puzzle. Maybe you can put a bag of water near that window. Others have suggested lavender. I would say they are getting in some way so search that out, too.

      This is gross but (before I learned about the bag of water) I actually had a fly lay eggs in my trash can. It was horrible. The next morning I had what looked like rice on the floor. I am thinking “I didn’t cook rice last night”. Then I saw the little maggot crawling.

      So I encourage you not to let flies stay in your house any longer than possible. After that awful experience,if I thought there was a fly in my house, I turned all the lights off except above the kitchen sink. I stood there with my fly swatter and killed any fly that came around.

      Another thing….when I have a fly in my window, especially if I have a venetian blind up, I spray Windex at the fly. Spray a big shot, close up. It stuns him and he falls to the bottom of the window and I pick him up and squeeze him in a paper towell. Better than raising the blinds and he flies out.

      Who knew there was so much info about getting rid of flies?

  14. Amy

    I just tried the water in a bag with pennies…after about an hour I was still swatting flies!!!!! Just as I was about to search for some Pine Sol I saw a bottle of L.A.’a totally awesome that I had only used once because it was so strong. I sprayed my front porch also all around the door seal and the bottom of the screen door. Its been about 20 minutes and I have not seen one fly!!!!! I guess that stuff is choking the flies like it does me!!!! I’m goin to get several more bottles of this stuff. After all its only $1 at the Dollar Tree and Dollar General Stores!!

  15. Frankie Odom

    Well, it makes me wonder where you put it and what kind of bag. Must use clear, not frosted bag. Also it needs to be in sunlight and dangling, I think. I did put a bowl of water on a vase like bowl and it seemed to work though it didn’t really move around.

    Hope this helps. Tell me what you did and maybe I can help.

    1. Frankie

      I would think so but I am thinking the sun light hitting the bag of water might be part of what makes the fly’s vision be bothered.
      So I can’t say for sure. I would suggest if it is possible to put the bag of water in the sun light, do it! Let me know.

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