Fresh off a sun-soaked heatwave in the UK, more than just the temperature has been soaring as homes across the country have been invaded by swarms of flies.
The flying pests are attracted by the heat, bringing their annoying buzz and scary germs right into people’s personal spaces—and it’s safe to say they want to get rid, and fast.
House flies act as vectors, picking up pathogens like bacteria, viruses, and parasites from unsanitary environments like waste and decaying matter.
These threats can be passed on to food, surfaces, and even people after the flies land and feed. Of course, there are many tried and tested methods to keep them well away, but there’s one lesser-known hack that is incredibly effective, plus it doesn’t involve any harmful chemicals, and is extremely simple to follow. Plus you may already have what you need in your kitchen.
All you need is a plastic ziplock food bag, water and a few pennies. Well any type of coin will do the job actually.
Ziplock bags filled with water with a few coins sitting at the bottom should be hung in your porch, or around any open windows and doors and then flies will leave you be.
The theory behind this is that it repels the insects due to the reflected and refracted light that comes from the pennies, with the water confusing the flies’ eyes, leading them to fly away.
Howstuffworks.com says: “Flies have many small lenses in their eyes that are sensitive to light changes, and the distorted light from the bag is thought to disrupt their vision.”
It is a technique that is popularly used abroad, especially in restaurants to keep them away from food. You may have also spotted these bags on holiday in places like an outdoor dining area, people’s homes, businesses and even barns.
According to howstuffworks.com “various takes on the water-bag practice exist. Some advocates insist the bag must have flakes of floating tin foil; others say a penny or two. A couple of industrious websites even offer commercial takes on the concept, selling specially designed water bags to be used as repellents.
“Refraction takes place when a clear or opaque object, such as a piece of glass or a bag of water, alters the course and velocity of light. The rays of light, which normally travel in a straight line, bend.
“This effect is responsible for some optical illusions, such as mirages, that occasionally baffle humans as well.
“In theory, refraction can be just as confusing for some species of insect, especially the housefly. It boasts a highly sensitive array of eyes that allow it to see in multiple directions at once.”
Don’t take the Daily Express’ word for it, users flooded videos of the easy-to-follow method on TikTok with replies boasting about its success rate.
“Don’t know why, but I’ve been doing it for years, I lay the bags flat on the table where the food is and no fly in sight” wrote one.
Another added: “That’s wild!” while someone else remarked: “I’ve been doing it for years, it works!”