An Easy, Effective Solution To Catching Flies In Your Home Without A Hassle

As one of Earth's most common insects, the occasional house fly is bound to find its way into your home even if you keep the place spotless. Flies are prone to lingering around with their tell-tale buzz for days on end, and unless you've got serious fly-catching skills (or a helpful cat), your best bet is to use a tool that does the work for you. One option is to mix up a simple soap spray to get rid of flies instantly.

Soap is a common ingredient in homemade fruit fly traps, which banish fruit flies from your kitchen by trapping them in a cup or bowl full of vinegar and dish soap. Soap is gentle compared to most insecticides, and most people have it on hand at home. One of the cons of this method is that it only works on contact, though. It doesn't help control insect populations long-term. But when it comes to killing one or two pesky house flies at a time, these quick results are a pro, not a con.

Barbara Costello, a cookbook author and popular TikToker, said in a recent video that she learned this trick from her exterminator: Mix a bit of dish soap with water in a spray bottle, and spray down flies when you see them. Here's why this method works and how to get the best results.

Why soap is a fly's worst enemy

There are several theories as to how soap kills insects. It seems to wash off the protective coating on their bodies, causing them to dry out and die. It also seems to disrupt their cell membranes, and it may prevent respiration. It's most effective on small, soft-bodied insects, making house flies a perfect candidate; it's less effective on most larger or sturdier bugs.

Regardless of how exactly it works, it's clear that it does. But in order to be effective, the soap needs to completely coat the insect's body. If the force of the spray knocks it down, it doesn't hurt to spray again to make sure you've thoroughly soaked it. The bonus of using soapy water is that you can simply wipe it away afterward since it's safe on most surfaces.

You can use regular dish soap, liquid castile soap, or even hand soap for this trick. Some people also have good results using Dawn Powerwash Spray, which contains a mixture of soap and water as well as alcohol, further drying flies out. If you choose to make your own spray, a common concentration for garden insects is 2%: 2 teaspoons of soap to 16 oz of water. House flies are a bit bulkier, and you might have better luck with a higher concentration of 18% — 6 tablespoons of soap to 16 oz of water.

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