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Decorating Defects - their cause and cure
Keeping flies from wet paintwork
In summertime flies and small insects settling on paintwork while it is still wet often mar the finished effect.
Certain essential oils, such as oil of pennyroyal or oil of spike, added to the paint or distemper will materially help in keeping them off, but such additions should only be made in very small quantity, and it is a wise precaution to consult the manufacturer of the paint as to whether they are likely to affect the finish adversely.
It is said that flies have an antipathy to certain colours, including blue and yellow; in consequence, it has been suggested that pantries, larders, dairies, and other interiors in which the absence of insects is especially desirable, should be decorated in these colours. The evidence on this point is extremely contradictory and it would be unwise to attach too much importance to this theory.
The use of finishes which incorporate powerful insecticides, such as D.D.T., has very great possibilities for the decorator since they provide a powerful new argument for having interior painting carried out. Such finishes, however, kill insects which alight on the surface and do not keep them away, so that, from the painter's point of view, the wet film would still be marred.