How to Keep Flies Away {with 3 things you have at home!)

I wish I hadn’t promised that I’d never mention bugs on my blog again, because last weekend a friend gave me a tip that just BLEW MY MIND. And it had to do with repelling flies with three things you have on hand RIGHT NOW. So if you don’t want to know, I’ll understand– simply cover your ears and say “lalalala” until the post is over. But for the rest of you, read on to learn my friend’s trick for how to keep your next outdoor party fly-free!

One of my college BFFs came for a visit recently and after sitting down for a nice dinner on the deck we started to get bombarded with that pesky summer staple– FLIES.

“Don’t you know the fly trick?” — college BFF

“What fly trick?” — me

“The pennies in the cup fly trick.” — college BFF

I’d heard rumors of people using plastic baggies filled with water and pennies to repel flies in their home, but hadn’t thought to take the action outdoors. So I followed her directions and filled up three glasses with water and a few pennies (about 4-5), placed them around the food, and watched. We watched the flies come in to land, see the water, and turn around and ZOOM AWAY.

Glass Water Pennies = crazy fly repelling abilities.

It was unreal. I’d say it reduced the flies by about 90%. At one point we looked up and the flies were just sitting on the deck railing staring at all the food they couldn’t ruin.

RE-ENACTMENT:

We’ve used the ‘fly trick’ each outdoor meal since. The more glasses full of water, the better the fly repelling ability. The kids think this is the coolest thing ever and have learned not to drink the water with the pennies in it.

It was also mentioned that older (tarnished?) pennies work best, though I don’t have evidence to back it up. If the trick isn’t working for you, try using older pennies.

Apparently it has something to do with flies thinking the pennies were compound eyes of a much larger bug looking back at them. To us, they just look like coppery decorations that glittered in the sunlight. “They’re so PRETTY!” my kids sighed

For more ideas for repelling bugs, be sure to read how to use essential oils to repel everything from mosquitoes to ticks to lice. And then I won’t talk about bugs EVER AGAIN. Summer’s almost over and then I’ll go back to pumpkins and room makeovers, I promise. Probably.

But until then, don’t be surprised if you come over to visit and there’s penny filled cups everywhere with sad looking flies lined up on the railing.

Did you know this trick? KABOOM, right? Give it a try and let me know if it works for you too!