How to Keep Flies Away from Your Porch and Patio

Summer is officially here, which means warm weather, picnic spreads and weekends spent at the grill. It also means an increase in some of our not-so-favorite pests, particularly the ones that like to buzz around our snacks.

It’s annoying to have to swat away bugs, especially when you’re eating. No one wants to see a fly walking across their slice of watermelon! Fortunately, plenty of methods keep flies away, so deterring flying pests is easier than you think. Here are a handful of secret weapons to pull out in the fight against bugs.

Use a Bar of Soap

This viral Facebook post reveals that a strong-smelling bar of soap, like Irish Spring, will keep bugs away with its scent.

Irish Spring is known for its classic “invigorating” scent, and there are plenty of success stories on the internet from people using it to banish flies. Get a mesh or nylon bag, place a bar of soap inside and hang it on your patio or porch. Most pests, including larger animals like rabbits and deer, hate the smell of strong soap, so this trick should keep your social gatherings and garden pest-free all summer.

Snopes has yet to confirm or deny that this natural bug repellent works, but it does have the same principle as our method for making natural wasp repellent. Pesky animals don’t like strong smells!

More Methods to Keep Flies Away

If you’re looking for other ways to keep pesky insects off your summer eats, try out nets, traps and other products that keep bugs away. You can also test out whether a bag of pennies in water keeps flies away!

Your kitchen is a prime target for insects who are attracted to food, but simple solutions like eating all your ripe fruit and cleaning out your cupboards make keeping bugs out of your kitchen a piece of cake.