How to Make Your Own DIY Fly Paper

Get Rid of Flies in 4 Simple Steps

By
Pepper Moran
Pepper Moran Headshot
Pepper Moran

Pepper Moran is a pest control expert with over five years experience in educating homeowners on affordable and earth-friendly ways to protect their homes from pests.

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Updated on 09/13/23
Reviewed by
Amanda Rose Newton
Amanda Rose Newton
Reviewed by Amanda Rose Newton

Amanda Rose Newton is a pest specialist and horticulture expert, reviewing pest control and gardening content for The Spruce's Cleaning and Gardening Review Board. Her passion for pest control and sustainable gardening allows her to review plant and pest content for best practices and accuracy. She is a board-certified entomologist and volunteers for USAIDs Farmer to Farmer program. She is a professor of Horticulture, an Education Specialist, and a pest specialist.

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Fact checked by
Emily Estep
Emily Estep
Fact checked by Emily Estep

Emily Estep is a plant biologist and journalist who has worked for a variety of online news and media outlets, writing about and editing topics including environmental science and houseplants.

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In This Article
Project Overview
  • Working Time: 20 - 30 mins
  • Total Time: 1 - 2 hrs
  • Skill Level: Beginner
  • Estimated Cost: $10

Flies are a nuisance, congregating in areas where the air is still, gravitating to kitchens and bathrooms, and relishing gross things like garbage, scum, and rotten food. You don't want flies hanging around your home, especially near your food. Pest control can get expensive, but fly control is a puzzle that can be solved with simple DIY fly paper.

homemade fly paper

The Spruce / Jorge Gamboa 

If you're dealing with houseflies and want to make fly paper, this guide is for you. Making fly paper means you can change your fly paper out more frequently for a lower cost.

Tip

This fly paper will work best when dealing with large flies, such as lesser houseflies or blue and green bottle flies. It will not work well for small flies like fruit flies, drain flies, or fungus gnats. You'll want to choose different control methods if you're dealing with some small flies in your home.

What You'll Need

Equipment / Tools

  • Scissors
  • A saucepan
  • Cookie sheets and drying racks
  • Tongs
  • A large spoon for stirring

Materials

  • A brown paper bag
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup corn syrup or honey
  • 1/4 cup water

Instructions

materials to make fly paper

The Spruce / Jorge Gamboa 

How to Make Homemade Fly Paper

  1. Cut a Paper Bag Into Strips

    Cut a brown paper bag into strips about 12" long and 2" wide.

    Tip

    If your grocery store doesn't offer paper bags, save restaurant takeout bags or use paper lunch sacks. A roll of craft paper from the dollar store will also do the trick.

    cutting brown paper bags into strips
    The Spruce / Jorge Gamboa 

  2. Mix and Heat Ingredients

    Warning

    Heating sugar syrup can be dangerous if it gets too hot. Be careful when heating your sugar mixture; don't heat it too long. If hot syrup comes in contact with your skin, be sure to follow proper burn first aid.

    • Combine equal parts corn syrup, sugar, and water in a saucepan.
    • Heat the pan, constantly stirring the ingredients until the sugar dissolves.
    Adding ingredients to a saucepan
    The Spruce / Jorge Gamboa 

  3. Submerge Strips in Mixture

    • Remove the pan from the heat and carefully submerge the paper strips in the sugar-water mixture.
    • Allow them to sit long enough to become saturated. Leave the strips soaking in the sugar mixture for several hours or overnight for maximum stickiness. Be aware that removing them from the cold mixture could get messy.
    dipping paper bag strips into the sugar mixture
    The Spruce / Jorge Gamboa

  4. Let Strips Dry

    • Place a drying rack on top of a cookie sheet. It might be helpful to first line the cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper to make for easy cleanup.
    • Remove the paper strips from the sugar mixture with tongs. Let the strips cool down. The sugar syrup can cause burns if you're not careful.
    • Place the strips on the drying rack and allow them to sit out until completely dry to the touch.
    • The fly strips will be super sticky. Hang your fly paper wherever flies are a problem, but make sure it won't come in contact with people or pets. Otherwise, you might have to deal with a sticky (possibly furry) mess.

    Tip

    If the paper dries out over time, you can re-wet it with a misting bottle or replace it with a fresh piece of homemade fly paper.

    letting strips dry on a cooling rack
    The Spruce / Jorge Gamboa 

One-fourth cup of corn syrup, 1/4 cup of sugar, and 1/4 cup of water make a lot of fly paper. It is not recommended to multiply the batch unless you plan to hang your fly paper in a larger area dense with flies, such as in a barn or horse stall.

Alternate DIY Fly Paper Method

Duct tape is an alternate method that's super sticky and just as trap-worthy. Here's how:

  • Use 12-inch strips of duct tape, cut a strip, and place it with the sticky side exposed.
  • Attract more flies to your duct tape trap by spraying the adhesive side lightly with sugar water.

How to Keep Flies Away

If you don't want to mess around with sticky fly paper, you can make a fly trap in just a few minutes from a bottle and some other simple supplies (see below). There are plenty of different inexpensive ways to get rid of flies, to consider, too, including:

  • Run fans to keep flies disoriented.
  • Keep your spaces tidy and free of smelly messes.
  • Move garbage receptacles away from structures.
  • Keep kitchen compost and garbage sealed with a lid.
  • Make sure door and window screens are not damaged.
  • Try other natural repellent methods like plants and herbs.
fly paper with flies stuck to it
Room 76 / Getty Images
FAQ
  • What is on fly paper that attracts flies?

    Fly papers are usually coated with a sweet substance to attract flies.

  • What is the best bait for flies?

    The best bait for flies depends on the type of fly in your house. Fruit flies are best attracted with an apple cider vinegar watery solution. Houseflies prefer sweet, sugar, honey, or molasses bait. Blow flies, phorid flies, and filth flies like the smell of rotting decay and are lured by the smell of decomposition. Since it's not feasible to bait a trap with manure or decaying meat in the house, instead, try a yeast and sugar water solution as bait.

  • How do you make a homemade fly trap?

    Make a homemade bottle fly trap using a plastic bottle and sugary or fermented water as a lure. Take a plastic drinking bottle and cut off the top 1/3 of the bottle with the spout intact. Invert the top half and nest it into the bottom half with the drinking spout facing downward toward the liquid trap. Tape it in place. The flies fly into the bottle, get caught by the liquid, or can't figure out how to fly out, eventually drowning.

Originally written by
Erin Huffstetler
Erin Huffstetler

Erin Huffstetler is a frugal living expert who has been writing for over 10 years about easy ways to save money at home.

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The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

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