Keep the Flies Out This Summer: The Natural Way to Protect Your Kitchen

There's a lot to love about summer. Long evenings, windows thrown open, the back door propped wide while something delicious bubbles away on the hob. But with the warmth comes an uninvited guest — or rather, dozens of them. As the temperature climbs, flies become far more active, and the kitchen, with all its wonderful smells of cooking and ripening fruit, becomes their favourite place to be.

It's not just annoying. Flies land on food, on worktops, on everything they can find, and most of us would rather they stayed firmly outside. The usual answer is a chemical spray or a sticky trap — but if you're anything like me, the last thing you want near the food you're preparing for your family is a cloud of synthetic insecticide.

The good news? Nature has already given us the answer, and it smells beautiful.

Why flies hate certain scents (and we love them)

Flies navigate the world almost entirely through smell. Their antennae are covered in tiny receptors that detect food, moisture and waste from a surprising distance — it's how they find your fruit bowl within minutes of you setting it down. But that same sensitivity is also their weakness.

Certain plant compounds overwhelm and confuse those receptors, effectively drowning out the smells that draw flies in. Some go a step further and actively irritate the insect's senses, making an area genuinely unpleasant for them to be in. Scientists have tested these compounds in controlled studies, and a handful of essential oils come up again and again as the ones flies simply can't stand.

The lovely part is that the scents flies find so offensive are, to us, some of the most uplifting and fresh fragrances there are. Citrus. Basil. Bright, herbaceous, green notes. What repels them delights us — which is exactly why the right candle or wax melt can do double duty in your home.

The Elsie & Tom blends that flies dislike

Not every fragrance works, so it's worth knowing which of our blends earn their place on the kitchen windowsill. These are the ones built around the essential oils with the strongest natural insect-repelling credentials.

Mediterranean Citrus

Citrus oils are one of the most well-documented natural fly deterrents. They're rich in a compound called limonene, along with citral — both of which insects find deeply off-putting. It's the reason so many "natural" repellents lean on citrus, and why a citrus scent drifting through your kitchen does far more than just smell wonderful. Our Mediterranean Citrus wax melts fill the room with a bright, sun-warmed freshness that lifts your mood and quietly keeps the flies at bay.

Lime, Basil & Mandarin

This one is a real workhorse. It brings together two of the most effective natural deterrents in a single blend — zesty lime and mandarin on the citrus side, and basil, which has genuinely impressive credentials of its own. Basil oil contains estragole and linalool, and in laboratory testing it has shown some of the highest fly-repelling rates of any essential oil, working for hours at a time. Its fresh, green, herbaceous scent also happens to sit beautifully in a kitchen, complementing the smells of cooking rather than fighting them. If you only try one blend this summer, make it this.

Time to Unwind

Our Time to Unwind candles and wax melts were created for calm and relaxation, but the essential oils at their heart quietly earn their keep in more ways than one. This blend pairs bergamot — a citrus oil rich in the same limonene that flies find so off-putting — with sandalwood, which has a real natural reputation of its own. Sandalwood contains compounds called santalols, and studies have shown it to be an effective mosquito deterrent, working especially well alongside citrus oils. That makes Time to Unwind a lovely double act on a warm summer evening: bergamot to help see off the flies, sandalwood to discourage the mosquitoes, and a grounding, aromatic warmth that lives up to its name. Proof that a scent chosen for wellbeing can look after you in more ways than one.

"I am finding that the citrus fragrances really help with flies and mosquitos in the house. It is such a relief to use a more natural fly repellent. Dread to think what the alternatives do to us!"

Kate - Ipswich

A simple morning ritual that makes all the difference

Here's the little habit worth adopting as the weather warms up.

Light one of these candles first thing in the morning, or pop a wax melt on to warm as you start cooking. Flies tend to move indoors early in the day, drawn by the first smells of breakfast and the open door. By filling your kitchen with a fragrance they dislike before they arrive, you create a scented barrier at exactly the moment it matters most — rather than trying to shoo them out once they've already made themselves at home.

Keep it going gently through the day, especially while you're cooking or if fruit is ripening on the side. The warmth of a candle or melt releases the essential oils steadily into the air, refreshing that invisible barrier hour after hour. It's a small, calming ritual — a quiet moment of scent to start the day — that also happens to keep your kitchen that little bit more peaceful.

An honest word on what to expect

I always want to be straight with you, because that's how we do things at Elsie & Tom. Natural scents are a wonderful deterrent, but they work best as one part of a bigger picture — not as a magic force field. Essential oils repel flies; they don't eliminate them entirely, and they can't compete with a strong attractant left out in the open.

So think of your candle or wax melt as the finishing touch to good kitchen habits. Keep fruit in the fridge or well away from open windows once it's very ripe, wipe down surfaces, keep a lid on the bin, rinse the sink, and of course keep food covered if it's left out. Do those things and fill the air with a fragrance flies can't stand, and you'll notice a real difference — a fresher, calmer, more pleasant kitchen all summer long.

Please note: our candles and wax melts are designed and sold as home fragrance products, not as insect repellents. Any effect on flies or other insects is a lovely natural side benefit of the essential oils we use, rather than the reason we make them.

A quick word on citronella

You may have heard that citronella is the classic go-to for keeping insects away — and you might be tempted to reach for a citronella candle. If you do, please check the label carefully first. Many citronella candles are made specifically for outdoor use only, often with paraffin wax and fillers that produce far more smoke and soot than a standard scented candle. Those should never be burned indoors, as they can affect your air quality — always follow the manufacturer's usage instructions.

For the record, we don't make a citronella candle at all. Every Elsie & Tom candle and wax melt is designed for indoor use, hand-poured with 100% natural soy wax and pure essential oils — so you can enjoy them safely in the heart of your home, exactly where you need them most.

And here's the lovely bonus: because ours are made with pure essential oils and clean-burning soy wax, they're just as at home outdoors. Take one out to the patio or garden table on a summer evening and it'll do the same quiet work a citronella candle would — you simply need to choose one of our insect-disliked blends, like Mediterranean Citrus or Lime, Basil & Mandarin. One fragrance, indoors or out, all summer long.

Ready for a fly-free, beautifully scented summer?

If the warm weather has brought a few too many visitors into your kitchen, let nature do the work — the gentle way. Our Mediterranean Citrus and Lime, Basil & Mandarin wax melts, along with our Time to Unwind candles and melts, are handmade in our Suffolk studio using 100% natural soy wax and pure essential oils. No synthetics, nothing you wouldn't want near your food.

Light one in the morning, breathe in something lovely, and enjoy a summer kitchen that's yours again.