This is an easy to make, do it yourself, effective homemade fly trap. You can easily make this trap with repurposed supplies you probably now have at your home. So no running to the store and no out of pocket expenses! This is a fantastic way to naturally control flies in and around your home. Best part - No toxic chemicals!
Supplies Needed For Homemade Fly Trap
- Plastic bottle - I like to use a 2 liter - repurposed
- Water
- Bait (the stinkier the better!)
- Two drops of Dawn / liquid dish soap.
This is a no nonsense fly trap that anyone can make and it will yield wonderful results. So lets get to it!
Step #1 - Grab your plastic bottle (I used a two liter plastic bottle) and remove/cut off the top. An exacto knife works well (be careful they are sharp). Try to cut your top evenly.
Step #2 - Take your cut top and flip it over. Place it (flipped side over) into the base of your bottle. It will form a type of “funnel”. If it doesn’t fit inside the base snugly you can glue, staple or tape it in place
Step #3 - Add something really smelly to the base to lure the flies in (flies also like sweet things but I’ve had more success with stinky bait). See below for a list of ideas on stink bait.
Step #4 - Add some water into the base of your container over your stink bait - making sure to leave a space between the bottom of the “funnel” and your water line. Add 2 drops of Dawn dish detergent (or whatever kind you use). The soap will cling to the wings of the flies and helps to disable them a bit.
Bait Options For Your Homemade Fly Trap:
Believe it or not flies like smelly rotting things as well as sweet things. So use whatever you have on hand or try a few different things to see what draws them in the best. Here are some ideas….
- Rotten Overripe Fruit/Veggies – Bananas, strawberries or potatoes work beautifully.
- Raw meat, such as hamburger or some chicken fat/skin (uncooked!)
- Manure from your chickens or pets - the fresher the better
- A raw shrimp (this worked the best for me!) tossed right into the water and let it rot - the flies went crazy!
- Or all of the above (insert vomit 🤮) but it’ll work!
As a reminder flies are just plain gross, so the longer your bait sits and rots the better at catching these little nuisance makers. The more rotten, and stinkier the better!
Add your homemade fly trap in an area where you are having an issue but ideally not right on top of your home, as the contents inside the trap will stink!
Notes:
- Flies are going to search out your bait. When they do the stinky bait will encourage them to fly down into the funnel to check it out. Once they get themselves into the base they will have a hard time finding a way outta the funnel. As they attempt to escape they will land in the water and drown. Bye bye nasty fly!
- I like to hang my traps outside our coop. To do this you just need to punch a few holes in the side and thread some string/wire through. Voila - hanging fly trap!
- You can use any type of plastic bottle but juice containers and two-liter soda bottles are my favorite. We don’t drink a lot of soda in our house, so everyone is pretty excited when they see it coming through the door and I’m encouraging them to drink it up (because I need the bottle! Lol). Don’t rinse it out that sticky soda or juice residue will just add to the ambiance of your fly trap!
- If you can’t stomach the rotting yuck then you can also use sweet scents to attract flies, so some raw honey or sugar water will also help to bring this frenemies to the party.
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