The warm weather is here…and so are those pesky little flies. One fly alone has the potential to lay 9,000 eggs! Here are a few things that will help eliminate, or at least minimize the number of flies in your home.
1. Try and keep the doors closed as much as possible. If the doors are shut, the flies can’t get in.
2. The smell of cooking meat is a strong attraction for flies, and they will congregate at the screen door waiting for an opening. Even the scent of hamburger defrosting on the kitchen counter can attract them.
Whenever you are cooking in your home, make it a rule to keep the doors closed as much as possible. Try and clean up the food right after meals.
If the door must open and close often during meal-preparation such as barbecues, point a fan from the inside toward the open door. Flies do not like wind.
3. Animal feces are one of the biggest fly attractants. It is not a fun job, but someone will have to remove it from the backyard. Bury it, flush it or seal it in bags in a trash can.
4. The lids of your trash cans should fit and seal tightly to eliminate any space for flies to get in. Keep lids on your kitchen wastebasket as well. Do not let any decaying matter sit around.
5. Flies love the protection of piles of brush and tall grass, so try and keep the yard manicured as much as possible.
For those who compost, a compost heap is an ideal breeding ground for flies, so it might help to keep the compost heap as far from the house as possible. Try not to keep the compost heap too moist. Turn it often. Do not add meat or oil products to the compost.
6. Flies also love moisture and standing water. If you cannot figure out why flies like your yard, check your bird bath or search for any undrained water. Although there might not be anything you can do about living near a pond, lake or swamp, you can drain the water that collects near your house on the lid of trash cans or in buckets.
7. Cover the Fruit. Fruit flies are those tiny gnat-size flying insects that magically appear a few days after you put the fruit bowl on the counter. Get rid of fruit flies by placing fruit in a muslin cloth bag.
8. If your house is still infested with flies and you just cannot figure out why, you may have to go on a search. A dead rodent or even potted plants could have played host to a fly breeding ground. Clean the house thoroughly and lift all carpets to check for maggots. Pour boiling water down all open drains, then cover them.
9. Try using fly-offensive plants. Citronella is known for its mosquito-deterring properties, but it can also work on flies. Other plants that have fly-repelling reputations are false indigo, lavender, elderberry, basil and mint.
10. Use Reflectors! Some people claim that hanging CDs, or hanging plastic ziploc storage bags half full of water with a few pennies in them near an entryway will keep flies away. The sun’s reflection is the key. It makes the flies dizzy and they will stay away.
Maid Brigade House Cleaning Services cares about your health. How do you keep those pesky flies away? Write to us and share your comments! For more information on healthy green living and green cleaning, please go to greencleancertified.com or maidbrigade.com.
