Say goodbye to kitchen trash flies — the one kitchen staple that stops them in their tracks
Stop kitchen trash flies before they start with a culinary favorite they detest.
Flies have been a persistent nuisance in kitchens this summer, particularly in warmer months when their numbers rapidly increase due to faster life cycles and accelerated decay of food waste. The problem is exacerbated by the act of leaving doors and windows open, providing easy access for these pests to enter and lay eggs. One TikTok creator, Anna Louisa, known as Anna Louisa at Home, has shared a simple yet effective solution to deter flies using a common kitchen ingredient: cinnamon.
According to Anna Louisa, flies are drawn to the smell of garbage but are repelled by the scent of cinnamon. The hack involves scattering ground cinnamon into the trash can and onto its lid, harnessing the natural compounds cinnamaldehyde and eugenol found in cinnamon, which overwhelm a fly's senses and irritate their taste and smell receptors.
A 15 oz jar of ground cinnamon, available on Amazon Grocery, is sufficient and economical for this pest deterrent purpose. Beyond its fly-repelling properties, the cinnamon can also be used for culinary applications.
In addition to the cinnamon hack, Anna Louisa suggests three other DIY repellent methods:
1. Place a clove in half a cut lemon and put it in your fruit bowl to keep fruit flies at bay.
2. Create a simmer pot by filling a saucepan halfway with water and adding one sliced lemon, one or two sprigs of rosemary, ten to twenty cloves, and ten drops of lemongrass essential oil. Bring to a boil and let it simmer.
3. Position mint near an open window to discourage flies from entering, or place containers of mint near entryways. Crushed mint or concentrated peppermint oil can be more effective than using the whole plant.
Written by urgent.news from Tom's Guide's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
