I tried three ways to get rid of flies in my kitchen (Image: Shania King-Soyza)
Few things are more frustrating than finding flies buzzing around your kitchen. From hovering over fruit bowls to gathering near the bin, these unwelcome pests can quickly become a nuisance. My biggest gripe is when I’m trying to eat or enjoy a drink and see a fly hovering over my meal or around my head.
According to Aptive Pest Control, flies are more active during the summer months due to warmer temperatures, higher humidity, breeding cycles, and increased food availability. They further explained: “Summer heat creates ideal breeding conditions in organic waste, garbage, and decomposing matter where flies lay eggs.
“Warm, moist conditions accelerate egg hatching and larval development, reducing generation time from weeks to days in some species.
“This rapid reproduction means small fly populations can explode into major infestations within short periods during peak summer weather.”
Absolutely fed up with the fly infestation and choking on useless, toxic fly-killer spray, I tested three methods in my own kitchen to get rid of flies for good: a fly-door curtain, an electric racket, and a sticky ceiling trap.
One stood out above the rest—and surprisingly, the most effective solution was the cheapest. Find out the full results below.
You can purchase most of these methods on Amazon (Image: Shania King-Soyza)
1) Fly curtain
A simple solution is not to open your doors or windows to keep flies out. But with the extreme heat, it would be deadly not to let in the little breeze we can get.
The solution to this is a fly curtain. This is designed to hang in a doorway and help keep flies and other insects out while still allowing people to pass through and fresh air to circulate.
A curtain like this costs as little as £10 at Argos or £10.99 at Amazon. In my home, I have a long, black, snappy curtain that hangs on my kitchen door (the one leading to my garden).
However, this is completely useless unless you hang a curtain on every window and door, which will be quite pricey and look quite unattractive all around your home.
If you’re like me and have kids at home, they will end up opening the curtain and forgetting to close it quickly, letting pests in.
One method proved pointless (Image: Shania King-Soyza)
2. Electric racket
If you choose to ditch the curtain and still want your windows and doors to remain open, a common option to get rid of flies is to use an electric racket.
An electric fly racket is a handheld device that kills flies and other small insects on contact using an electrified mesh. You can purchase the JML Pest Reject Racket at Dunelm for £10 or at Argos for the same price.
The major problem with this racket is that you have to be quick and smart. According to Big Think, flies have faster vision than humans, making swatting them much harder than you think.
They added: “Humans see about 60 flashes per second while flies see about 250 — a full four times faster than humans.” When using the racket, I managed to catch one slow fly, but the flash and the sound of the fly being electrocuted were very off-putting.
The sticky trap is the best solution (Image: Shania King-Soyza)
3. Ceiling Sticky trap – winner
A ceiling sticky trap is a hanging adhesive trap that catches flies and other flying insects when they land on or brush against its sticky surface – and honestly, it’s the best solution.
This may be a slow solution, but it is the most effective. Simply hang a few strips on your ceiling, and the trap does all the work. In just two days, our strips were full of the pests.
Another downfall is that it looks unttractive and is quite gross to see all the flies build up on it. However, it is the best option if you want something simple that works in the background without having to spray chemicals around the house.
I purchased a packet of 16 for £6.99 on Amazon, which is approximately 44p each.