Flies and wasps 'won't come near homes' thanks to optical illusion that terrifies them

A weary homeowner has turned to the community group, , to discover the best way to banish for good from homes. is a cleaning community where members share tips and seek advice on a wide range of topics that concern the home.

In a recent post, someone pleaded for help with pests and said: "Always have a problem with flies in the house in warm weather but this year is extremely bad. Anybody have any good ideas please." One helpful member replied with unconventional methods to repel bugs from your home - one solution involved a bag of pennies.

The helpful member shared: "Get a little sandwich bag and pop some pennies in it and some water and then hang up. Apparently it looks like a wasp nest to flies and they won't come near it."

The theory is that, due to flies' and wasps' eyesight, they will be tricked into thinking the bag of pennies is a threat to stay away from. Insects have "compound eyes and the images they see are often multiplied in many ways," reported 973 The Dawg.

"Now, to a fly or wasp that bag of pennies in water won't look like pennies in water, it will look more like a very large wasp or hornet nest. Since flies and wasps don't like looking for a fight, they see the 'nest' and stay away."

Commenting on the effectiveness of this method, Allan Bossel, operations expert at Bed Bug Exterminator, spoke to Homes and Gardens and said: "The effectiveness of hanging pennies in a bag of water as a pest control method has not been corroborated scientifically, but there is no shortage of anecdotal evidence supporting it.

"Many people swear by this method, but equally as many aren't convinced. Based on how varied people's experiences have been, I think it depends a lot on how bad the pest problem is.

"If it's just to control a few flies and mosquitoes, the method might make sense. However, even if the optical illusion explanation holds true, it will only be effective up to a certain extent."

However, the homeowner on the Mrs Hinch thread offered another method to keep flies away.

They said: "You could also get (a) door curtain to hang at the front of your door.

"We used to live opposite a dairy farm, and our front door used to be covered in flies constantly in the summer. Popped a couple of these in front of the door and it reduced the amount down quite considerably."

The curtain she recommends is a magnetic fly screen door. The door aims to keep bugs and other pests out with a screen that seals behind you as you walk through it.

Amazon is currently selling the for £17.99. Unlike other screen doors that only have small strips, this door has magnets that run along the entire length of the screen.

The curtain boasts 4.5 stars on the site, one happy customer shared: " and quite sturdy so I anticipate it should stay up. Does the job perfectly." But one person warned: " This is a great door net. However, one of the tie-back clips has a manufacturing blip by the looks of it.

"I haven't sent it back as one side opens and that's fine, we can use it like that, but a shame the other clip is defective and can't be used." Alternatively, you can grab Argos Home Beaded Door Curtain, which also deters flies for £23;