How to Get Rid of Maggots in Bin: 7 Tips

Whether it is missing 'taking out the trash day' or going on a vacation without emptying the bins, we've all come home one day to find maggots thriving in our trash bins - a maggot infestation is not only a health hazard, but the smell and the rot are also highly undesirable. What's worse, if not properly cleaned out and taken care of, the maggots will turn into pupae within a week and then hatch into flies, spreading disease and laying eggs.

So, how do you kill maggots? Can you prevent maggots from infesting in a kitchen bin? What to do to prevent flies from laying eggs in a bin? This blog post will give you 7 practical tips you can use to both deal with current maggot infestations and prevent future ones!

#1 Store Food Scraps Inside Sealed Bags

Maggots(larvae) can't thrive and spread without a food source. Flies scout for food waste to lay eggs on. Once the eggs hatch, the maggots slowly dissolve the food scraps and turn them into nutrients to grow and spread. A great way to stop maggots from surviving is by cutting their access to a food source.

Maggots can't grow if all they can eat is plastic and cartons, so keeping your food waste inside sealed bags is a great way to prevent an infestation. Neither flies nor their eggs can penetrate plastic, and if the bag is properly sealed, they have no way of getting inside. This can completely fix your maggot problem, though some homeowners don't like relying on plastic bags due to environmental concerns.

#2 Use Fly Spray

Though technically maggots could be the larvae of a host of different insects, the most common ones you find in rubbish bags and bins are fly larvae. This is why fly spray is both an excellent preventative and restorative approach to kill maggots:

• Preventative: Spraying a food waste bin with fly spray proactively will deter flies from approaching it and laying their eggs, which prevents infestations.
• Restorative: Strong sprays don't only kill flies, but they also kill their eggs, larvae, and pupae as well. To kill maggots, simply take out the rubbish and spray the infested area. You'll see results after half an hour or so.

The downside of this approach is that it can get a bit expensive to constantly spray the bins to ensure maggots don't thrive. Having a spray on hand in case of sudden breakouts is always a great idea, though you might prefer a more permanent preventative approach.

#3 Wash the Bin with Boiling Water

Hot water kills both maggots and eggs. Simply make sure the bin is emptied, grab a sponge or a scrubber, and start removing maggots. Making the maggots unable to spread disease and getting the bin smelling fresh, boiling water is a great solution.

The approach has two downsides: First, larger bins can be very unwieldy and aren't simple to clean. If the maggots are at the bottom, you might not even be able to reach them! Second, some maggots latch onto plastic and metallic surfaces, and their removal with boiling water alone will take effort and time!

#4 Use Chemicals/Essential Oil

There is a large variety of household items that have components toxic to maggots. These act as "natural remedies" you can readily use to deal with the infestation.

• Essential oils: essential oils, chiefly their smell, are quite toxic to flies and maggots. Lavender, peppermint, and most other essential oils that have a strong, distinctive smell can act as a deterrent to flies laying their eggs on leftover food in bins.
• Chemicals: Vinegar, chemicals that contain permethrin, and bleach are effective killers of maggots in a bin. They usually work by mixing them with a water solution, spraying the bin with it, and leaving it for a few hours for the chemical to do its job.

Since a lot of these chemicals and oils are already available in your kitchen or bathroom, they're easily available approaches to kill maggots. Though they are usually not as effective as dedicated methods to get rid of maggots, and while they might temporarily get rid of them, they don't prevent reinfestation. 

#5 Purchase High-quality Waste Bins

To lay their eggs on food sources, flies need some sort of opening to get into the bin. If the bin is tightly sealed, however, regardless of its content, you don't have to worry about an infestation! Sadly, a lot of commonly used bins are cheaply made, have lids that almost always stay ajar, and simply can't be sealed properly. 

Purchasing a high-quality stainless steel bin is an excellent way to prevent flies from accessing the waste. The bin emptied at your leisure, no worries about creating an environment where maggots thrive, this is an excellent preventative measure against maggots. 

Here, it is important to prioritize replacing bins that are dedicated to waste susceptible to maggots. A stainless steel kitchen bin with a lid will go a long way in preventing infestations in the kitchen. An office bin meant only for getting rid of papers, pens, and other office supplies isn't an environment where maggots can go, so it doesn't matter if it is a simple waste basket! 

#6 Identify The Maggot Infestation Early

When a suitable environment exists, maggots exponentially grow in number. In nature, due to the existence of natural predators, there's an upper limit to their growth. In homes, however, no such predators exist, and if maggot infestations aren't addressed, your home will soon be filled with flies. 

The sooner you identify and get rid of maggots, the better you can address the infestation. There are some signs you should watch out for: 

• The smell of rotting food: Maggots speed up the process of rotting. This is in fact why maggots' presence is used to identify the time of a person's death. If any of the trash bins start smelling foul, it is worth checking them for the presence of maggots. 
• Flies: If flies start appearing in your home, especially out of season, it is a flashing red warning sign of the presence of maggots somewhere. What's worse, it means that the maggots have had more than a week to grow, which makes the infestation quite serious. 

#7 Factors Speeding Up Infestation 

Several factors speed up infestations by creating a more suitable environment for maggots' growth. Though the existence of these factors doesn't automatically mean the growth of maggots, they do mean you should be more careful: 

• Pet Waste: Maggots don't only grow on food waste. Though it is extremely rare in humans, the growth of maggots on animal skin is a condition called Myiasis. Pet skin, fur, and waste often contain fly eggs. If not disposed of quickly, they are often the perfect environment for maggot growth. 
• Warm weather: Flies, and most other insects, can't survive freezing temperatures. This is why they lay their eggs, typically ice-resistant, before winter arrives. These eggs, once they sense a warm, welcoming environment, start hatching and create maggots. There can be thousands of eggs lying in wait for warmer temperatures to create infestations. So, whenever you experience warmer weather, you should be more careful about the appearance of maggots in a bin.