Nobody ever wants maggots around—they’re filthy and annoying. Maggot infestation is the last thing most people want, and you need to act fast when they invade your home. These creatures can cause problems in your home and even embarrass you when you have guests around.
If maggots invade your home, you’ve probably been looking around on the internet, looking for ways on how you can get rid of these stubborn flies. But not to worry, this post will walk you through various ways you can get rid of maggots in the garage.
Why are There Maggots in the Garage?
First and foremost, maggots are flies that move around and transmit diseases, including dysentery and typhoid. Besides typhoid and dysentery, larvae can also spread pin works, roundworms, and tapeworms. This is why you should get rid of maggots in your home as soon as they invade it. Below are some of the reasons why larvae are in your garage.
1. Garages are Maggots’ Food Source
The garage makes a suitable habitat for maggots. Flies lay their eggs in moist areas like the garage, which act as a food source for the maggots.
Some of the moist areas where flies are most likely to lay their eggs include human faeces, garbage, animal faeces, and rotting vegetables.
In other words, keeping garbage in your garage means inviting maggots and allowing them to multiply over time.
2. Flies and Decay
In some cases, flies aren’t attracted to food and garbage—instead, they lay their eggs in dead animals or rodents and multiply over time. Maggots to the flies then survive in the decaying rodent or animal, making it easy to develop and multiply.
3. Flies and Bacteria
And did you ever know that flies love the smell of bacteria? Well, they will always come close to any source of bacteria smell. The first place that they could invade is around your sinks. Sinks are usually moist and will always have garbage particles due to the continuous rinsing of utensils.
Does Bleach Kill Maggots?
Yes, bleach does kill maggots. If you want to eliminate maggots using bleach, mix one cup of water and bleach, then pour that mixture on the larvae.
If you’re getting rid of grubs that invaded your trash can, you might want to leave the bleach to sit for about thirty minutes before you clean it out.
Bleach is a popular and effective household disinfectant containing sodium hypochlorite as the primary ingredient. If you have bleach in your home, you can disinfect surfaces in 60 minutes.
Bleach is cost-effective, and so you can get it at your local stores. It’s strong and can help you clean surfaces in less time. And the best of all is that it can get rid of maggots in minutes.
Does Bleach Kill Maggots Instantly?
No, bleach won’t kill maggots instantly but will in some minutes. You just need to be patient and give the disinfectant some time to work. If you’re looking for a quick solution to getting rid of grubs, bleach isn’t the best solution for you.
How Long Does It Take for Bleach to Kill Maggots?
It takes 30 minutes to start seeing maggots die due to exposure to bleach. Likewise, if you were getting rid of maggots in your trash can, you’ll still have to wait for about thirty minutes before you can start seeing maggots succumb slowly.
If you need an alternative or run out of bleach but still have more maggots you want to get rid of, pouring hot boiling water can also be an excellent idea. It’s also one of the best as it will even target to destroy maggots’ eggs, eliminating them.
Does Bleach Spray Kill Maggots?
Yes, bleach spray will still be effective in getting rid of maggots because it still contains the primary ingredient, sodium hypochlorite. The only difference is that you’ll transfer the mixture in a bottle spray before spraying it to the direct source of maggot infestation.
While spray will still help get rid of maggots in your garage, it isn’t effective in areas with heavy maggot infestation. However, you’ll get the best results in an area with not much infestation or areas where the infestation is just getting started.
Can Vinegar Kill Maggots?
Yes, vinegar will be very effective in killing larvae. It’s an excellent substitute if you don’t have bleach or aren’t comfortable using bleach in your garage. To kill maggots using vinegar, mix three parts of boiling water with one part of vinegar.
Pour this mixture on the maggots, and it will kill them. Besides killing the maggots, this solution will also get rid of the odor resulting from the infestation. Even more, the smell of the mixture will hinder them from any other fly laying eggs in the area.
You may need to repeat this process regularly for the best results—at least once every week. This way, you’ll be limiting the chances of more maggots and flies laying eggs, which means they’ll have zero chances of finding a habitat where they can develop.
Unlike bleach that can kill maggots in thirty minutes, this method might take up to six hours. Depending on how fast you want to kill the larvae, you can choose what way you’ll use. If you use cider vinegar, you’ll wait even longer—18 hours, to be precise.
Vinegar is classified as a weak acid, so it is an excellent solution to getting rid of larvae in the garage. Vinegar has been used for many other purposes, not just to kill maggots but also as a pesticide.
Does White Vinegar Kill Maggots?
Yes, white vinegar can kill maggots because it has between six and seven percent of acetic acid. This makes white acid even more effective than cider vinegar, making it a better option than cider vinegar. Besides, white vinegar has a sour taste, making it the best if you want to pickle vegetables.
But white vinegar isn’t just effective in killing larvae; it can also be best for cleaning your kitchen counters due to its antimicrobial properties. That’s not all—white vinegar has also been proven to be a reducing agent to bacteria. All the same, if you want something more robust than cider vinegar, try white vinegar.
Are Maggots Dangerous?
Yes, maggots can be dangerous. First, they can cause animal sickness, especially for pets. Secondly, they can poison food when they find their way into your food. This is why you need to get rid of maggots as soon as you spot them in your home.
But here’s a bit of exciting discovery—some people eat maggots knowingly. In some countries and some communities, maggots can be fried and served as a main meal. Besides, maggots can also be used to prepare Sardinian delicacies.
Sardinian is an Italian cheese that usually is an excellent breeding ground for maggots. While this sounds scary to most people, others eat it comfortably and enjoy it. It depends on where you come from and whether eating larvae is a common practice in your area.
On the other hand, some people mistakenly eat maggots since maggots are common around food zones. If you know that maggots are in your home or kitchen, you mustn’t leave any food open as eating food contaminated with maggots could pose serious health risks.
3 Genius Ways to Get Rid of Maggots in Your Garage
1. Boil Water
We have talked about this method slightly, but let’s now dig deeper into it. Boiling water can also be an effective way of killing maggots or getting rid of them completely. It’s one way that doesn’t require any upfront investment, as you’ll always have water in your house.
This method is the most effective among the others that we have discussed in this post. It kills maggots instantly; plus, it will eliminate any fly eggs that you might not have captured while identifying the hiding places of larvae.
You can still boil water if you want to get better results, but this time around, mix just with bleach or white vinegar. Bleach is less effective, but white vinegar will act fast on the maggots. Whatever is available to you, take advantage of it and get rid of these stubborn flies.
2. Get a Fly Trap
We have looked at most methods that involve using liquids to get rid of these stubborn creatures, but what if I showed you a manual method? Getting a flytrap is one of the best ways you can also capture and get rid of maggots.
If you want to eradicate maggots from your garage completely, consider purchasing an electric insect killer. This is an effective way of getting rid of maggots and any other troublesome flies that might invade your garage.
If any of those doesn’t work for you, find glue traps in your local store and trap the maggots. However, please note that you’ll need to do this before the flies lay their eggs. That said, you should place the traps around the windows or light sources.
Most people have found success with electric fly traps to produce UV light that will help attract the flies. The best of all is that this method will help you trap every other fly that might have invaded your garage without your knowledge.
3. Use an Aerosol Spray
If maggots have invaded your garage but are in tight spaces, don’t worry because there’s a solution for that too—the aerosol spray with pyrethrum.
Besides this kind of aerosol spray, others have straw applicators and are excellent choices for people who want to get rid of maggots completely in tight places.
There are safety measures you need to adhere to, though. For example, you’ll need to put on protective clothing when spraying the infested areas.
4. Keep the Garage Clean
Another easy way to avoid maggot infestation is to keep your garage clean. Make sure there are no sources of food present around. Maggots generally are attracted a lot by the food sources that we leave in the open. It is one of the simplest ways to get rid of maggots.
Preventing Maggots Infestation
As we conclude, it’s essential that we also look into some of the ways you can also prevent the infestation of maggots. Sometimes, prevention is better than cure, and in this section, we will be focusing on how you can prevent the entry of larvae rather than getting rid of them.
First, if you eat anything from your garage, you need to ensure that you clean the surface you eat once you finish eating. Remember, flies love food sources, and leaving the eating area without cleaning just invites these stubborn creatures.
Secondly, you need to ensure that you leave nothing outside even as you close your garage. Besides, if you’ll be keeping any food in your garage, please ensure that it’s safe in an airtight container or that it is adequately covered, such that maggots cannot find their way into the food.
Additionally, make sure that your garbage is tightly sealed if you have it in your garage. Remember that garbage is a breeding site for flies, which will lead to heavy infestation of maggots over time. The last thing you want to do, therefore, is to leave your garbage open.
Another option to sealing your garbage is to remove them daily to remain in your garage for a long. This way, you’ll make it difficult for flies and maggots to find a breeding site or a place where they can live.
I’ve also seen many people keep their pet bowls in the garage. While it looks like a brilliant idea to many, it isn’t because flies will most probably crowd the area. When flies invade the area, rest assured they’ll breed, leading to maggots.
Instead of keeping your pet bowls in the garage, why don’t you clean them after use and find somewhere safe where you can keep them. The point is that you don’t want to take chances with anything that would attract the infestation of flies, leading to a massive invasion of maggots.