Here is a homemade fly trap you can easily make with natural ingredients.

The spring and summer heat brings with it plenty of fun — grilling, pool time, gardening — but it also attracts fruit and house flies, which can seriously damage your repellant. These little irritants buzz past your ears, hover around your trash, and congregate next to any sugary treats in your home. Fortunately, below we have an easy step-by-step guide on how to make a homemade fly trap that will lure them in or put them out of their misery.

What’s more, this effective DIY solution only requires a few materials that you probably already have on hand, including vinegar, honey, fruit, and an empty plastic bottle.

Below, we’ll also share the common reasons they’re attracted to your home, as well as tips on how to get rid of flies for good. While you’re at it, check out our detailed list of dangerous mistakes you need to watch out for this summer.

A simple step-by-step instruction for making a homemade fly trap:

Cottage “Country Chic”

Trapping the flies is the hardest part. Luckily, they’re attracted to anything sweet — simple syrup, honey, and fruit — so you don’t have to look too far to tempt them. Country Chic Cottage uses honey as bait in their fly trap pictured above, but old fruit (like apple slices), syrup, and plain syrup work too. Goal: Flies smell the bait and fly into the bottle to get to it. Once inside, they won’t be able to fly through the narrow opening. Trapped, they will eventually die. Here is a step by step guide:

Cut out a water or soda bottle so that the bottom half is slightly higher than the top. Remove the bottle cap. Fill the bottom with water. Add some vinegar to keep the bees away. Country Chic Cottage also recommends adding a few drops of dish soap to the water because it removes the surface tension of the liquid, making it easier for flies to enter the water. Insert the top upside down so it looks like a funnel. Smear the neck of the bottle with honey, syrup, or sugar water, or fill it with decaying fruit. To hang the trap, make two holes in the top of the bottle. Then thread a piece of wire or strong rope through the holes, connect the ends and hang it where you want. Until the problem is fixed, get rid of dead flies and add fresh bait regularly.

This trap also works to lure and kill wasps. Most wasps also like sweets, so honey, syrup, and sugar water will also work. But in a pinch, you can always swap the sweet bait for rotting meat or animal droppings (rabbit pellets or chicken droppings) to get the job done.

Buy homemade fly traps

Why are flies attracted to my house?

According to Ehrlich Pest Control, flies are attracted to the heat in our homes. They also love light, garbage, and spoiled food. Warm and cluttered areas are their preferred breeding grounds, so it is recommended to remove the trash at least twice a week. Other helpful solutions include cleaning drains and preventing trash cans from overflowing.

What is the best bait for my homemade fly trap?

The best homemade fly trap is one that can attract both house flies and fruit flies. To lure both outside, mix bits of rotting meat, like fish or chicken, with sugar or honey. Indoors, the best bait is old fruit or honey.

What does liquid dish soap do to my trap mixture?

Liquid dish soap is exactly what you need to drown the flies. The sugar and vinegar attract them, while the soap breaks the liquid’s surface tension to trap flies instead of holding them to the surface.

Amanda Garrity is a lifestyle writer and editor with over seven years of experience, including five years on the Good Housekeeping staff covering all things home and leisure, including the latest interior design trends, inspirational ideas DIY and gift guides for any (and every) occasion. She also has a soft spot for uplifting TV shows, so you can see her writing about hit shows like Virgin River, Sweet Magnolias, When Calls the Heart on Hallmark and more.

Associate editor

Mariah Thomas (s/he) is an Associate Editor for Good Housekeeping, where she covers home and lifestyle topics. Mariah has over four years of editorial experience having written for TLC, Apartment Therapy, Women’s Health and Avocado Magazine. She received her master’s degree in journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and published her first book, Heart and Soul: Poems of Thought and Emotion, in 2019. learn and showcase your work.