I’ve always found flies oddly persistent — as if they wait for the perfect moment to ruin your lunch or sneak into the kitchen just when you’re starting to relax. I’ve tried nearly everything: sprays, traps, essential oils, citronella candles — you name it.

Then, one afternoon at my nana’s house, she handed me a plastic bag filled with water and a few shiny coins. I blinked.

And you know what? It worked.

The Weird Trick (That’s Been Around Forever)

You take a clear plastic bag, fill it halfway with water, drop in a few shiny coins, tie it closed, and hang it where the flies tend to gather — near doors, windows, patios, wherever.

Sounds ridiculous, I know. But there’s something about the way light hits the water and reflects off the coins that confuses flies. They’ve got those big compound eyes — thousands of lenses — and the glare messes with their sense of direction. They think it’s a predator or a place they don’t want to be.

Whatever the science, I only care about one thing: it keeps them away.

How to Do It (Takes Literally 2 Minutes)