Flies seem to be everywhere this time of year. Some people prefer to use homemade fly traps. What if you want to simply repel flies instead of trapping them after they’ve already become a nuisance?
I was out at a local farm just yesterday and the flies were very noticeable and quite annoying as I went about my work. Seeing all those flies reminded me of a simple, non-toxic, and very effective fly repellent that I observed in action at one of my children’s field trips a couple of months ago.
The class was visiting a petting farm with a large open barn where donkeys, horses, goats, and other livestock were available for the children to observe and interact with.
Despite so many animals in a small semi-enclosed area, there were no flies buzzing around! Curious, I asked the owner about this, and he pointed to the heavy-duty plastic bags partially filled with water hanging over every stall.
He explained that a clear bag of water with a penny at the bottom would repel the flies very effectively. He went on to explain that the “eye” of a fly is actually hundreds of eyes and the reflection of light on the bag of water keeps them away.
“Why the penny at the bottom of the bag?”, I asked.
Grandpa the farmer answered that he wasn’t exactly sure but the penny did seem to increase the effectiveness of the hanging bag of water alone. He added that he didn’t know how many square feet each bag covered so he just put a bag over every animal stall to keep as many flies away as possible.
He also had put up a few bags over the picnic area and it was so nice to be able to eat lunch without flies swarming everywhere!
Note that the clearer the water, the more effective this trick is. If you use rusty well water, it won’t work as effectively as ultra clean and clear filtered water.
Try this fly repellant method for yourself! If you do, please check back and let us know how it worked for you!
Fly Repellent Only Works for Flies
Please note that this fly repellent trick only works for flies, not mosquitoes, and other insects. It also works very well for flies in the Southern United States. However, it may not work as well for flies from other geographical areas such as blowflies in Australia.
If you need to repel other insects like mosquitoes, ticks, or horse flies, this article on natural herbal insect repellent can help.
More Natural Pest Control  Ideas
Removing Ticks Safely (plus prevention ideas)
Nontoxic Pest Control Ideas that Work
Natural Fire Ant Killer that Works FAST
Effective Bed Bug Removal Techniques
Natural Flea Infestation and Prevention Strategies
Attracting and Using Ladybugs for Garden Pest Control
Safely Get Rid of Carpenter Ants in a Snap
Spider Repellent Guaranteed to Work
Mosquito Bite Remedy
I’m not sure if it works yet as we aren’t too deep in mosquito season here in Indiana yet, but I found an article about repelling mosquitos. If you make planters and set them on your porch with Lemon Grass, Catnip, and Geraniums it’s supposed to keep them away, citronella too!
Ducks love snails… also snails hate sawdust.
I want to try the bag of water at my work place, we keep the doors open and we get a lot of flies.
For mosquitoes, at my house I use a 4 oz. spray bottle filled with 3 oz.’s of Listerine and 15 to 20 drops of citronella oil, shake well and then I spray that around my windows (outside) and doors. If it rains you need to reapply and you should reapply every other week or so but I no longer have problems with mosquitoes.
For mosquitos my daughter heard mixing equal parts water and vanilla extract in a spray bottle and spraying it on would work. I personally thought they would eat us alive but we gave it a try. One granddaughter is terribly allergic to mosquito bites. We tried it. Not one bite!! We smelled good to boot!!!
I am allergic to mosquitoes too and taking Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) helps alot…..in case they bite me, they do not swell big like usual….also using skin so soft helps keep them from biting.
I think the penny keeps algae from growing in the water. I tried this last year with well water, so no chlorine. The bag of water was up all summer and it never turned a bit green.
Snails r bad in our part of the country, west coast, n e one know a good detterrant for snails? Our chickens dont seem to like them!!
In Denmark ducks eats the snails – so maybe you should get some ducks?
Snails don’t like to crawl over crushed egg shells or pecan shells.
I read in Jerry Baker book..to use aluminum pie crust pans and pour beer in them, they love it and they drown themselves in it…discard in trash and do another one or two…
They had this on Myth Busters and came to the conclusion that it didn’t really work.
I read about a restaurant with outdoor tables using glass Mason jars with water and dimes or quarters in them for flies – if you put out pots of Basil Herbs, they will keep the mosquitoes away – I know that works, I’ve been using it for years.
They tried them at the school where I work with little success but I don’t think they had a penny in the bags.
does not work here either