Flies in Your House Can Drive You Crazy
I'm usually pretty sane, but if I'm preparing a meal or trying to eat, seeing flies buzzing around me drives me nuts. Flies are dirty and carry diseases. I don't want them in my kitchen when I'm preparing, serving, or trying to eat food.
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Photo Courtesy of Pixabay, edited on FotoJet |
Imagine my distress when my husband left the door open two weeks ago while he went outside to get something and about a dozen flies flew in! Once the flies were in, they didn't want to go back out.
For at least ten days I fought them with folded newspapers and a fly swatter to no avail. Those pesky flies knew how to settle just where they would land on a clean dish or plate of food were I to swat them. I did get a couple who lit where I could hit them, but most escaped from my attacks. It seemed for every one I killed, two more would appear in its place. It seemed everywhere I went in the kitchen or family room, at least five flies were circling in the air. My stress level was high.
My Electronic Fly Trap
After a few days of watching helplessly as the flies treated my table and walls as their personal airport, I remembered I once had an electronic trap for mosquitoes and other flying insects. I hadn't used it for years and was, in fact, storing it in the kitchen at our other house. I decided to retrieve it. In the past, it had caught a few flying insects. The one I own is obsolete now, but it was similar to this one and worked the same way.
It uses light to attract the insects. Then it sucks them into a lower compartment with a powerful fan and traps them there. Eventually, they dehydrate. These traps work pretty well for mosquitoes, as I remember. Reviewers on eBay seem to agree with me. It may work for you if you have a problem with mosquitoes.
However, it did not work very well on my flies. I had it on the kitchen table and turned it on at night before I went to bed after other house lights were off. At my first morning bladder call, I'd shut the trap before the sun was up. Unfortunately, my husband got up after me and thought he should turn it on again, which opened the trap. I'm not sure it ever caught a fly for long. Their numbers did not seem to decrease.
I brought my vintage
Stinger NOsquito Ma06 Indoor Insect Mosquito Bug UV Light Quiet Electronic Trap | eBay decades ago. I don't remember where. I did find one like mine on eBay, which you can see if you follow the link above.
Shopping for a Solution to My Fly Problem
Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to find a solution! I went to Walmart in search of fly paper, but they didn't have anything but sprays.
I don't like poisons, especially spray poisons, anywhere I prepare or eat food. Rather than drive all over town, I checked Amazon. I found a description for
Catchmaster Window Fly Traps.
These simple window traps got four to five-star reviews, depending on package size and seller.
They were really cheap in comparison to the electronic zappers and light traps, some of which got much lower reviews. I figured I didn't have much to lose by trying the Catchmaster traps. They are very
simple to use. They catch the flies that land on them with a very sticky surface that holds them in place. I keep my traps beneath the blinds that cover the windows.
How to Set the Catchmaster Window Fly Trap
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Image created on FotoJet, © B. Radisavljevic |
Here's how to prepare your traps:
- Open the package
- Pull out the trap
- Tear the narrow release strip off the trap
- Stick the trap in the corner of a window
- Be careful to put it where you won't need to touch it to open and shut the window
- Peel off the large release liner that faces toward you.
- Wait patiently for the flies to land
My Results
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Victims Trapped in My Kitchen Window. © B. Radisavljevic |
I tend to be impatient, and catching flies this way isn't instant. I had put six traps in windows the day I got them. The next day only four flies were stupid enough to land on them. (I hate that flies seem to be smarter than I am.) As I write this, I've had my traps up for about ten days. I have trapped thirteen flies, a few gnats, and a couple of baby spiders that must have just hatched. I still have one very smart fly who continues to stay away from the traps. My east windows seem to catch the most flies.
Two days after I'd placed my first traps, Hubby went to shopping and found some
Pic Window Fly Traps and brought them home. He didn't realize I still hadn't used all my Catchmaster traps. I finally decided to try a couple of the Pic traps to see if they would do any better at catching the flies still in the air. I picked one window and a bathroom mirror where I'd not yet caught any flies and put a Pic trap in another position in each of those places. They haven't caught any flies, either. Not yet.
Perhaps I just put the Pic traps in bad places, but a fly had circled that bathroom about every time I'd walked in. The Pic traps got better reviews a couple of years ago, but more recent users say they aren't as sticky as they used to be and aren't catching flies as well anymore.
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God Designed the Very Best Fly Trap, © B. Radisavljevic
Of course, there is the messiness factor, and one can't be too squeamish. |
My Recommendation
If flies are your primary problem, electronic zappers and light traps with fans probably won't work for you. I've read the reviews for just about all of them. I was leaning toward the light-fan combinations that plug in like night lights, but they got bad reviews. The electronic gadgets seem to work better on smaller flying insects with lighter bodies. They may be effective with gnats and mosquitoes, but the house flies that drive me crazy are much heavier.
The Catchmaster Window Traps I tried worked pretty well. I'd much rather deal with one stubborn fly than fourteen. Getting the gnats and baby spiders, along with anything else that wants to land on my windows, is a bonus.
I believe these traps are a great value for the money. My life has been much calmer since I put them in my windows. There is a bit of a yuck factor in having to look at trapped flies, but you can decide where to place your traps. If you put them in top window corners instead of the lower ones you won't have to look at them so often. You also need to be careful not to touch the sticky part of the traps. My mini blinds hide the traps, including the one next to the table, most of the time.
If flies in your kitchen drive you as crazy as they do me, I believe these window traps will help you as more or more than the other fly catching gadgets I've tried or looked at. Why not pick up an inexpensive package now so you'll be ready immediately to fight any flies who invade your home. Any mosquitoes, gnats, fruit flies, moths, and spiders you catch will just be a bonus.
Window Fly Traps by Catchmaster - 12 CountCheck Price Pic-Corp Window Fly Traps (12 Pack of 4)Check Price RESCUE! Outdoor Disposable Hanging Fly Trap - 12 TrapsCheck Price
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I hate all insects who have the nerve to invade my home. If they belong in the outdoors, they can STAY in the outdoors.... LOL. So finding a solution for trapping them when they DARE come inside is always helpful. Thanks, Barbara.
ReplyDeleteBTW, how do you remove the window fly traps after they have done their job? I imagine you wouldn't want those 'fly bodies' hanging around too long! :)
You unpeel the traps from where you stuck them, rolling them from one side to the other as you go until the flies are in the middle. I haven't removed mine yet, since they still have lots more room to trap flies and I see little gnats and baby spiders still arriving. I probably won't remove the traps until the end of summer when the spiders stop hatching. My traps are all hidden behind blinds or drapes near lower window corners so they aren't easy to see.
DeleteSeems like some years we have lot of flies and other years we don't. This has been a good year (good as in not many flies) but even having one or two that sneak in (usually while we're grilling on the back porch) can drive us crazy. I've always figured that the old-fashioned way of using "fly paper" made a lot of sense when it comes to catching flies, but of course the adhesive has to actually work. Thanks to your extensive research, looks like we have a winner and a brand that we need to keep on hand!
ReplyDeleteI like knowing where the insects will be when caught. I hate it when flies light where I know they will land somewhere I don't want them to be if I swat them. It's hard enough just to get them to land somewhere besides on a dish of food. My squadron of flies is now gone and I no longer have to cover partially prepared foods while cooking just to keep flies from contaminating them. This solution has worked for me and the last existing fly from this swarm is gone now.
DeleteHaving flies in the house, especially when I am cooking, is very annoying. I have a faithful furry jumping spider that has taken up residence in my big kitchen window. He is very welcome to stay! He has been with me since the spring and he is truly the best fly catcher ever. However, spiders can't live forever. When my furry friend is gone, I might just need the window strips.
ReplyDeleteI left one spider who was doing a good job in an out-of-the-way place alone, since it was a harmless spider earning her keep. Spiders really are the best fly traps, and they know where to set up shop to get a good catch. I have to guess at the best trap placement, but spiders know. Many people don't like having any spiders in their homes, and these traps do almost as good a job without all those webs.
DeleteWhile a fly trap might not make for the prettiest picture window, it sure beats pesky flies!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree.
DeleteDon't have a fly problem here, only mosquitoes but will keep this in mind in case. We do have quite a few friendly spiders but I am arachnophobic so that is a problem too. Hubby catches them and puts them outside.
ReplyDeleteThese will catch anything that decides to land on them -- flies, gnats, mosquitoes, moths, and spiders.
ReplyDeleteThanks Barbara, I have just been invaded by these pesky flying insects and I have the same problem. I hate flies in my kitchen when I'm cooking or eating dinner. Nothing can turn me off of my food than a fly that wants a taste test! I will have to give these a try and put one in my computer room too. When I'm writing and they land on my screen, desk, or window, they drive me to distraction. Thank you for your review, I will give these a try for sure.
ReplyDeleteI hope they work as well for you as they did for me.
DeleteOh my gosh! I could have used these recently. I had returned from camping and there were flies in my apartment! I think they came in through a crack around my door. I had a terrible time getting rid of them. I am glad for this review.
ReplyDeleteIt's not as instant as a fly swatter, but much less messy. Besides, flies often go airborne before you can swat them.
DeleteThanks for sharing your reviews of these products. Flies and other insects inside the house can be a problem for many of us this time of year. Thank you for linking up at The Blogger’s Pit Stop Link Party. I’m sharing your link on social media.
ReplyDeleteCarol (“Mimi”) from Home with Mimi
Thank you, Carol. I love the The Blogger’s Pit Stop Link Party.
DeleteGood to read the reviews of these products, and get an idea which ones are worth trying. We don't get too many flies in the house, but I say this, we did have one today buzzing around the family room. I'm of the mind that these pests take their life in their own hands when they enter my home, lol. It's convenient when the head to the patio door; just yesterday I set one free as it buzzing on the window. Smart bug went to the right place and his life was spared haha.
ReplyDeleteAt one time I was pretty good at luring the flies outside with a porch light on at night, but the results were inconsistent and sometimes the moths came in as the flies came out. One has to keep all house lights inside out for this to work. I prefer the window traps.
Delete