How to Keep Flies Away From a Picnic With Mint & Vinegar
Flies are not just a nuisance at picnics. They can spread more than 30 diseases, so keeping them off food is a priority. As well as covering plates of sandwiches and food bowls with plastic wrap or aluminum foil between uses, take precautions to dissuade flies from hanging around the picnic area. Using natural substances to protect the area is cheaper and ecologically preferable to chemicals deterrents, especially sprays using CFC, which destroys the ozone layer. Try a multi-pronged attack against fly problems using vinegar and mint. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Plastic, zipper bags
- White vinegar
- Clean cloth
- Sprigs of mint
- String
- Small vases
- Small glasses
- Apple cider vinegar
- Dish soap liquid
- Spray bottle
- Rubbing alcohol
- Essential mint oil
Instructions
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Visit the picnic site the day before if you live close by and know fruit flies are a problem. Place open zipper bags half-full of vinegar around the area. Fruit flies are attracted to the vinegar. On your return the next day, zip up the bags containing the vinegar and fruit flies, and throw them away.
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Wipe the picnic tables down with white vinegar before laying out food dishes. This deters flies from approaching the table and landing on the food.
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3
Tie string around sprigs of mint and hang them around the picnic site from trees and fences. Put some bunches in small vases on the tables. Mint repels small biting flies like gnats and mosquitoes. Rub the mint leaves periodically during your outing to release more odor.
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Pour small glasses half-full of apple cider vinegar. Add two drops of liquid dish soap to each glass. Dot these around the picnic site well away from the food tables. These will attract and kill fruit flies, in particular.
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5
Make up a mint-based insect repellent to spray on yourself. This protects from biting flies and ticks. Pour rubbing alcohol and an essential mint oil into a spray bottle. Use five parts of rubbing alcohol to one of mint oil.
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Tips & Warnings
Rub pets with crushed mint leaves to protect them from biting flies and ticks.
As an alternative to the mint oil and rubbing alcohol repellent spray, put mint leaves and citrus peels into a pan and cover with water. Boil the mixture well. Leave it overnight and strain off the liquid. Mix it with rubbing alcohol at a ratio of 1-to-1 in a spray bottle.
Biting insects are attracted to dark colors, so wear light-colored clothing to the picnic.
Keep homemade repellent sprays away from eyes and avoid inhaling them.
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
