How to get rid of maggots in your garbage can

Try as you may to keep your garbage bins clean, it can be a challenge since we use it to put all our waste stuff. And flies are drawn to them. They lay their eggs in there, leaving us to handle those pesky and squirmy maggots.

Maybe you have dropped an atomic bomb amount of cleaning solutions and bombed it with insect spray to no avail. Somehow, in your war against maggots, the little critters manage to stay alive and live through it. Is it really impossible to get rid of them?

Why and where do maggots come from?

First, you have to understand why they are there. When we throw away food or any waste material, flies are automatically drawn to them because of the methane gas the waste emits. When they land on your waste, they are prone to lay their eggs on it. Thus, the maggot problem.

Temperature and humidity

When the temperature and humidity are high, food rot faster. It is like a siren call for flies. One thing you can do is to remove the bins out of direct sunlight or move them away from heat sources. Further, for them not to get a whiff of that methane, wrap your waste in plastic. Double wrap it for good measure. When you throw them away, always put down the cover of your trash bin. If your bin doesn’t have a cover, you might want to get one.

When garbage collection day comes along, you can empty your bin and address the maggot problem. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to eradicate them. Simply pour boiling water over them. Some say salt is also effective. Once you’ve got all the maggots, the next step is to clean your bin thoroughly. Use a disinfectant to prevent them from coming back. Skipping this step will not stop the flies from coming back.

Keep it clean

Anything that is dirty, they are attracted to that. To prevent them from coming back, maintain the cleanliness of your bins. Once your bin is clean, line it with a trash liner. If maggots do find their way back, they can all vanish away from collection day, as they take a ride in your trash liner. Just make sure they are secure and there is no way flies — and maggots — can find their way inside the actual bin and lay eggs there.

Flies may be here to stay but we can find ways to stop them from hanging around. Just follow these quick and easy steps to ensure a maggot-free trash bin.