Fly screen buying guide: match type to the opening
Updated: October 2026
A warm evening, the kitchen window open, and something is already on the worktop. A fly screen buying guide has to start there, because the amazon.co.uk search mixes four different objects and prices them as if they were the same job. You might be looking at a sheet at about £2.56, a magnetic door curtain, a roll of mesh with no tape, or an aluminium frame at about £36. This page is from Peter F. on 20 October 2026. We used the eleven amazon.co.uk listings in this comparison, plus public UK sources, and we did not run a lab insect test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The star table sits on the [insect screen comparison](/hub/hedges-and-privacy-screens/insect-screen).
A warm evening, the kitchen window open, and something is already on the worktop.
A warm evening, the kitchen window open, and something is already on the worktop. A fly screen buying guide has to start there, because the amazon.co.uk search mixes four different objects and prices them as if they were the same job. You might be looking at a sheet at about £2.56, a magnetic door curtain, a roll of mesh with no tape, or an aluminium frame at about £36. This page is from Peter F. on 20 October 2026. We used the eleven amazon.co.uk listings in this comparison, plus public UK sources, and we did not run a lab insect test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The star table sits on the insect screen comparison.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Opening | Fixing | Mesh stated | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  SMALUCK SMALUCK magnetic door screen | Door | Tape, pins, and magnets | Polyester | 8.3 | about £9.99 | View offer |
 tesa UK tesa Insect Stop 110 × 130 cm | Window | Adhesive hook-and-loop | Polyester | 8.6 | about £6.97 | View offer | |
| Alternative |  Amig Amig extendable window screen | Window | Shutter slot, no adhesive claimed | Fibreglass 17 x 15 | 7.0 | about £36.39 | View offer |
On this page
What you are actually buying
The first split is the opening, not the brand. A hook-and-loop window sheet is a cloth you cut and stick to a frame you rarely peel back. In this set that is the tesa sheets, the MOEGFY and YANGTE multi-packs, and the XYGK single sheet. A magnetic door curtain is a split you walk through. SMALUCK is the only one here, at 90 by 210 cm, with tape, push pins, centre magnets, and a bottom weight. A framed screen is a different product again. Amig ME01 is white aluminium and grey fibreglass, 100 by 70 cm, extendable to 190 cm, meant for a roller-shutter slot rather than adhesive. A mesh roll is cloth only. Yeasing is 1.2 by 2.5 m of fibreglass with an aperture stated under 1.5 mm and nothing to fix it with. Solkraes is about 3 by 10 m of polyester for a patio, balcony, or garden, also with no tape. BKSAI is still a window sheet, with a magnetic opening you place at the handle. Haiyox is two zip sheets and the file has no review line. Neither is a door curtain. How that choice plays out in daily use is on magnetic or Velcro fly screen. Mesh is the second split, and fine is not a specification. UK suppliers such as Simple Screens treat about 18 by 16 threads per inch as ordinary fly mesh and 20 by 20 or tighter as midge mesh. Almost none of these listings print a weave. Amig states 17 by 15. Yeasing states an aperture under 1.5 mm.
What to measure before you spend
Measure the frame you will fix to, not the glass. Simple Screens' fitting notes say the same thing in their own words: take the recess, and do not expect mesh to stretch over a gap. On an out-of-square uPVC window, take width at the top, middle, and bottom, and height at both sides and the centre, then keep the smallest figure if the screen cannot stretch. A protruding handle is part of the measurement. Reviewers of the BKSAI sheet say a typical UK handle stops a flat mesh sitting close, and one high Velux fit fell down after a long installation. A trickle vent is also part of the opening. Covering a vent and calling the room ventilated is not what Approved Document F is asking for. The smaller tesa sheet is 100 by 100 cm at about £2.56, and reviewers joined pieces when the window was wider. The larger tesa sheet is 110 by 130 cm of polyester at about £6.97. The small one says acrylic and China, the larger one says polyester and Germany. SMALUCK's curtain is 90 cm wide by 210 cm high, and a UK reviewer says it cannot be trimmed, including after being told that it could. If your doorway is 100 cm, that curtain is the wrong object. Amig's height stays about 70 cm while the width extends toward 190 cm, so a tall casement is outside that frame even when the width looks right.
What the prices mean
On amazon.co.uk, in this capture, the cheap end is about £2.56 to about £8.99. That band holds both tesa sheets, XYGK at about £4.19, BKSAI at about £7.50, Yeasing at about £7.85, and Haiyox at about £8.99. The middle is about £9.99 to about £14.99: SMALUCK's door curtain, MOEGFY's three-pack at about £11.04, YANGTE's four-pack at about £13.99, and the Solkraes roll at about £14.99. Amig is alone at about £36.39. A 5.0 score does not move XYGK up that ladder. The listing is 5.0 from three ratings, and the file has one UK review, about spiders on a bedroom ledge. Haiyox has no star line to read. Prefer a stable count inside the type you already chose. Those shelf prices are not the trade market. Premier Environment's 2026 guide, a supplier page, puts casual no-drill screens around £15 to £40, DIY kits around £40 to £80, made-to-measure around £80 to £150, and fitted work from about £150. Leave this set when you need a measured uPVC cassette, a bi-fold, or a stated 20 by 20 midge weave in a frame. A multi-pack changes the sum, not the job. Buying four sheets does not buy a better seal than one well-fitted sheet on a clean frame.
Rules that are easy to over-read
A private home does not have to fit an insect screen. Retained Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Annex II, Chapter II (d), requires insect-proof screens, where necessary, on windows that open outdoors from food-preparation rooms, and those screens must be easy to remove for cleaning. The Food Standards Agency gives the same point for food businesses. A rented flat is outside that duty. If you do run a food room, a glued sheet that you cannot clean, or that leaves a gap at the handle, is not a box you can tick from the advert. The mesh is not a child guard, a cat net, or a fall barrier. A MOEGFY reviewer who tried a sheet as an indoor cat barrier said the adhesive came away. Amig reviewers who wanted to keep a kitten in still added tape, because the frame could be pushed. SMALUCK's bullets talk about kids and pets passing through, which is the opposite of a lock. Do not block an escape route, and do not cover the only ventilator and assume Approved Document F is satisfied. Consumer Rights Act 2015 still expects the goods to match the description. If a listing says the curtain can be cut and a reviewer shows it cannot, that clash is the fact you shop with.
Common questions
Do I need a different product for a door and a window?
Yes. A window sheet is cut and stuck, then peeled back when you need the handle. A door you walk through wants a magnetic split near 90 by 210 cm, which in this set is the SMALUCK curtain at about £9.99. Using a flat sheet on a door means you unstick it every time you pass. Using a door curtain on a small casement wastes a fixed size you may not be able to trim. Measure first, then pick the type.
Is a £3 sheet the same job as a £36 frame?
No. The tesa sheet at about £2.56 is a 100 cm square of acrylic with hook-and-loop, for a small window. The Amig frame at about £36.39 is aluminium and 17 by 15 fibreglass, held by a shutter slot, and it extends in width toward 190 cm while staying about 70 cm high. One is tape on a flat face. The other needs the slot the listing describes. They are not substitutes with different prices.
What if the handle sticks out?
A flat sheet will either gap around a proud uPVC handle or be knocked off when the handle turns. BKSAI's reviews say that directly. You can place a magnetic opening over the handle on that sheet, peel a plain sheet back, or use a frame that stands off the glass. If you open that window every day, a stick-on sheet is the awkward choice, even when the tape is fresh.
Will a no-drill screen mark a uPVC frame?
No drill means the listing is selling tape or a slot, not that the adhesive is harmless for ever. Several sheets in this set claim residue-free removal. Reviewers still report tape that lets go, and one tesa review says overlapping two adhesive pads stops the second pad sticking. On a rented frame, test a short piece where a mark would not show, and assume you may need to clean adhesive later. Push pins, which come with the SMALUCK curtain, are holes.
Does the law make me fit one at home?
No. The insect-screen duty in Regulation 852/2004 applies to food-preparation rooms that open outdoors, where a screen is necessary, and the screen has to be removable for cleaning. A private kitchen is not that room. A food business should not treat a random glued sheet as an inspection answer. Ventilation rules still apply either way, so the mesh is not a trickle vent.
How do I know the mesh is fine enough?
Read the weave or the aperture, not the word fine. In this comparison only Amig prints 17 by 15 and only Yeasing prints under 1.5 mm. Supplier pages treat 18 by 16 as housefly mesh and 20 by 20 as midge mesh. None of these ASINs is sold as 20 by 20. If the listing is silent, you do not have a midge claim to rely on.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources named below. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts are from the 11 listings in this comparison. Page updated October 2026.
- legislation.gov.uk, Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 Annex II (retrieved October 2026)
- Food Standards Agency, setting up your food business premises (retrieved October 2026)
- Approved Document F, 2026 (retrieved October 2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015 (retrieved October 2026)
- Simple Screens, measuring and mesh (retrieved October 2026)
- Premier Environment, fly screens for UK homes (retrieved October 2026)
- The Scottish Shutter Company, insect screens (retrieved October 2026)
- amazon.co.uk, tesa Insect Stop 110 × 130 cm (retrieved October 2026)