Dipes attracting flies?

[cristeen]

Anyone else deal with this?

Little guy has been vomiting/diarrhea for the last day, so the dipes are particularly yucky, and I had them in the laundry basket in the nursery (rather than the pail in the bedroom where they were stinking up the place). I walked in there this morning to see just a SWARM of flies around the basket.

I tossed the dipes into the machine to run them through a rinse, put a fly trap down in the nursery, and the basket and pail are both in the bathtub soaking. But for future reference is there a way to avoid this swarm? I HATE flies. Granted, I've been battling them for a few weeks, but this is the first time they've moved into the nursery - the regular dirty dipes did not attract them.

[Katie T]

We have had that issue at random times over the years, but it was like gnats not flies, I don't really understand it though.

[alfabetsoup]

I think you just have to put the dipes in a pail with an air tight lid. Also, have you looked for the source of the flies? You don't usually get a ton of flies inside unless there's... something... to attract them. Could be something in/under your house or yard or your neighbor's yard.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by alfabetsoup

I think you just have to put the dipes in a pail with an air tight lid. Also, have you looked for the source of the flies? You don't usually get a ton of flies inside unless there's... something... to attract them. Could be something in/under your house or yard or your neighbor's yard.

No - they came in after the fermenting beer. They stuck around hanging out over the fruit bowl until I emptied it out. They'll hang over the compost if I don't take it out every day. They even went after one of my houseplants. I've managed to get the rest of the house under control by assiduous cleaning, and judicious use of fly traps. But I can't do anything about the fermenting beer. But yesterday they had abandoned the beer and moved into the nursery to go after these poopy dipes.

Running them through just a rinse cycle until I have a full load seems to have resolved the problem of attraction. And I put the lid back on the dipe pail for the new ones. But in 7 mos, this is the first time we've had a fly problem with the dipes.