The weather has finally warmed up here and now there plenty of super annoying houseflies. They’re way to fast to swat and have an annoying habit of landing on you.
I’ve tried Google’s suggestion of water/vinegar and a bit of dish soap in a bottle, but they don’t seem to go for it at all.
I’m up for trying anything, please make suggestions!
Edit: Thank you to all for your suggestions. So far I’ve tried the idea of spraying them with surface cleaner which appears to work well
I’ve discovered that I’m good at herding flies.
I start by turning off lights sources including the TV, and closing all the doors and curtains except for one open window which is now the brightest, and therefore most attractive destination for the fly.
Then I just stand so that the fly is between me and the window. I wave my arms out sideways, kind of like semaphore, and it discourages the fly from flying towards my body and my hands, and can only avoid me by flying in the direction of the window.
It doesn’t work at night since turning the lights off means I can’t see the fly, and with the light on, it just flies to the light, lol.
They also don’t like wind, so if there is a breeze outside, I make a stronger breeze inside by swinging a towel like a helicopter blade, and it makes the entire room very undesirable for the fly.
When I was a kid I would just wait until the fly was bouncing itself against the window, and just catch it in my hand, then throw it out and open window.
It also helps if you keep your house free of stale or rotting food smells.
This skill has dramatically reduced the number of flies I’ve killed by swatting.
Thank you for providing a non lethal alternative method. I’m uncomfortable with how much death humans gleefully visit upon the insect kingdom when they don’t have to.
I use an electric fly swat and I fed the ones I kill to the ants
I came to this to post the same method with turning off lights so they go toward my patio door, then I just crack the door and shoo them out. Glad to see someone else using this very fast method, generally it only takes a few minutes for the fly to decide it doesn’t want to be in the dark.