Flies! How to keep them out!

[Ikigai]

Hi all,

Any tips for keeping flies from entering your vehicle?  I have windows in front so the enter from the back and then run themselves against the window to try to get out all night long, or just pester me directly.  Fly paper works but is gross and not very kind to the flies.  I've read a clear bag of water at the entry way works, but that doesn't seem like the best use of water.   Would a pinwheel work?  Spraying essential oils worked until the scent disappeared, which was probably only a few minutes.  Any ideas?  Thanks!

 

[jacqueg]

Um, window screens?

 

[user 30781]

I got net curtains from Ikea, 2 big panels for $5, and magnets for the back hatch and side door of my minivan. Then got those sock things that fit over the top part of the front doors so you can roll your windows down and not let bugs in.

I have a massive hate for flies. If one gets in my house I will poison myself with Raid trying to get rid of it.

 

[Ikigai]

I have screens where I open for ventilation, but not over where I get in and out.  Seems it would be annoying to have to open a screen and well, it's open, so defeats the purpose I would think, or does it make a difference somehow?  Thanks!

 

[user 30781]

I got the net curtains because they just drape over the opening and either hang down or I can tuck them. Easy in and out. I can magnet across the top and down both sides or leave one side fully or partially un-magneted for easy access.

I made up a word. lol

 

[hugemoth]

Pet gecko?

There are many different kinds of flies and many different behaviors. The most common ones we have will fly back out if the windows are open. For the ones that can't find their way out I use a Fly-Gubye, a spray bottle filled with rubbing alcohol and a lighter. Kill and sterilize in one shot. Only for use with fireproof curtains.

 

[lab_nomad]

I can’t be the only one who wants to see this in action. 

 

[tx2sturgis]

Flies (and bees and wasps) are attracted by smells, especially sweet smells and food smells...duh.

So having anything like sweet smelling perfumes, colognes, candles, incense, scented cleaners, fruits, even scented deodorant or shampoo will bring 'em right in.

If you have a maxx-fan, fantastic-fan or other similar roof fan, remove the screen and set the fan on medium or high for awhile and watch it vacuum them suckers right out.

It works!

 

[Ikigai]

Gecko!! Lol, great idea if I can figure out potty training, lol. I think I will try that fan idea. That would be great if it works. Thanks!

 

[travelaround]

Flies are attracted to light. Darken the inside of the rig and put light on the outside near your open window. Then wait. I also pray while waiting, but YMMV (your mileage may vary). Works for me.

 

[NctryBen]

Travel around, that’s my strategy at home and on the road. Minimal or no lights. Also certain colored lights. Yellow is good... still attracts but not so bad. But flys? They seem to get in almost anywhere. Keep the flyswatter handy!

 

[lab_nomad]

Flies are attracted to light. Darken the inside of the rig and put light on the outside near your open window. Then wait. I also pray while waiting, but YMMV (your mileage may vary). Works for me.

I have to do that at my house. My house is the complete opposite of hermetically sealed. Everything gets in, and I think sometimes dies in the walls, b/c every so often there will be an explosion of flies that I can’t explain otherwise.

I like to watch videos on my iPad before going to bed. It’s very disconcerting to have flies landing on the screen—blech! So, I turn on the light in the hallway and that does the trick. 

Ever since the 4th grade, I have been disgusted by flies. My teacher made the pronouncement that it was worse to have a fly ON THE RIM of a sugar bowl than to have a cockroach IN the sugar bowl. May not have been true, but kids are impressionable.

True story: the only bugs I will touch (or at least not be afraid of) are ones that my dad specifically told me would not sting me or bite me or were otherwise harmless when I was a kid. As an adult, if someone told me something was harmless, I wouldn’t necessarily change my attitude. But..and this is probably evolution at work…if they said my dad was wrong and something WOULD bite/sting/whatever, I quickly changed my position and avoided said bug.

 

[nature lover]

If Noah really had been Wise; he would have killed those two flies.

 

[lab_nomad]

If Noah really had been Wise; he would have killed those two flies.

Ha, ha. And the ticks, mosquitos, stink bugs, Asian lady beetles, etc.

 

[lab_nomad]

I don’t have any with me; I left it at home, but there’s a fantastic product called cedarcide.

https://www.cedarcide.com

It’s marketed also as a repellent for people and pets, but it also kills most bugs you spray it on. It will indeed kill stink bugs and Asian ladybeetles, wasps, houseflies (if you can manage to spray them), spiders, etc. Sometimes it takes several seconds, but they’ll kick the bucket by golly.

And it leaves the pleasant scent of cedar.