Getting rid of pesky summer flies

I made the mistake of opening all my windows in my house on a pretty summer day to let some fresh air in. Along with the fresh air came a ton of flies. It seemed the Fly family reunion was happening in my house. I could not seem to get rid of them. All the food was put up, no dirty dishes left in the sink, cat litter boxes kept clean, but still could not get rid of them. I did some online research and found the 3 least toxic ways to get rid of flies. 1) Sticky tape traps, 2) lavender oil in water, 3) a trap made with apple cider vinegar. I did a little experiment and tried all 3 remedies at the same time to see which one would work best. Here’s the results:

1) The traditional sticky tape fly traps. These things were a beast to hang. They kept folding back on themselves and sticking to everything but the flies. I had 3 hung up and they caught 3 flies a piece. Not really worth the sticky aftermath.

2) Lavender oil in water. I read really good reviews on this one. Put about 10 drops of lavender oil in a bowl with 2 cups of water. It seemed like a good idea, but it only caught one fly for me. Seems like a waste of lavender oil.

3) Apple cider vinegar in a mason jar. This was by far the winner. I took a mason jar, put some aluminum foil with a hole punched in it on top and then screwed the frame of the lid on top to hold it down. (See above picture) I filled the mason jar about halfway full with apple cider vinegar then left it sitting in the middle of the room. Within a couple of hours, the trap had already caught about 10 flies. I got a little creative and put some sugar on top of the trap. By the next morning, all but a couple flies had been caught and peace was restored in the land. The apple cider vinegar and the sugar lures the flies to the trap. The hole in the top of the foil allows the flies to fly in, but they can’t fly back out. This whole trap cost less than a dollar to make. I love it when the cheapest and easiest fix is the best!