The information on this site used to exist on another website. But, because of the number of visitors who seemed to have problems with maggots, I thought I would move the information to a dedicated website.
So, here is the first part in a series of comments left on the old website by people who have had maggot problems. The other lists of comments are available here:
- People With Maggots Problems – Part 2
- More People with Maggot Stories – Part 3
- Final List of Comments on Maggots – Part 4
And if you’re looking for information on how to get rid of maggots, take a look at the right hand side of this page for the relevant links.
And now, for the stories submitted by readers:
Domoni Wilkinson
March 15th, 2006 at 4:56 am
this morning i pulled clothes out off the dryer and they were covered in maggots, i shook most off them off and put the clothes back in the wash though thats didnt really work. so i shook them off the clothes while they were wet and they fell into the washing machine so now i have used hot water and disinfectant and put the cycle on without the clothes so hopefully this works!
Deco Gecko
March 15th, 2006 at 8:57 am
Oh, MAN! I’m so sorry to hear that. Hopefully the wash and rinse cleans those things RIGHT out! Good luck…
Yolanda
April 4th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
I used pinesol and bleach and hot water when they get in my outside trash can during the warm weather once I dump the water out I let the can air dry in the hot 90+ degree sun. Works like a charm until next trash day.
Deco Gecko
April 4th, 2006 at 3:58 pm
Thanks for that idea.
maggot killer
May 12th, 2006 at 5:04 pm
i got home from work this morning an d m girlfriend had told me there were maggots on the mattress….She had cleaned the maggots off disposed of them, anyways i lay down thinking its clear, for some reason i decided to look..To no supise there was more. i happen to think they are inside the mattress.. First thing that ive down is the ones that have surfaced…u need two items :lighter (for ciggerates) and hairspray….soak them in it and light. but watch make sure the fire goes out.. step 2 throw out mattress and clean the whole room
Deco Gecko
May 13th, 2006 at 5:35 pm
I reckon I should put a “Parental Advisory” warning with your method of getting rid of the maggots. Hope you’re sorted out now.
singh c
May 14th, 2006 at 7:40 pm
i had maggots coming from under the kitchen sink, used pinsol, didnt work, salt no work,then burned them with an insent stick worked! im sure thers more but i havent seen any yet. but next time if i do ill use boiling water.
Lashanta
May 18th, 2006 at 2:19 am
We found maggots in our house in Arkansas underneath a bag of trash we were using to clean out our house. After we finished and lifted the bag on the next day there were maggots underneath. Since then we have found several more inside, but most of them remain in our garbage can outside the house. We have tried WD-40, Mr.Clean antibacterial, Bleach, and roach spray. None of these have worked so far, but today we combined all four products hoping they work.
Lashanta
May 18th, 2006 at 2:22 am
My husband just informed me that the 4 combined products didn’t work. Now it’s on to the boiling water.
Deco Gecko
May 18th, 2006 at 8:41 pm
I hope you can let me know what ended up working…
Trinity
May 21st, 2006 at 8:00 pm
We woke up this morning and our daughter had found maggots on our kitchen floor. She endend up on a chair. SO right now we are just vaccumming them up and hoping that will help but not much we vaccumm and there they are again we cant find the source of the maggots anywhere we have thrown all of the garbage away but its Sunday and trash day is not till Wednesday. We thought the dog had brought them in (you know eating poop and all) but in her room there were only a few. Will try the boiling water method. But it does make for a very clean house later on.
Tammy Pecore
May 25th, 2006 at 7:03 pm
Last night I got into bed and found 6 small maggotts (I think) between the sheets. They had a really bad oder to them. We noticed a bad smell about three days ago and have been searching for a dead animal with no luck. I immediately put all the bedding into the washer and washed with very hot water. How did they get there? And will I need to throw out my mattress?
Deco Gecko
May 26th, 2006 at 2:14 pm
Your maggots might be crawling in from outside. They move at a HELL of a surprising speed, considering there size.
When I had my problem, some of them had made it all the way into the kitchen, from under the closed door, and up a step. So make sure you look outside as well.
Lizi
May 29th, 2006 at 7:50 pm
My husband and I just found the trash can crawling with maggots this morning, and as we investigated and started to sweep them all up, we found that they had crawled around the whole of our downstairs living area. It has been a foul morning sweeping, and then bleaching the tile. The maggots are now in our outside trash can, awaiting collection tomorrow. But what next? I feel that I will find these every other day now!
Nicole
May 30th, 2006 at 5:31 am
My husband and I just came back from our vacation of 4 days and found millions of at least 10mm maggots all over our trash bin, recycle bin, side of our house, concrete path for the trash and recycle bin, and the yard!! This is all within 5ft. of our childrens sandbox(not enclosed) and our hot tub, patio, dryer vent, ect… We used Dry Space Pyrethin Insecticide. They looked and laughed! Boiling water as we typt but what about the siding, garage, sandbox, ext…..?? HELP!
jen
May 30th, 2006 at 7:03 am
i was cleaning ym house and we found maggots in my carpet i vacumed them up and used bleach water anything else i can use to kill these things
Angie
June 1st, 2006 at 2:39 am
My boyfriend and I kept finding little white spects on the counter tops in the kitchen each morning. Thinking that one or the other had left little crumbs we brushed them off into the trash below. This happened several times until I finally said something to him, to our surprise they were moving. I clean my kitchen everyday, how could this have happend? The area they are in contains a microwave, trash bin below and a basket I recently purchased. I am wondering if they can come from a basket, b/c that when this problem started. HELP!
guy echols
June 2nd, 2006 at 2:42 am
woke up one morning to a clean house to find maggots crawling on the kitchen floor. tried bleach, permethrin spray, wasp spray, general insect spray-they just crawled faster. I got the truck carbuetor cleaner, opened the windows and began to spray a quick mist-stopped them dead. not recommended for asthmatics….
Mike
June 5th, 2006 at 5:28 pm
Got up this AM to maggots on the kitchen floor. Swept them up, emptied the trash, checked in all the bottom cabinets (all clear of anything to cause maggots) but I’m still finding one here one there. They gross me out so bad I don’t know if I’ll be able to eat in my own kitchen. We have no clue where these critters are coming from. HELP
Deco Gecko
June 5th, 2006 at 5:44 pm
Hey Mike, sorry to hear this.
The only other thing I can think of is checking outside, as they might be crawling in under the doors (that’s how they got into my kitchen).
I’ve read a couple of sites saying that the maggots could be in the walls… Not sure if you’ve checked there.
lara
June 8th, 2006 at 1:45 am
i was cleaning my room today and i had been in it all day today and not noticed anything, i picked up a folder and suddenly there are hundreds of maggots everywhere! it turned out that my boyfriend had left a bottle of orange juice UNDERNEATH my dresser which obviously i could not see and did not know was there. this had leaked and i think they were attracted to that, we gutted the whole room and swept them all up and flushed them down the toilet, this took hours but the whole room is cleaned now, do you think there is any chance of them coming back? someone please help! i am sleeping on the sofa tonight!!!! x
Sadie
June 8th, 2006 at 8:58 am
I need your help! I’ve been reading all of these suggestions for getting rid of maggots. Thanks! Question: we have a huge infestation of maggots in our garbage can (leftovers and a missed garbage collection). They escaped the can and are EVERYWHERE in our garage. I did my best to pour boiling water on all of the ones I could see. I am afraid there are some still lurking under boxes in the back of our garage (we just moved in.) Do I need to do something to get rid of these, or will they just be gone and done with once they hatch in a few days? I don’t want to move boxes into our house if they have maggots in or on them. Help!
Deco Gecko
June 8th, 2006 at 9:06 am
Lara: I think if you’re sure you cleaned up the source (orange juice) and all the maggots you can find, you should be safe. But double check tomorrow.
Sadie: I think depending on the type of maggot, it could take more than a couple of days to hatch, possibly a couple of weeks. I’m not sure. If you need the boxes for anything (or whatever’s in them) I’m sure you could check it out while still in the garage.
Other than that, good luck. If anyone else has suggestions, please add them. And, if you could, may come back and let us know what eventually happened.
marvin
June 12th, 2006 at 6:41 am
my lovely little maggot story begins with finding the little creepy crawlys dropping from the fan/light in our shower…after further inspection, it appears that the nimrod who installed the fixure simply ran the exhaust hose out under the eaves of our bathroom and left it…there was no mesh or anything to keep things out…and sure enough, I found two dead baby birdies inside…I kept a plain old bucket of water directly under the fixture so that the maggots just dropped right into it…they stayed alive for awhile but they couldn’t crawl out and eventually drowned
Trey
June 14th, 2006 at 5:01 pm
I woke up and wachted TV for about an hour. Then I went to go clean the kitchen. And there was a dark yellow spot on the floor. I think someone spilled mustard. and there were maggots on and around it. Now if you don’t mind getting near them, this is an effective way to kill maggots in small groups. But not for the fainthearted. Take an old rag and wrap the rag around your thumb, place your thumb on the selected maggot, and push until you here something pop. And WALA, there dead.
Esther Hughes
June 15th, 2006 at 8:10 pm
Live in OK and have monkeys who have blankets. They’re covered with maggots. I have washed and soaked in hot bleachwater, but they were still alive. Went through the drier and still alive. The monkeys need the blankets, but how do I get rid of the maggots?
Maggie
June 15th, 2006 at 8:26 pm
I found maggots in our kitchen this morning so I took out the trash (where I think they came from) and sprayed Lysol on the ones I saw but had to leave for work. If they are still alive will they crawl somewhere where I can’t find them and infest our house? HELP!
Deco Gecko
June 16th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
Hmmm… I’m thinking, new blankets might just be easier, and, the maggots probably won’t multiply, but you might have a lot of new flies flying around…
Let us know your results.
judy
June 20th, 2006 at 4:43 pm
found maggots in the trash today. i poured almost a gallon of straight bleach everywhere i found them….it took about 30 mins., but eventually they turned in to white blobs and then were gone. hope this works for someone else.
elaine
June 21st, 2006 at 6:42 am
bleach is the answer! works like a charm.
DISGUSTED!
June 21st, 2006 at 7:16 pm
We woke this morning to maggots on the the rug in the kitchen at first I saw only a few….and then I lifted the rug.
They were everywhere! I don’t understand where they could have come from??? I clean my kitchen every day and clean my floors with bleach once a week. How could this have happened? I’m not sure what to do.
Val Haas
June 22nd, 2006 at 4:35 am
Funeral Service Professionals spray diesel fuel on maggots and that works well.
Trina
June 22nd, 2006 at 6:21 am
Oh my gosh, I was packing so we can move and I grabbed some books off the bookshelf that hadn’t been used for a very long time, and I freaked out! There were these little nasty maggots crawling all over the side of my mothers dictionary that I had kept for sentimental reasons. Obviously I have thrown that out! Well I used BUGOUT foaming wasp, and hornet spray cause it was the only thing I had handy and something that is in it killed them, now I have these black dots all over the shelves…I believe I will be using the vaccumm this evening.
good luck to everyone this is soooo gross!
Netra
June 22nd, 2006 at 9:32 pm
Glad to have found this site!! This morning moving trash outside that was left in the house (too lazy to do it the night before) ……!! Took the trash out & now they are in the carpet. To the surface & go back into the carpet. We’ve vacumed, sprayed every spray in the house: Raid ant & fly, wasp killer, home defense ..2 kinds! salt(that was my grand idea) Ugh!! they just kept slithering. Now I read that the wasp spray was the best choice because of the PERMETHRIN. As I’m sitting here reading I’d go back to check if they are coming back to the surface… And I see none! Try the wasp spray… doesn’t kill them on contact but give it a moment. It works! Next step attack outside!!
Good luck all! Keep the faith..
pinkie
June 23rd, 2006 at 7:19 pm
i have a large black wheelie bin that is collect every fortnight. i have nowhere else to put it except outside my back gate which means that its is direct sunlight all day. for the past month i have struggled with repeatative infestations of maggots (i think they are blowflies of bluebottles or something). i double bag all my garbage, use a whillie bin liner to prevent liquid being left in the bottom and wash the bin with hot water and bleach every time its emptied. to add to this i use domestos spray bleach (neat bleach in a handy spray form)every time i find the eggs on the inside of the bin lid.
i am at my wits end! what else can i do? how can i stop the flies breeding on my bin?
help, am desperate!!!!
LaQuita
June 24th, 2006 at 5:54 pm
We missed our regular trash day and what a surprise. My mother is a 76 year-old-country-girl and she had never seen so many maggots. Here is what we tried, bleach, ammonia, red-hot-pepper, hot water slowed them down but it was just too many. I was determined to use every hosehold product available and finally I had on box of salt left. I poured the salt on a handfull and found it did not kill them but it smothered them if enough was applied. Needless to say, it took us 19 boxes of salt, and still a few got pass. That night I went back and got more salt to build a barrior around the door and on the inside of the door I taped the bottom. I was just that afraid after a 4 hour battle with these creatures. Good Luck
Sara
June 25th, 2006 at 7:33 am
omg..my sister..woke me up at 1:30 a.m. today when she called! so i answered it..n she said how do i get rid of maggots? and i said something with Permethrin in it..like wasp spray. then i said you can also try boiling water. she tried it and it worked!!
kim
June 26th, 2006 at 5:36 am
I just went out to put the trash out to the curb and found my entire barrel was covered in these gross maggot creatures. Completely horrified by even small ants, I freaked out and called a neighbor of mine. We tried ammonia and bleach(not together) and some of these things survived!!! I got, or rather, he got the trash to the curb and they are still crawling everywhere. Will they crawl back up my driveway to the garage? I’m so freaked out that I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight. I’ve never seen or dealt with these creeps before, hence my sitting here typing right now when I should have been in bed 2 hours ago. Someone please give me some reassurance?
Jessica
June 26th, 2006 at 5:51 am
Got Maggots?
This works…..
HOT SHOT Brand Flying Insect Killer
House Flies +++++ Has PERMETHRIN
Spray a Bunch and give it 5 Minutes and they are DEAD!!!!!
Deco Gecko
June 26th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
Everybody seems to want to know how to kill maggots. So far we seem to have established the best method to kill maggots is boiling water, if you have the time.
Other successful methods on how to kill maggots are wasp spray, bleach and Flying Insect killer. If you read something here that works for killing maggots, please bookmark this page and then come back and let us (me) know.
Thanks… And good luck.
shannon
June 27th, 2006 at 5:52 pm
I clean my house every day!! Yesturday we found 3 maggots in the kitchen floor. Today I have found about 10 more. I have no idea where they are coming from. I pulled the refrigerator out and found a few under it. I’m not sure if that is where they are coming from or not. I’m not sure the boiling water idea would work for my situation since I am only finding a few at a time. I’m sending my husband to the store for flying insect killer. I will let you know if this worked for me.
ANNE OSHEA
June 28th, 2006 at 1:15 am
We found them in our trash this morning.
We took out the trash double bagged it, then hosed down the trash cans away from the house. I found this site and used the boiling water on the patio and fence where I could still see the maggots. It worked like a charm. I drove the trash to the dump. Thanks for your advice
Rachel
June 28th, 2006 at 6:23 am
Somebody Please help me! I’m crying hysterically right now…I lifted up the kitchen rugs to wash them and there were hundreds of maggots! I vacummed them up and then threw them in the trash, but had to kill many of them by hand (i did throw up doing this as well, it’s horrific!) My problem is that I went two room over and there were more! I’ve spent 3 hours trying to kill all of them and do not know where the source is? Should I contact my landlord? I have a pretty clean place, so why is this happening?!
Kyle
June 28th, 2006 at 9:56 pm
ugh, i just read all these stories and i’m so sorry everyone….I don’t have a weak stomach, but theres one thing i CAN’T handle…it’s Maggots, they scare the hell out of me, i think they’re the most disgusting things in the world.
Now nobody in my family told me, we’re handling our gabarge differnetly…so for the second time in my life…i have a maggot encounter….They’ve been in the garbage for a few days now…The first time this happened, there wasn’t too many…me and my dad drowned them…But now this time…It’s like one of those lame horror movies, i can just see too openings in the garbage bag but they’re just….packed onto eachother and i nearly puked. Me and my dad will try to drown them out later tonight, but i think i might try to the boiling water too….bleach didn’t do ANYTHING
i killed one on the deck coming for my door….haha the garbage is just a few feet from our door, reading the stories i’m worried…but they haven’t been coming in numbers yet…little bastards
Kyle
June 28th, 2006 at 9:58 pm
ah and rachel, i’d definately contact the landlord…goodluck, the maggot haters believe in you!
Janet
June 29th, 2006 at 3:45 pm
So great to find this site! Thanks, Deco! I found some maggots crawling in my outdoor garbage bin yesterday. Looking down inside I saw that a pizza box or two (along with whatever was wedged between them and the wall of the bin) were stuck in the bottom of the bin even after garbage pick-up yesterday. Who knows how long they’ve been there, maybe two pick-ups ago. I read here at your site (googled for a solution!) and then went out and sprayed some old Raid bug spray on any I could see. They seemed to slowly lose their grip and fall of the surface of the bin. I’ll check later to see how it’s going..and I’ve called the garbage service to come and REALLY empty the bin! Good luck to you all in your war against these yucky critters!
Amber
June 29th, 2006 at 5:26 pm
Thanks for this site…we live out in the “country” around lots of farms so flies are just a way of life around here. Anyway, a week ago my kids and their friends completely filled our 7′x5′ sandbox (which stays uncovered) with water. Yesterday I went out to turn the sand over because it was crusty, and when I got to the far back corner I got a shovel full of maggots. I kept digging and dug up some sort of small squirrel leg about 6 inches long- I know this is repulsive, sorry – covered in maggots. I can’t imagine where the leg came from but my husband’s dog stood by guiltily and watched me wretch while putting the worms into a huge bucket which my husband and I tossed over our hillside. Back at the sandbox I sprayed watered-down bleach over the hole where the mess was but wish now I had used straight bleach. This morning I went out and there were more (but far fewer) maggots in the crater-ish hole I made, so I dug them up and tossed them over the hill. I spayed with more watery bleach, somewhat satisfied, and put bricks and sand back in the hole so hopefully the kids won’t dig there. I figure that by leaving the hole exposed flies will just lay more eggs there even though I can’t smell dead animal in the sand anymore. By the way, I thoroughly dug up the rest of the sandbox to make sure maggots hadn’t migrated and also that there are no more animal remains! I hope that this will do the trick, but I am a little uneasy. Please let me know what you think!
Cherie
July 1st, 2006 at 9:23 pm
Never knew this was such a problem until a couple days ago when I found my husband forgot to put the trash in the garbage container outside(was sitting along the fence) Now I have maggots everywhere. Not just 100’s but I would say 1000’s. We tried bleach, insect spray. My husband finally poored gas over them. It worked! But there are so many that we just keep finding more. They are scattering and I believe trying to get in my house. We put the garbage container on the curb. The garbage people refuse to pick it up until Monday. I don’t know how much more gas we should pour outside in our yard so I’m going to go for the hornet spray. Thanks for the idea.
Bec
July 2nd, 2006 at 2:36 am
For the first time in my life, I woke up and found maggots in the kitchen, on the floor around the trash can. There were none in the garbage, so I wasn’t sure where they came from. I tried Ortho and bleach and neither worked, so I vacuumed them up. Every time I go back in there I find 6 more. The garbage has been removed, so I’m confused as to where they are coming from. I have killed a few small flies today as well. I am so grossed out and don’t even want to cook dinner in there. I am making my daughter wear shoes everywhere in the house! I guess I will just have to keep vacuuming up the few I find until they are all gone. And I have one more little fly to kill…
Wade
July 2nd, 2006 at 7:38 am
Hello all maggot haters!!!
Was enjoying the Canada day fireworks when I noticed small white wigglers marching onto my driveway. Upon further investigation I found the garbage can lid full of gross maggots. They were everywhere, crawling everywhere like soldiers. I started to step on as many as I could, then thought what would Bush do? Shock and Awe!!!! Took the container to the curb, poured gas over the lid and inside the garbage can (shock), the droped like flies, pardon the pun. Then took my lighter and lit the container on fire (Awe). It was Canada Day!!! Just kidding, no fire, but the gas works great.
sarah
July 3rd, 2006 at 5:14 pm
went to put garbage at curb this morning (missed last Friday’s pick up) and freaked out at the sight of maggots in, around, and on the garbage can as well as up the side of my house. i googled “kill maggots” and found this forum. i have been pouring boiling water and straight bleach all morning (careful- i burned myself carrying a too big/too full pot of water). i hope it works. if they come into the house- i’m leaving. this sucks!
thanks for all of the advice!
Get rid of flies – The Obvious ways first » Make a good house a GREAT home
July 3rd, 2006 at 10:55 pm
[…] If you don’t want to be infested with maggots, then the obvious thing to do is prevent the source: Flies. Yes, preventing maggots also means not having a maggot breeding ground, but, because maggots come from flies, it would make sense to try and prevent the flies in the first place. Here are some things that are so incredibly obvious, and yet some people don’t do them. […]
Amanda
July 5th, 2006 at 6:41 am
Hey I Googled Maggots and found this page…. I had just went in to the kitchen saw my cats food was covered in maggots….. I don’t understand where they came from because i had just opened the food and put it in his bowl… i threw out all of his bowls and gave him new ones…. how do i stop them??????
Linda M Carroll
July 5th, 2006 at 6:49 pm
Well, in this humid weather I’ve been finding small maggot of varous colors under my cat’s feed dish in the morning, Both out doors and in the kitchen. The bowls are washed daily, so I thought they were coming from the rug. I can see that I’m not alone and that the cleanest house can get them. I’ll let you know what works for me. Thanks for the ideas. Linda in No. Maine
e
July 5th, 2006 at 8:52 pm
i got maggots in my cream colored shag carpet as a result of a flood a lot of flies and some garbage anyhow…. i sprayed my carpet with “RAID DOUBLE ACTION MOSQUITO AND FLY KILLER AND THEN SAUCED MY CARPET UP WITH ARM & HAMMER CAPET AND ROOM ODOR ELIMINATOR” you know the pre vaccuum carpet powder anyways the next morning i found a lot of maggots shrivled up dead on the top of my carpet. (they were inside)so a couple more repeats of that and i may not have to wait till they are flies to attack. its always the unexpected things that work best like wd-40 for black perment marker…..
Julie
July 6th, 2006 at 6:42 pm
A raccoon died up in our crawl space… we know this because maggots were crawling into our home through the ceiling fans… we moved the couch and lifted everything up that was beneath it…. and there were 100’s of them… ohh so gross…. well, pest control came and removed the dead raccoon. They bombed the crawl space and put down that powder stuff…. there are still a few maggots in the living area (and i have a two-year old….) will they die soon or whatch or soemthing? Now that the food source is completely gone, do I have anything else to worry about? PLEASE help me…. I was actaully in tears on July 4th!
Sandra
July 6th, 2006 at 6:45 pm
we got an insecticide from one of our chemical suppliers (it was for house flies, wasps, etc)…didnt have the Permethrin ingredient, but it worked. we got the sample from EcoLab. anyways, wished we would have used boiling water but when bleach wasnt killing them, we got desperate to find other chemicals around our premises. yeepie!!!
janet
July 6th, 2006 at 9:41 pm
I used Terro to get rid of ants. Ants left, but to be sure, I left some Terro in the bathroom. This morning there were 20 or so maggots into and heading for the Terro! I haven’t seen maggots for 60 years, and never in this house. Is this the invasion of the Maggots??
veronica
July 7th, 2006 at 1:49 am
Funny.. I just came online trying to see where the hell these maggots are coming from. It started yesterday. There were a whole bunch outside my door. But why???? They ended up making inside my house… in my kitchen, living room… you name it. EVERYWHERE!!! Gross. This morning there were a few more – killed some more manually… old rag and POP! Gross, but I tried bleach, windex, fantastic… nothing worked. When I came back from work there were sooo many flies everywhere. Opened the door and they left. I just did a second clean up everywhere, found a few shells and some more maggots. Will this end? Where did they came from in the first place? There was no garabage anywhere. Could it be that a fly laid eggs near my front door? This is very weird. I just thought they grew in bacteria and garbage!!!
sharon
July 7th, 2006 at 2:18 am
I found this earlier and decided to wait until AFTER I ate my dinner..lol
This morning when I went to grab my garbage from the outside trashcan, I was thrown back from all the disgusting white things crawling on the inside. Also noticed the nasty fly that caused it all, he flew out. Here’s my problem…I have to take my trash to the local dump since I don’t have pickup and I’m extremely squeamish when it comes to something like this. So I couldn’t even triple bag it until I kill these gruesome things! So I decided to wait until after work for a miracle! Was hoping the birds would attack my can at lunch! heh…yeah right!
Since I am so squeamish of bugs, I always have a stash of pesticides on hand. (I don’t mind reptiles or rodents…go figure!) Anyway, I decided to try one of my Hot SHot No-Mess Fogger with Odor Neutralizer. I dropped it in the can and closed the lid fast! (While wearing a rubber suit! lol..jk) I also started spraying my CVS Brand Wasp/Hornet spray at the little buggers that were dropping out of the can…I think that worked…after spraying a whole can of the stuff on about 10 maggots! I will post and let you know if the Hot Shot worked after I have the guts to open the can again.
debobi
July 7th, 2006 at 5:46 am
I work for a congregate and they are having a serious problem with maggots in their trash bins. The best way I found to get rid of most of them is that I moved them to the drive-way and opened the covers to let the birds have a feast. Yet beyond that I still don’t know how to stop them.
Grossed out in Michigan
July 7th, 2006 at 10:37 am
Hi everyone, I also googled how to kill maggots, anyhow, hubby came home late tonite from gym and it was time to get garbage out, so he left his car lights on in the drive to see better, and the driveway was simple littered with maggots. Hundreds!!! Do they multipy and move that quick? I was outside gardening 2 days ago and saw none. SO NASTY! So we took one of our outside bug sprayers, that thank goodness i bought, got it to spray around my house so I didnt get any ants in the house this summer, but it said it kills over 100 types of bugs, millipeds and everything, so figured i would try. hubby said they werent dying, so he started dumping ammonia all over the drive, while I searched how to kill them, saw the boil water info and started to just get very hot water from my tap since it gets very very hot and I started pouring it on, figured all 3 things should work… and yep, 5 – 10 minutes minutes later, most all dead, and there were hundreds of these nasty things! After that I began just hosing them all off the drive way and hoping that was drowning any more living, I blasted the driveway cracks too and saw some pop out and killed those off too.. I’m still freaked out just thinking about even 1 out there alive still. But it was too dark to see if I got them all, tomorrow I will redo my efforts for any left. Oh and because I just simply refuse to deal with the hassle of getting any out of my garbage cans tomorrow, since that’s where they came from. I took chalk that my kids use and wrote on all my garbage can TAKE ME, THROW ME AWAY so the garbage man will take all of my garbage cans, and I will just buy more. Mainly because I know my husband will just make me deal with cleaning them out, and this was ALL his fault! He loves getting out of his car with a handful of old fast food and just throwing it in the garbage can. I bag everything! We have 2 cats , so there is litter going in there, and I have a baby in diapers, so i know it’s important to bag everything well. I put diapers into grocery bags first before I even put them into the garbage can, so he can eat the cost of getting me new cans, and I think I will move the garbage cans into the garage so it’s no such a handy dumping spot for him anymore. Because I am not doing this again, GROSS!!!
thanks for the tips all.
I for sure am going to check into some fly killing items as well.
Sharon
July 7th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
Well here’s Part 2…
After throwing the Fogger into the garbage can and running for the hills…I decided to check on it last night. When I opened the can, all was quiet in there..BUT to be on the safe side I dropped another can of the Hot Shot Fogger into the garbage can.
Good news! This morning when I opened the can it seems all that were visible were actually dead! YIPPEE!! I was able to bag it 3 times without being TOO grossed out! Threw the bag in my car and drove to the dumpster. I definitely was a little nervous when I had to throw it in the dumpster praying no squiggly things were gonna crawl out and fall in my car…but it was all fine. Whew!!
So I guess if you run into the problem of finding these horribly disgusting things in your trash, the Hot Shot Fogger works!!! (I’m assuming maybe just one can of the stuff works, but I didn’t want to take any chances.)
A couple of things that amazed me during this ordeal was how utterly disgusting they are, the enormous amount there seems to be and how much larger they look when they are alive! After I was successful at killing them, I was amazed at how tiny they really were and they didn’t seem as scary!
GOOD LUCK to all who ever have to deal with this infestation!!!
Sam
July 8th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
As much as all these stories have been helpful…they’ve totally freaked me out! Today my flatmate found a load of maggots in our bin..we’ve tried to deal with them as best we can (bleach etc)..but I keep finding more and more ( fortunately dead ones)..but I’m so paranoid they will come back or that I have missed a corner that they may be lurking in. This has given me the creepy crawlies! I was thinking once I’ve cleaned everywhere with bleach etc to pour boiling water all over the place..do you think this is an effective solution???!! Help me please!!
Annette
July 9th, 2006 at 12:09 am
Thank You! Thank You! THANK YOU!!! for this site. Thanks to my neighbor and the trash being picked up a day later due to the holiday, I had a run in with those creepy crawly things. They began coming out of their trash can and found their way to my can a few feet away. My kids thought that they were cool in large part due to “Fear Factor”. later I found out that the neighbors son put a bag of trash into mine. I opened the can lid, and oh did I get a surprise. After my Dad and I stood there for a few minutes scratching our heads about what to do, I decied to search the internet and found this site. I did have a half can of wasp spray and decided to give that a try. I srayed what was left on the trash bag and closed the lid (not a very tight closed lid, but hey it’s a gift from the city) and not even a minute later they began to crawl and fall out. I went to the store and bought 3 more cans and sprayed like crazy. So trash was collected, ground and trash cans cleaned, but if it happens again I know what to grab to kill them.
Ashley and nina from ipswich
July 10th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Someone please help me!!!!!!! My mate boyfriend chris left his bin bags on the flat balcony for a few days to find infestation had occured. SICK!! now we are finding them in the house at the carpet edge etc. how did they get in? Doors where closed. Do they spread disease? bite or carry HIV? like other insects do!! Are they harmfull? This boiling method seems ridiculous, soaking ur house and leaking through to next floor. I liked the sound of the hairspray lighter one however i tried and burnt the carpet. lol!! HElp im going to have to move house!!!!! AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH
Deco Gecko
July 10th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
Hmmm… Good luck to you.
Just a couple of things:
– I don’t think maggots bite.
– They don’t carry HIV (I’m pretty sure there’s no insect out there that does)
– The boiling water won’t really work indoors, as you said.
I’ve looked around the internet and maggots are only really bad because of where they breed (rotting meat, for example), and because they turn into flies, which causes more maggots. Take away the source, (your bin bags), and you should be safe.
Anybody else have any thoughts?
oh, and PLEASE be careful with the fire thing.
Marie
July 11th, 2006 at 1:34 am
I was sitting outside this afternoon in my swinging hammock chair, relaxing and enjoying the day when I noticed these little white things falling from the tree that I was sitting under, I looked on the ground and there were maggots all over! 1st reaction was to throw down baking soda then pour vinegar all over it, they just jumped on so then I went to the bleach, didn’t even phase them. I finally figured out that there must be a dead squirrel or bird up in the tree so, I have just been flooding the tree and the ground with my garden hose hoping to get whatever is dead out of there and I am also hoping to drown the little bastards!
Jayne
July 11th, 2006 at 10:35 am
Gone out this morning and there are maggotts coming out of the top of the wheelie bin. Bleugh!!! So iI got the ”Raid” fly spray and yipee!!! ” The flyspray works” I told my other half. Spoke too soon, half an hour later there they were wiggling about again. So I went for the bleach, only to find a tiny bit left in the bottom of the bottle!!! So I diluted it with a bit of water and went to blast them, some have kacked it but not all of them. so now I am armed and dangerous with ‘Kleen Off’ Super Strength Caustic Oven Cleaner, they don’t look very happy! It ought to work, I was choking and I held my breath! Anyway, will let you know.
Cathy
July 12th, 2006 at 8:37 am
Thank you for this site!
I was horrified to find maggots in three separate places in my kitchen, especially since I cleaned the whole kitchen — cabinents, fridge, moved stove, fridge, etc. out of room only 1 1/2 weeks before.
They are awful. I stepped on a bunch where I stand at the kitchen sink. They were on the floor and a damp kitchen towel that I had left on the floor.
After I got over the shock and realized I had to clean it up, I threw out what I could (the kitchen towels) and used toilet paper to kill all the rest and place them in a sealed garbarge bag.
Then used pine sol on the whole kitchen and in the process, found two other sets of maggots — some under and behind my fridge and others under and behind a buffet. These areas were SPARKLING CLEAN on July 4.
I suspect they came from flies laying eggs so after I killed every one of them by hand, now I keep the doors closed so no more flies! I truly hope this NEVER happens again. What a horror!
Do you know how fast they turn into maggots? How long were the flies eggs sitting there before they hatched into maggots? The rag on the floor could have only been there 2 days and the whole kitche was thoroughly cleaned top to bottom only 9 days before.
Why were they in 3 different places? Do you think flies laid their eggs in three different places? Do you think I found each source and I am good now?
Help, I don’t know if I can sleep again!
Louise
July 12th, 2006 at 11:02 am
I went to put my bin out last night for collection this morning and was horrified to see it covered with thousands of maggots! We missed collection 1 week so had to leave bags next to the bin, which cats then broke into. This must have been how flies got in but the maggots multiplied by thousands so quickly and had covered my patio. I ended up in my back garden in my nightdress and wellington boots (very attractive) but I filled a watering can with bleach and very hot water and poured it everywhere. This morning I couldn’t see one maggot out there – the bleach worked a treat and the bin was collected this morning. I certainly won’t be forgetting to put it out again!
CHRISTINE HARRIS
July 12th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
5 years ago I came home to find my whole floor covered in maggots. we tried everything mentioned above which didnt work. After hours of searching the net we discovered the solution and tried it and they died INSTANTLY YES IT IS PETROL.Now I fill up a small can with petrol and keep it for emergencies.Please remember not to have a ciggie at the same time!!!
Randall
July 13th, 2006 at 6:10 am
BYE BYE MAGGOTS (outside only!) 1/4 cup gasoline in a spritzer bottle. gasoline evaporates leaving dead maggots.
danielle
July 13th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
ive never seen maggots until this morning, i went to put garabge and organics out. i couldnt touch my bin, it was sooo nasty !!!
so i went back inside and grabbed a bottle of lysol and sprayed inside the bin and around the outside …im not sure if any of the maggots inside the bin died,but the ones on the outside just kept moving, but i used half a bottle of lysol…just a heads up ! good luck to everyone else who has had an experience with maggots
Amber
July 13th, 2006 at 5:25 pm
So glad I found this site!
There are way too many posts to read to see if anyone has my problem (though I did read lots, I have to get SOME work done today! :))
I found a couple maggots in my front hallway the other day, squashed ‘em dead and flushed ‘em. Since then I have been on the lookout for more. Found a couple more in my front hall (kitchen is one side, storage room, where we keep our full trash bags til garbage day, on the other) I checked around the garbage, terrified I’d see them swarming underneath but there were none. I emptied the storage room and swept. I found few bloated brown dead maggots. Hoped that was the end. Nope. Saw some more by the front door, thought maybe they were coming in from outside like in another post.
Then I read further about someone moving their fridge… so I’ve been in my kitchen moving the fridge, stove and freezer. More bloated brown, dead maggots. I’ve found more dead than alive. This is disgusting!
I clean every day, we do have a small compost bin inside, no food lying around.
I can’t pinpoint the source other than possibly coming in from outside. I do have a small son so our screen door is propped open all day long in the summer time. Flies get in all the time, they also fly out, usually. Perhaps that is the cause somehow.
So anyway, I’ve got more dead maggots than anything, can someone please tell me, this isn’t what happens to em before they turn into baby flies, is it?!
Has anyone had any they missed and turned to flies? *shudder* Terrified I’m going to wake up to a zillion flies in my house!!
Jodi
July 14th, 2006 at 6:50 pm
hey i am 19 years old and married and have a 13 month old daughter and i am pregnant my father this morning came to visit and found some maggots under my garbage in the sunroom by the garage door, leading into….we havelite them on fire… it WORKS, and swept them into a garbage pail into the garbage bag a new one…hoping they dont come back but if they do? i love my home and it is a bought home not a rented home and i dont want to leave but if it becomes infested with maggots what am i to do burn my house down? lol i cant do that…please help…i have tried everything. i am pregnant with twins and already have a 13 month old i dont need this problem now
hope some idea’s arrise!!!!
if so please email me @
destiny8@mts.net
thank you
Donad
July 15th, 2006 at 4:10 am
It seem that boiling water and fire work but it is a hassle kill them one by one. I think it’s best way to sweep them into a can. then pour gas over them and toss in a matches. also since fly is the source of maggot, if your trash can is infected with fly, toss in a bug bomb and close the lid.
kaitlyn
July 15th, 2006 at 5:23 pm
poor Rachel, contact an Exterminator! And give your Landlord a Call ASAP!
Jayne
July 15th, 2006 at 11:09 pm
Hurrah. Tried the oven cleaner, no chance. Tried a whole bottle of thick bleach, which I think worked partially ‘cos the maggotts that were sitting on something and got soaked in bleach, died. But the ones crawling up the side of the bin kept on running. So, out came the carburettor cleaner. What a brilliant suggestion! They were legging it up to the lid for air, but, too late. I’ve checked the bin tonight and still no maggotts! Didn’t want to try fuel until I’d tried everything else, so, RESULT
Deco Gecko
July 15th, 2006 at 11:15 pm
Hey Jayne. Nice to hear something worked… Question I’D like to know is, why do you have carburettor cleaner?
Sue
July 16th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
OMG!
I didn’t realize so many other people were having problems with maggots. It seems like they are taking over the world!!!
I woke up this morning and found several of the disgusting creatures around the cat food – AGAIN! I NEVER had this problem unitil I switched them to canned food (due to the fact one of my cat’s is diabetic.)
The first time it happened, I had seen a fly around the house (I couldn’t kiil the bugger) but this time I didn’t, so not sure where they came from.
At that time, I decided I would bag everything up tightly – I’ve been trying to bag up trash within the trash bags in the house. But now that they are back a 2nd time does any one have any other suggestions?
BTW – thanks for the hot water and bleach idea – I drowned the suckers in a plastic cup as I don’t like using insectisides.
One of my cats is a little vacuum cleaner. Does anyone know if she will get sick if she eats them?
Thanks!
Joe
July 16th, 2006 at 8:08 pm
I had maggotts in my garbage can, I just took off the lids and exposed them to the sun , it did the trick, killed them all
Josh
July 16th, 2006 at 10:34 pm
OMG help my parents have got maggots in there trash can.
Can u giv me a list of ideas to get rid of them
We tried bleech but tht dunt work so plz sum1 giv me ideas
Alma
July 17th, 2006 at 8:05 am
OMG yesturday i went outisde and then there wer elike 15 maggots around my shoe pile, and I was like trying to put on a shoe from the pile and there were maggots inside of the shoes! several pairs had maggots in them and aroiund them, some already dead, many moving. i put them in the sun and some of them died and I wore sandals that day. the next day there were thousands in the shoe pile and I soaked some of the shoes in gasoline but thats when i noticed a dead bird in one of my shoes and it was so nasty so then i got rid of the bird and there were still maggots everywhere and i also found a bag of dog food and there were piles of maggots just streaming out of that and into the shoe pile and i don’t know what to do next but first i think i’ll start with moving the shoe pile further away from the house. t hanks for the ideas1!! boiling water worked wonderful.
Lynn
July 17th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
It’s like a BAD SI-FI movie- especially when bleach and amonia won’t work. Niether does any ORTHO porduct we tried. Go w/ the boiling water.
Zippy
July 18th, 2006 at 4:51 pm
KEROSENE! Don’t ask me how I know it works, but trust me when I tell you that it does. I am in an industry that has long touted the success of using kerosene to kill maggots. Be careful when using in or on large areas. Saturate some cotton or a soft cloth, or just pour it over the ugly little creatures. When you are finished, thoroughly, and carefully, wash and rinse whatever surface you had the infestation. I happen to be out of kerosene at this moment, and I came to this site to see if there were any other answers out there. The way it appears, I am off to the hardware store to get more….
sddude
July 19th, 2006 at 5:29 pm
we were having breakfast this morning when our 19 mo old daughter made a “bzzzzzz” sound which is what she does when she sees a fly or bee. but she was staring at the kitchen floor right by the sink where several maggots were crawling. So we picked those up, no problem. But we were shocked to see that they were all over the corners of the kitchen floor, I don’t even think we found the source, but we must have swept about 50 of them. Bug spray didn’t work so I used my grill lighter which worked well. I also took out the garbage to find out that our dumpster was also covered with maggots, just the initial signs since this was the first time i;ve ever seen them here. We did miss a collection on sunday and i guess that did it. I hope the source was just the garbage that i took out from the kitchen, what do you think?
wayne
July 19th, 2006 at 7:27 pm
my girlfriend lives in a townhouse complex and unfortunatly she has a comunity garbage bin parked no more than 10 feet in front of her door. The maggotts come to her hous cause it is cool and dry as opposed to the hot, damp, moist, ripe, overflowing garbage bin. the complex won’t do anything and the health dep’t say’s they only deal with resturants. what is a person to do with so much red tape.
Grossed Out
July 19th, 2006 at 7:59 pm
I had a cat that came back home from a bad injury and it had maggots in its leg and I was getting them out with HYDROGEN PEROXIDE from my pharmacy. He is ok now, but i was about to barf… The rubbing elcohol i was using to drowned them didn`t do nothing to them so i was using the proxcide to eventualy killed them.
>>>Im pretty sure equal parts laundry detergent powder and water kills them in my trash can. use a broom to mix.
CAUTION:Use gloves. Hold the soap in your hand and see how it gets pretty warm with some water added to the soap.
KateM
July 20th, 2006 at 9:29 pm
I found about 20 of the gross little things in my kitchen about 2 weeks ago in my organic recyling. I assume b/c there was some old cat food enclosed. I bleached like crazy, and stomped on them. 2 days ago – same problem. Today, I found 2 random ones in my bedroom, on the floor, not close to any food source. I can’t find any other ones. Should I be worried, might I be infested somewhere in my house? The idea of them in my bedroom is horrifying. Is there a chance that these 2 bugs in my bedroom are isolated?
penny howard
July 21st, 2006 at 3:38 am
hiya, ive just found maggots in my kitchen in the bin, we got rid of the bin and hooverd lol ( witch was fun ) up all teh maggots and bleeched and disinfected the floor and any were else they were, but now there coming from under the cubboards and the washing mechine, and they were under the freezer to, i dont know how thy got there as i cleaned them all yesturday so they fucking breed fast, we have tryed bleech,drowning,boiled water,raid, can anyone please tell us anymore ways but we dont know were there coming from now they jsut keep apearing under the table n cuboards yet when we look tehre none there? are they coming back to life?? lol as its 2:30am now and we have been killing them since 1am lol plz help me! cheers luv penny, from uk london
Jane
July 21st, 2006 at 8:07 pm
We have a disgusting problem with maggots in our Garage they are in the cracks where the ground and wall meet. I have drowned them in Beach and hot water and they have been comming out and then I hose them away. I want to know what will really kill these nasty little bastards and would it be safe to pour gasoline or kerosine in those cracks. These things are gross…nothing as gross as maggots. I wish I had not read all the bits about how easliy these things spread so easy, I will not sleep or eat for days now that I have read too much info on that topic.
Judy
July 22nd, 2006 at 3:02 pm
Thank God I am not the only one that has a problem with this! I have been super shameful of having this problem because I felt like I was a filthy person. I have laughed at reading the posts because I have tried practically all the tactics everyone else has and I am so surprised at the strength of these little boogers. I’ve tried…pine-sol, hairspray, ant spray, roach spray, fly spray, and any other kind of spray I could find around the house and bleach. Bleach didn’t work fast enough for me but I DO know my source….it’s the flies. They wait at the door for me to open it I swear and come in in HERDS…no exaggeration. Just wanted to let you guys know that I have heard that BASIL keeps the flies out. So…the sucker that I am…is going to purchase 4 basil plants to put near every door in the house. Hopefully this works and I’ll keep you guys posted.
Shaun Stone
July 22nd, 2006 at 5:19 pm
Found thousands in my bin this morning, Tried a number of things like bleach and all sorts of sprays. But in the end i resorted to boiling water and a Blow tourch .Note that i didnt use the blow tourch inside the bin cause that would be dangerous. I took the bags out and shook all the maggots and eggs off the bags, and either poured boiling water on them or blow tourched them. the eggs explode and Stink horrible when they are burnt. Then i put all the bags in big bin linners and made sure they were done up tight.
Bins get emptied on monday, so i’ll give the bin a proper clean out then.
Rachael
July 22nd, 2006 at 8:33 pm
drowning, boiling water and LOTS of bleach!!!!! That is all I have found to work! Just combine your drowning efforts with the bleach idea. I also poured boiling water into the garbage can where I found them and closed the lid real quick. It seemed like the hot steam got them as well. Use a hose with the highest water pressure you have and that helps too. Any of you worried about them getting on your pets? Any ideas or knowledge about that?
jimmyjamjam
July 23rd, 2006 at 1:10 am
Just wanted to let folks know that HotShot Flying Insect Killer with Premethrin works like a charm. Had a long fought battle last night with thousands of the little buggars and out of everything tried, the HotShot and torching them worked best. Obviously, torching them is dangerous so I definitely would recommend the flying insect killer first. Killed them within minutes. Thanks for the tips.
Terri
July 23rd, 2006 at 7:22 pm
Had a maggot issue this am in my outdoor trash bin…. Took the trash to the curb and then had to kill all those things on the ground around it. Used rid a bug and that was useless. Came inside and found this site and tried bleach and it seemed to work somewhat but not a complete kill. Found some pesticide for roses that kill all kinds of larvae and poured it full strength onto the concrete and scrubbed it around with a stiff broom. I dont know if it was the pesticide or the stiff broom but all the ones on the concrete are dead. I did find some wasp spray and followed up with that to be sure….. I am buying more wasp spray today as I know I will have to go thru this again with the trash bin tomorrow after it is emptied…. Thanks for all the helpful suggestions!! I would probably still be smashing them if it werent for this site.
Richard
July 23rd, 2006 at 8:32 pm
My mum cooked some chicken for me and my girlfriend about a month ago, we all thought the chicken was chucked out but this morning my mum round the tray of half eaten chicken STILL IN THE GRILL an in there was about 7 maggots!!! we tried ant spray did nothing then we put water on them and they were swimming!!!! so we used BOILING water and that worked there now spending there first night outside but now we fear theres eggs still in the grill
Dan
July 23rd, 2006 at 9:47 pm
I just moved into a new apartment where the prior tenant had been evicted, and now I know why! The first night I found large maggots crawling on the carpet and counted 30 of them as I threw them off the balcony. The prior tenant’s pet had left urine stains in the carpet where I suspect the flies bred. I put up with them for the 2 weeks it took for the landlords to change out the carpet and use a Hot Shot bug-bomb to kill most of them. I’ve seen a few sickly flies the 3 days after that but the problem is better. If I start seeing a lot again I’m going to have to use another bug bomb. It’s a hassle cleaning up clothes and wiping down all food surfaces after spraying those large amounts of chemical poisons though.
sian
July 23rd, 2006 at 11:40 pm
Welll todae ma mum was sittin out side our house wen she saw the bin was covered in maggots…she has bin outside for at least an hour and half now..hoosing them down. Still no luck we have run out of bleach and now she is afraid they will enter the house