✅ Sweet Pickles = Fly Magnets
The brine from sweet pickles contains:
Sugar — a powerful attractant for flies
Vinegar — mimics fermenting fruit (a fly favorite)
Spices (cinnamon, cloves, mustard seed) — add aroma complexity
Together, it creates a fermented-sweet scent that screams “party!” to fruit flies, houseflies, and gnats.
❌ Dill Pickles = Fly Bait Fail
Dill brine is too savory, too garlicky.
Flies? They’re not here for dill.
They’re here for sweet and sour — like overripe fruit.
So save the dill juice for your fries.
Use sweet pickle juice for your trap.
🛠️ How to Make Your Sweet Pickle Fly Trap (Step-by-Step)
What You’ll Need:
Empty sweet pickle jar
The trap container
Sweet pickle brine
The irresistible lure
Lid (plastic or metal)
To poke holes in
Phillips-head screwdriver + hammer
To make entry holes
Optional: Small funnel
For mess-free pouring
✅ Pro Tip: Use a clean, empty jar — rinse it if needed, but keep the flavor!
Step 1: Eat the Pickles (The Best Part!)
Buy a jar of sweet gherkins or bread-and-butter pickles.
Enjoy them on burgers, in salads, or straight from the jar.
Then, save every drop of that sweet, tangy brine.
✅ Bonus: You’re reducing waste — and solving a pest problem.
Step 2: Prepare the Lid
Take the jar lid and place it on a stable surface
Use a Phillips-head screwdriver and hammer to poke 4–6 small holes
Make the holes just big enough for flies to enter — but not escape easily
✅ Why small holes?
Flies can crawl in, but once inside, they get disoriented and can’t find the way out.
Step 3: Fill & Seal
Pour the sweet pickle brine into the jar (fill about ⅔ full)
Screw the hole-punched lid back on tightly
Invert the jar slightly (optional) — some people tape it upside-down to a tree or post
✅ Don’t add dish soap — the brine works fine on its own.
Step 4: Place & Wait
Set the trap outside in fly-prone areas:
Near trash cans
Around patios or picnic tables
By pet food stations
Or near compost bins
Wait 24–48 hours — you’ll start to see flies trapped inside
✅ Replace every 5–7 days — the brine loses potency over time.
🧪 Why This Trap Works So Well
Sweet-sour scent
Mimics rotting fruit — flies’ natural food source
Small entry holes
Flies enter easily but can’t escape
No chemicals
Safe around kids, pets, and gardens
Zero cost
Uses leftover brine — no extra spending
Reusable
Just empty, rinse, refill, and go
It’s not magic.
It’s fly psychology — and it works.
🐝 Important Tips for Best Results
Use only sweet pickle brine
Dill won’t attract flies
Keep away from food prep areas
You don’t want flies
near
your meals
Empty and replace weekly
Prevents overflow and odor
Add a drop of dish soap (optional)
Breaks surface tension — drowns flies faster
Make multiple traps
For heavy infestations, more traps = faster results
🌿 Other Natural Ways to Keep Flies Away
While the pickle trap is a star player, pair it with these eco-friendly fly fighters:
Apple Cider Vinegar + Dish Soap
Flies drown in the mix — same principle as pickle trap
Essential Oils
Peppermint, eucalyptus, and lavender repel flies — diffuse or spray
Fly Paper
Old-school, sticky, effective — hang in garages or sheds
Herb Garden
Plant
basil, mint, rosemary
— natural fly-repelling scents
DIY Pine-Sol Spray
Mix ½ cup Pine-Sol, 1 cup water, 1 tbsp dish soap — spray on surfaces to repel flies
🧠 Final Thoughts: Sometimes the Best Pest Control Isn’t in a Bottle — It’s in Your Pickle Jar
We reach for sprays.
We buy gadgets.
We light citronella candles.
But the truth is:
Some of the best solutions are hiding in plain sight.
Like a jar of sweet pickle juice — about to be tossed, but actually the perfect fly trap.
So next time you finish a jar of bread-and-butter pickles…
Don’t recycle it yet.
Turn it into a fly prison.
Because sometimes, the difference between “I can’t sit outside” and “ahhh, peace at last”…
Isn’t in the citronella.
It’s in the brine.
And once you try this?
You might just wonder why no one taught you this in summer camp.
