Third bottle of fly spray, all by different manufacturers, and third gummed-up/busted/dripping sprayer. The bottles haven’t been dropped. The stock is fresh. I shook (or not) according to directions. I didn’t try to spray with the nozzle in the “off” position. Can anyone recommend a brand whose sprayer hangs in there for more than a minute? Or a durable sprayer to which I can transfer?
Wide mouth is a game changer for refilling. So far, no issues with the Zep sprayers for fly spray or Odo Ban.
I had these years ago from TSC when they were not astronomical and they lasted many years of fly spray use. Double spray is a wonderful thing. I can’t justify the cost now though. (They’re like $40 bucks on this side of the border 
)
I have also owned and loved dollar store pump up garden sprayers, but when the cold comes they go kaput and leak through the nozzle if not emptied beforehand.
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I gave up on purpose-made spray bottles & buy whatever Dollar Tree offers in cleaning supplies.
I transfer contents to another container, wash & refill with flyspray.
My current spray bottle is on 2nd season of use & just recently sprayer is getting wonky.
Still usable & when it dies, spending $1.25 to replace it doesn’t hurt 
Plus whatever came in it gets used. 
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Spray bottle nozzles have taken a serious nose dive in quality over the last few years! I tried buying a few nicer spray bottles and I have to give 2 thumbs down to the Home Depot brand wide mouth bottle (endure fly spray was lethal to them) and another brand off Amazon that was supposed to be “good for chemicals” and could handle the fine mist you need for ecovet was pretty hit or miss. Ok, one bottle of the three worked. And then I dropped it. Those old ecovet bottles I’ve been reusing for 5 years have been dropped 6,364 times, but this precious thing couldn’t handle once. On a rubber mat, even…
So I just bought a large supply of the standard nozzle tops off Amazon to replace old nozzles when they die. So far that has worked well and been the cheapest solution. My 2 remaining ecovet bottles better last, because I need that short fine mist spray action (so we don’t die 
), not the big spray of most other sprayers.
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Zep or another brand? This is my first year with Zep and now I’m wondering whether I should just shell out on the orange dual-mist bottles next year. I mean, both my Zeps are fine so far …
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Home Depot brand!!! (The orange ones) 3 out of 3 died within 1 year. Too bad, because wide mouth makes a world of sense, but I also have about 3 funnels in my tack room, so I’m not exactly suffering…
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I second the recommendation for the Zep bottles, but I use these large size ones:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/ZEP-48-oz-Industrial-Pro-Spray-Bottle-C32810THD/311276602
They have the wide mouth, and hold 48 oz (vs the typical 32) so I’m refilling less often.
I abuse the crap out of them and have zero problems.
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I quit using those type sprayers a long time ago. These work far better, don’t clog, and you don’t wear your hand out spraying.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-56oz-Handheld-Multi-Purpose-Pump-Sprayer-56HDX/312367618
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I love this style (available at dollar stores too), but you need to completely release the pressure well above freezing temps or they will piss all over everything when they get cold. Before I got smrt and remembered that liquids under pressure will freeze above freezing (and therefore expand and put a strain on mechanisms), I managed to get a wet arm, get my shelving wet, etc. “Fixed” it and had it happen again. Oh. yeah. It’s going to keep happening until the weather is practically hot. So, ok for fly spray as long as you release the pressure at the end of the season, but terrible idea for things you want to be able to spray all year long AND keep in the barn
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I release the pressure on mine after every use, and I fill it often in fly season so am releasing the pressure often. After the first couple frosts, it’s done for the year because the flies are done too. 
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Ah, for me that totally defeats the whole pump up the pressure for a few uses instead of squeezing the trigger a billion times each day thing.
What happens if you don’t release pressure every time? I had one this style from Harbor Freight that kicked it after a few weeks of use from a seal going bad apparently. I am not going to remember to release the pressure daily and with only two to spray pressure isn’t going to down quickly. Wasn’t sure if it was a quality problem or just that they don’t hold up to pressure well.
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It takes maybe two seconds to turn the lid a half turn and then tighten again to release the pressure, and another five seconds to pump up before use. Leaving it pressurized is hard on the seals. I use far less spray with these than the hand sprayers and far better coverage too.
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The trigger bottles usually gum up because of the oils in your liquid. After use, if you turn the bottle upside down and squeeze the trigger a few times to expel air only, it cleans out any oily substance left in the nozzle.
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I buy the dollar store ones for various things and they work pretty reliably, sometimes need an invigorating squeeze but usually work. I keep baby oil in one for getting baby oil on my legs without dumping it all over the floor and it’s worked for a year and a half now. Also as above low investment.
I also have an old 409 bottle that I keep cleaning liquid in and have been using that thing several times a week for over two years. My initial investment of $5 for the 409 has been well recouped, in case you feel like cleaning out a 409 bottle very very well to switch it to fly spray. For that matter I put cleaning liquid in an empty Dawn Powershot bottle and it reuses very well too, fine mist. Also, I’m so not fancy and could be considered cheap. lol
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I’ve had great, durable success with the garden chemical pump sprayers. Silent to operate, you just squeeze the lever once and can direct the spray precisely, and the nozzle performs well regardless whether you’re using oil-based or water-based fly spray. Highly, highly recommend
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I’ve gotten these and at first it’s great but they’ve all crapped out within 1 season. For the price I expect more.
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I have spray bottles that are several years old, use oil based sprays, often mix water and oil based spray, and have literally never had a clog. It’s not the oil, it’s the sprayer.
“It’s not the oil, it’s the new crap quality sprayer”
(I fixed it for you)
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