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This effective, simple, and easy to make homemade fly trap can be assembled in minutes with an empty soda bottle and some old produce as bait. Outdoor protection during any season of the year including summertime picnics.
No matter where you live in the world, there is probably at least part of the year when a fly trap is very much needed! If repelling flies alone isn’t getting the job done, this DIY method is sure to take up the slack.
Are you are one of the folks for whom the water and a penny in a heavy duty ziplock bag aren’t working to eliminate your fly issues? If so, try this different fly trap instead. It is easy to make and the three steps shown in the picture above are described below.
The idea is courtesy of my goat milk farmer who uses it with fantastic success. The picture above shows just how many flies it will trap over the period of a few days!Â
As you can see, the fly trap obviously works well as the picture is of one of the traps behind my goat farmer’s house. It is loaded with several inches worth of dead house flies!
The trick to this fly trap is that it actually catches and traps the flies rather than repelling them like the flybag approach.
The flies get lured into the trap by a potential food source and can’t escape. Bones leftover from making bone broth work well as does old produce.
When the fly trap becomes full of flies, you throw it away and make another one, or two, or three!
Note: If larger biting flies are more of a problem in your area, use this homemade deer fly trap instead.
DIY Fly Trap in 3 Simple Steps
The only supplies you need to make your fly trap are a clean, empty 2-liter plastic soda bottle, some heavy duty packing tape, and some bait. Rotting potatoes work really well for my farmer. The pictures included with the steps show how quickly you can make your homemade fly trap.
- Cut an empty 2-liter soda bottle in two. The bottom half should be larger than the top. Making the cut about 1/4 – 1/3 of the way down the bottle works well (see photo below).
- Remove the cap from the top of the bottle and turn it upside down. Place a few pieces of cut up, rotting produce in the bottom half of the bottle and then, place the upside down, open end of the bottle inside the bottom half (see photo).
- Tape the two halves of the bottle together so they stay secure.
Tips for Using Fly Trap Most Effectively
Note that the better the bait, the more effective these fly traps will be. Here in Florida, potatoes that are soft and starting to rot work extremely well. Any type of decomposing fruit or vegetable would work too – you can try different ones and see which attract flies in your locality most effectively.
Here’s what it will look like after the flies start swarming.
Because you are using rotting food to attract and trap the flies, make sure you place the homemade fly trap in a place where the smell won’t bother you or the neighbors. The trick is to put it in a place close enough to attract the flies away from the area you are trying to keep fly free, but far enough away so you don’t smell or see it. In my experience, the trap will attract flies from a radius of about 50-100 feet/ 15-30 meters.
Let me know if you have tried this approach where you live and what you use as bait inside the soda bottle. Did you find it worked well?
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So clever! Plus it makes good use of an old soda bottle. I will have to remember this fly trap for the spring when flies always seem to find their way inside!
Flies are always a problem. Usually, I buy fly traps on amazon. Now I want to try to make a homemade one. Thanks for sharing the idea.
Great idea Sarah. I HATE FLY’S. Hope this works for me. I will definitely try this. Thanks
Does this work for the normal everyday house fly? Not fruit flies or gnats. Just regular run of the mill annoying fly.
Yes absolutely. The picture of the flytrap at the top of the article is loaded with them!
I need to get rid of flies inside my house, what do i do? I dont want something stinky and rotting in my kitchen, please help. Thanks
Fly BAIT: One egg and cup or 2 of water, blended well…..will putrify and stink to high heaven in a about a day. FLIES love stink. This the same as what bought traps use as bait in powder form. You will catch more flies with this than any fruit or produce. You can fill fully a two liter bottle trap in under a week.
For certain Hornets and wasps, try cheap white wine alone. Yellow Jackets use canned tuna fish juice.
For stink bugs inside your home, use a crossed piece of cardboard /poster board across the top of a 2 liter trap,( see an image of a Japanese beetle trap) use apple scented dish liquid. and provide a light source ( LED PUCK) underneath the trap. Use this at night/bed time. They will seek out the only light inside your home, and you often can hear them hitting the cardboard. ( what can I say they loved our chimney….and it worked well)