Home remedies for maggots

Natural Treatment for Maggots that Works

Are they baby flies? Are they the harbingers of death and destruction? Yes, to both.

Maggots, also called larvae, are flies in their larval stage, and they absolutely love to feast on rotting materials.

Maggots look like fat grains of rice and come in creamy whites or subtle light grays. And that dark spot on their butts? That’s their breathing hole.

They don’t have teeth—small miracles, right? Instead, they’ve got little toothless jaws to help them eat food that’s broken down by ridges on the outside of their bodies. Cute.

And if you think that there’s no way these creatures could be any more horrifying, just wait. Maggots have cannibalistic tendencies and will eat other maggots if one of them gets injured.

Want a better visual. Click the video below if you dare.

Are maggots dangerous?

While flies are better known for spreading disease and being generally annoying, maggots themselves aren’t dangerous and can actually help save lives.

Maggot therapy is a common medical practice where certain species of maggots are farmed for use in hospitals. They feast on dead tissue and rotting flesh to remove bacteria in infected wounds.

Maggots are also eaten as a delicacy in some parts of the world. But that doesn’t mean it’s dinner time when you see maggots lurking in your trash bin or on a piece of rotten food.

However, your run-of-the-mill trash maggots are most likely contaminated with bacteria and could cause bacterial poisoning if you were to ingest them. So skip the maggot appetizer and move on to the main dish.

Grove Tip

Pass the cheese, please

Speaking of appetizers, Cazu marzu, literally “rotting cheese,” is an Italian Pecorino cheese that’s made by introducing maggots to the cheese in order to speed up fermentation.

As the maggots eat their way through the Pecorino, their excretions help soften it up to create a creamy texture. Yum!

But don’t worry — your neighbors will most likely not be bringing Cazu marzu to the block party. This cheese is highly regulated and extremely expensive.

Why do I have maggots in my trash can?

Because flies are all about survival, they lay their eggs on any hardy food source—your trash, your dog’s poop, that open can of Fancy Feast you forgot about. Twenty-four hours later, when the eggs hatch, the lil’ babies begin to glutton themselves on that rotten food in preparation to pupate.

Maggot pupation is the nightmare version of the caterpillar turning into the butterfly, except the maggot forms a hard shell and turns into a dirty housefly. Flies lay hundreds of eggs at a time, which is why you see clusters of maggots squirming about together.

Grove Tip

How long can maggot infestations last?

So—do maggots eventually go away, or should you start charging them rent?

Maggots only feed for about five days before they turn into flies, start breeding, and the cycle repeats itself. The trick is to get rid of the maggots before they have a chance to pupate.

5 ways to get rid of maggots naturally

The majority of maggot-killing methods use harsh insecticides or bleach. Nix those potentially harmful chemicals and banish maggots with the power of nature instead!

Read on for the 5 best ways to get rid of maggots in your house naturally.

1. Try a salt kill

Maggots need water to thrive and survive, and salt is a natural dehydrator.

Dowse the creepy crawlies with a large amount of table salt to dry them out. Once they are dead, sweep the maggots into a plastic bag and dispose of them.

Make sure to wash the area they infested thoroughly!

2. Pour boiling water on them

Bring a pot of water to a boil, then, to get rid of maggots from your trash can, pour it into your can (or down your garbage disposal if that’s where they are).

You might have to repeat this method a few times to kill all the maggots completely.

3. Sprinkle ‘em with diatomaceous earth

Diatomaceous earth is a natural powder that has a variety of uses in the home. This is a great method to get rid of maggots from carpet or other fibrous places.

Sprinkle enough of it over the maggots so that they’re fully covered. The powder sticks to their bodies and dehydrates their exoskeleton, killing them dead.

Dispose of the maggot corpses in a plastic bag, then give the area a good deep cleaning.

4. White vinegar to the rescue

Maggots can’t live in the acidity of vinegar.

Mix 3 parts water to 1 part vinegar and pour the solution directly over the maggots.

Let the mixture sit for about an hour before you discard the maggots and clean the area.

5. Natural pest remover: Bad for maggots, nontoxic for humans & pets

Do conventional bug sprays work on maggots? Probably, but they can also do a number on your health.

A natural pest remover is the easiest method to kill maggots. Natural pest removers banish nasty critters like maggots without toxic ingredients like sulfates, parabens, or insecticides—and that’s what we call a win-win situation.

Got more pests than you can handle? Check out our guides to banish icky insects from your home. We’ve got in-depth how-to’s for moth removal, getting rid of flour bugs, and killing off drain gnats without using harsh chemicals.

How to prevent future maggot infestations

Once you know how to get rid of maggots and find your preferred method for doing so, use these tips for preventing maggots from coming back.

Don’t leave food sitting out — store it in sealed containers.
Tie garbage bags tightly, and take the garbage out frequently.
Keep your garbage can clean.
Keep your yard and house free from dog poop.
Seal any holes in your window screens or cracks in the frame to prevent flies from getting in.
Clean out your garbage disposal regularly.

How to Get Rid of Maggots, Step by Step

What do maggots look like?

Maggots are baby flies or the larval stage of a fly. They are conically shaped and often a grey or creamy white color. It is hard to differentiate the species of flies from their maggots, but if this is your goal, the University of Kentucky has put together a guide to recognizing larval types. Most maggots found in or around the home are from the common housefly or bluebottle fly.

Holger Kirk /Shutterstock

Maggots are burrowers with their head-end being the more pointed end for digging in. Depending on the kind of fly, maggots feed on either live or rotting materials. They burrow in as they eat through the material, leaving circular, chewed holes scattered throughout.

If you’ve spotted these pests in your home, you’re probably wondering how to kill maggots, where they come from, and how to get rid of them for good. Here’s everything you need to know.

How do you get maggots?

The top causes of maggots in or around your home include improperly stored trash, excess dog feces, or the presence of an animal carcass. The female flies are attracted to such materials and lay their eggs on them. When the eggs hatch, the maggots burrow into the material and begin to eat until their next metamorphic stage.

Although they are quiet invaders, maggots should be dealt with quickly. Some of the dangers of maggots include fly infestations and animal sickness if you have pets. If they get into any food meant for human consumption, they can cause bacterial poisoning.

How to check for maggots

In the home, maggots are generally easy to spot, with most of them being at least as big as a thumbnail. They will be crawling both in and out of any infested food substances. To check if they are inside of your garbage, take a stick or put on gloves to move the trash around and break food open to check inside.

To check if your pet has maggots, they will often be in a wound or under the skin. You can also check by feeling the area to see if there is a hard bump under the flesh of the wound.

Some maggots eat plant material. You may notice plants that were once healthy are dying without anything else changing in their environment. To check for maggots, you may need to pull up one of these plants and check for maggots in the root mass and in the plant’s hole.

Maggots will only feed for three to five days. The process from egg to fly takes anywhere from 14 to 36 days and, if the material is still in an edible state, the process may start all over again. If the material isn’t properly disposed of, then an infestation will only continue to get worse.

How to get rid of maggots, step by step

Maggots can appear in many different areas throughout the home, yard, and — at worst — your pets. Each scenario will require a different treatment to rid you of the pesky invaders for good. Follow the guides below to learn how to kill maggots.

In the home

Step 1: Find all infested areas

As advised by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, locate all areas where maggots are feeding or living. Search through food products that are in especially dirty areas of the home. If the foundation of your home is rotting in any area, you could find maggots in different rooms of the house.

Step 2: Kill maggots and eggs

If you find maggots in food or the trash, you can boil them and the eggs together to kill them. Another option is to thoroughly sprinkle them with salt or spray them with an insecticide. If you find them in carpeting or baseboards in your home, you will generally need to spray. You can use a spot spray treatment if the infestation is small, or you might have to use a broader spray to take care of a larger infestation.

Step 3: Clean thoroughly

Rinse or wash the area or garbage can out that contained the maggots. You can use a fly repellent to discourage future infestations.

In pets

Step 1: Check for the presence of maggots

As described above, before taking any treatment, you want to verify that your pets do have maggots. Look in recent wounds and between toe joints for anything moving or hard lumps under the skin.

Step 2: Take them to the vet

The best thing that you can do to ensure the safety of your pet is to take them to the vet. Veterinarians will be able to kill maggots and rid your pet of the infestation without doing any harm to the animal.

Step 3: Keep them clean

Keep your pets clean and repel further infestations by washing them with pet shampoo during high season for egg-laying flies.

In the yard

Step 1: Locate the region of the infestation

Even if you know that you have a maggot infestation, you need to determine the scope of it in your yard. Dig up the ground around plants that are suffering to check for any large holes dug into the root mass of the plants.

Step 2: Spray or dust to clear the region

To clear out the infected area, use a vegetable and fruit spray all over the soil of the area. You can also dust the area with a similar treatment if there is a concern the spray could drift.

Fly Beater Fly and Odor Reducer: Use this product to repel flies (and other flying insects) as well as reduce odors.
Harris Home Insect Killer: An insecticidal spray used to eliminate infestations.
Medicated Shampoo for Dogs: Shampoo formulated by veterinarians to treat insect infestations in the coat and skin of dogs.
Bonide Insect Control for Plants: Pest control to spray on vegetables and fruits as well as into yard and soil to kill harmful insects.
Ortho Insect Kill: Kills insects on contact while staying active for up to eight months after soil application.

Don’t want to use chemical cleaners? Here’s how to kill maggots naturally

Maggots do not have a hard outer shell to protect them as other harmful insects do. This makes killing them by natural or organic means easier. Several home remedies are effective at ending a maggot infestation and cleaning out the infected areas.

If the maggots are in a trash bin, empty the trash bin and dispose of the materials that were inside. Then, fill the trash bin with boiling water. Another option is to set up a feast for the birds, putting out the trash can in an area where birds are common and can quickly pick through.

If you find areas infected with maggots outside of the bin, pouring lime or lemon juice over them should be enough to kill them. Make sure to spray it over the entirety of the area to kill any eggs that have not yet hatched. Another home remedy is to use diatomaceous earth, spreading it over the soil or infested area.

When to call a professional exterminator to treat maggots

The time might come when the maggot infestation is out of your control (or you just can’t stand to deal with it). This might be when the infestation has taken over several rooms in the house or if you have tried to clean an area out multiple times and the infestation has returned.

Another time that you may need to call a professional is if you are unable to identify the pest which will make it difficult to properly treat the problem.

How to keep maggots out of your home

To prevent a maggot infestation, it is important to prevent flies from being attracted to your home or yard. Be sure to clean up any food promptly and store it in sealed containers will keep odors from attracting flies into your home. If you have pet food out, you may want to keep the dish covered to keep flies out of it and remove old food quickly.

If you keep compost in your yard, be sure to keep it covered or sealed to keep the flies out. Finally, make sure to keep the yard clean of any animal feces.

Starting with prevention will be an effective way to keep maggots out of the home. If you do suffer from an infestation, treating it with a chemical spray may be the quickest way to get rid of the problem. If you would prefer to use a home remedy, lime or lemon juice, salt, and boiling water are all useful methods to exterminate the problem.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you get maggots in a home?
Flies come in through open windows or doors if they sense any food or waste odors. They will lay eggs on the food and the eggs hatch into maggots.

Are there natural remedies to get rid of maggots?
Using lime or lemon juice will kill maggots. Sprinkling a large amount of salt over them also does the trick. Strong vinegar or boiling water will kill them as well.

What are maggots a sign of?
Maggots may be a sign that food sat out for too long or was not disposed of properly, or perhaps you left windows or doors open for too long. Keep an eye on any pet wounds to prevent infestation there, too.

How do I get rid of maggots in my pets?
You may need to shave the hair around their wound to effectively see and remove the maggots. Washing them with treated shampoo or applying a topical salve to the wound or infected area may also help, though the safest route is just to take them to the vet immediately.

How to get rid of moths in an apartment or house forever: effective remedies

You need to choose a remedy for moths depending on which one has settled in your home. There are about thirty species, and most of them can live in residential areas. Conventionally, all these butterflies can be divided into food and clothes. The first eat products with violated storage conditions. The second - clothing made from natural fabrics, sometimes book spines, carpets, furniture upholstery.

What the pest looks like and how it gets into the room

They fly into the apartment through an open window, door or ventilation, or rush through with purchased things. Therefore, even very clean people can suffer from this scourge. A moth seen on your property is an occasion to check the cabinets for a nest. True, there is almost no point in chasing one butterfly: they live for a maximum of two weeks and their harm is in the formation of new offspring.

It is the larvae that cause the main damage to things and food. They develop for a long time and in a season they can irrevocably spoil more than one good thing. They must be destroyed first. See what adults look like living in houses.

The first step is to check all boxes and their contents. Cereals, flour, dried fruits suffer more often. Inspect pet food, seeds, tea, coffee, cocoa, and other bulk supplies. Throw it away if you find cobwebs or light beige, white worms in it. This will be the best solution. Eggs can be laid in contaminated supplies - they look like sticky semolina. Sort the remaining products, hold for several days in the freezer or bake in the oven at high temperature.

If you have even the slightest doubt about the cleanliness of a jar, throw away its contents. Otherwise, the gluttonous insect will be able to transfer not only supplies, but also your nerves, while you will get rid of it in vain.

A few more important steps:

Wash the cabinet well, dry and wipe with vinegar. You can only refill it when it dries out.
Examine the entire kitchen. The problem can hide behind furniture, under or on it, on the wallpaper and behind them (if they are torn off).
Place bay leaves or cloves in storage boxes and containers.
Pour purchases into containers and jars, do not keep them in bags, especially open ones.
Leave pheromone traps for adult moths. They fly to the smell, stick and can no longer breed.

How to deal with clothes moth

Check the contents of the wardrobe for damage. Pay special attention to fur, woolen, velvet products. Look in all drawers and nooks and crannies. Consider carpets, upholstery, bookshelves (insects love book spines).

Arrange a general cleaning in the room, long-term ventilation. This is especially effective in winter, when it's cold outside.
Remove all worn and worn clothing. Wash it at the highest possible temperature or treat it with a steam generator.
Do the same for the other surfaces from which the sockets are to be removed.
Freeze things on the balcony or in the refrigerator. Sub-zero temperatures are deadly for moths, larvae and caterpillars.
Take out in the sun in summer. It works in the same way as cold.
If items cannot be heat treated, spray them with dichlorvos-based aerosol. This substance helps to quickly expel butterflies.

Photo: Instagram @heavyjon

Coat eaten by moths

As you have already understood, in the fight against a pest, one cannot do without drugs and other devices. Chemistry or eco-friendly, it's up to you. We will talk about all the options, their advantages and disadvantages.

Moth repellents: the most effective for an apartment or house

First, about a remedy that is suitable for the quick and complete destruction of insects. These are sprays, we mentioned them above. Usually they are used only in rooms and wardrobes due to the aggressive composition. It is necessary to treat infected surfaces with them and leave them in this state for one to two hours.

Then be sure to ventilate the room and carry out a wet cleaning, and wash the clothes or take them out into the air. These are general rules, always read the instructions - it indicates the most effective algorithm and security rules.

If you are allergic, be careful when handling aerosols and carefully follow the conditions of use!

Effective

sprays:

Armol. Destroys the pest at all stages of development: from the larva to the butterfly. Also suitable for kitchen furniture.
Raptor. Used for clothing varieties of moth. There are no marks left on clothes. It has a pleasant lemon scent.
Clean house. Slowly consumed, a small spray in the closet is enough.
Extramit. The action continues for six months after spraying.

Fumigators

The tool will work for your purposes, but will be slower than a spray. To remove insects, it will take at least a week. It does not always destroy the nest completely, which means it can be useless. Assess the degree of infestation at home. If it is large, choose the previous method. The advantage of the method is the absence of labor costs. Airing, wet cleaning, washing things are not needed.

Fumigators do not cause allergic reactions, do not smell. Principle of operation: a plate impregnated with a flavored composition is inserted into the device. When heated, the active substance evaporates and poisons moths.

What to buy in the store:

Dik-3. It is positioned as a mosquito repellent, but copes with both food and body parasites.
Mosquitol. Effective over large areas.
Raid. Has similar characteristics.

Sections, tablets, briquettes and plates

Not dangerous to humans, they can only scare away the pest. The base is essential oils. They are more suitable for prevention than for destroying the nest. Products are in the range of almost all companies producing such goods.

Folk remedies for moths

There is a very small chance that such methods will help get rid of the larvae. The best thing you can do is use them to prevent a re-invasion. Suitable: essential oils, sachets, bunches of herbs and even houseplants. We list the most popular options.

Pelargonium (geranium). It is better to put a flower on a window so that moths do not fly into it. The sharp, spicy smell of the leaves repels them.
Orange peels. The main thing is to renew the exhaled peel on time, at least once a month.
Tansy, lavender, wormwood, chamomile, tobacco, wild rosemary. These herbs are not liked by all insects. You can replace bouquets and aromatic bags every six months.
Chestnuts. Surprisingly, this dried fruit is often said to be effective in controlling pests in clothing and food.
Rosemary, cloves, garlic. Spices can be added to containers with cereals. This will not affect their taste, but it will scare away insects.
Laundry soap. It is laid out in cabinets and used when washing surfaces.
Velcro. Sold in the form of traps impregnated with pheromones. They are plates with a sticky substance made of resins and rubber.
Naphthalene. It also has a strong deterrent effect and has been used for many years. even through an open window. But you can minimize the chance of caterpillars appearing. What is needed for this:
- Find time for regular wet cleaning and periodically for general cleaning.
- Store bulk products only in closed jars or refrigerator.
- Store winter clothes in a hard case. Polyethylene larvae will gnaw through.
- Take them to the dry cleaners at the end of the season. The insect is most attracted to pollution, fabric with particles of skin.
- Do not keep used clothes in the closet even for one day. It is better to provide for it another place.
- Purchase cedar hangers. They have repellent properties.
- Do not create large stocks. Buy cereals according to their expiration date.
- Ventilate the room more often. Moth loves dark, warm, dry places.
- Get rid of old things. The larvae often start up precisely in what they do not get out of the wardrobe for a long time.
These rules are an excellent prevention of any pests. If they still got into your territory, use the measures listed in the article in a complex manner. So you can expel unwanted guests quickly and in one go.

Prepared by

Nelli Kirgintseva

Means against food moth: how to get rid of insects in the kitchen

Causes of appearance

Most often, food moth appears in our apartments with contaminated products (cereals, dried fruits, sugar). Even in a store or warehouse, the insect penetrates the packaging through the smallest holes and immediately begins to lay eggs. They are tiny, so a person will not see them at the time of purchase.

Another reason is unscrupulous neighbors who didn't remove moths from their homes. Insects actively breed and move to other apartments in search of food.

Caused harm

Moth causes indirect harm to humans. She does not bite and does not carry dangerous infections, but eats groceries. The pest will not eat a lot of supplies, but it will lay eggs in them and ruin them forever. All cereals will have to be thrown away, because they are already infected and can cause severe intoxication. Also, moths leave waste products everywhere, which often provoke allergies.

If you do not immediately decide how to get rid of food moths in the kitchen, they will begin to fly around the room and can get into the dinner plate. Insects also cause psychological discomfort. It is unpleasant to realize that your kitchen and food are contaminated.

How to get rid of food moths in the kitchen for a long time

Chemicals for food moths in the kitchen

The fastest way to get rid of moths is to use chemicals. They share to:

Repellents are only effective as a preventive measure. The tool drives the moth out of the kitchen cabinets, and it flies out of the apartment. But the room remains contaminated because there are many eggs in the products.

Insecticides are chemicals. They paralyze the nervous system of the pest, and after a few minutes it dies.

How to deal with food moths with professional products

The most effective way is to spray liquid insecticide all over the kitchen: cupboards, walls, floors, corners. But this product has toxic fumes. The instructions for a specific aerosol indicate step by step how to get rid of food moths and other insects at home. Follow these guidelines strictly.

Another option is a professional trap in the form of a plate impregnated with a biologically active agent. It is fixed on the inside of the cabinet and the protective film is removed. Parasites fly to the smell of the plate, stick to it and die.

Precautions: 1. Remove allergic children, pets, and household members from the kitchen before starting treatment to prevent them from breathing chemical fumes. Put on gloves, a protective mask and close the window;

2. Do not smoke or inhale vapors while spraying. After treatment, open a window and ventilate for at least 2 hours. Then proceed to wash the cabinets and the floor.

Folk remedies for food moths

Folk remedies repel pests well:
- Garlic. Place 2-3 cloves of peeled garlic in a jar of cereals;
- Vinegar. Make a concentrated vinegar solution, wipe the walls and shelves of the kitchen set;
- Lavender , bay leaf, tobacco and citrus peels . They exude a strong odor that moths cannot stand;
- Laundry soap. Add a handful of planed wood to 1 liter of water and wash all surfaces.
How to get rid of eggs and larvae

If you do not destroy all the eggs, they will turn into butterflies and you will have to decide again how to deal with food moths in the kitchen. Instructions are as follows:
1. Place all grocery bags in a tight bag, tie it up and throw it in the trash can outside. Ideally, burn;
2. Throw away the backing if you put it on storage shelves;
3. Empty all kitchen cabinets and cabinets where food has been stored. Vacuum all shelves and fasteners so that there are no grits left on them.
Finally, thoroughly clean all cabinets inside and out, floors and walls. But folk recipes are not strong in disinfection, so choose professional products. Cif 5in1 universal cleaning gel does an excellent job with pathogenic microbes. Apply a few drops to the sponge, treat all surfaces and leave for a couple of minutes. Then wash off the residue with clean water. The gel cleanses well and leaves a pleasant smell.

If people with allergies live in the apartment, use Glorix disinfectant. Apply some cleaning fluid to a damp sponge and wipe cabinets. The product eliminates all microbes, bacteria and allergens (dust, pollen). Then pour a cap of Glorix cleaner into a bucket with 4 liters of water and wash the floor.

Prevention

Perform regular maintenance so you don't have to decide how to get moths out of kitchen cabinets. Carefully review the cereal after purchase and pour it into airtight containers. Choose products from well-known manufacturers, do not buy cereals by weight from large bags.

Try to buy food in small packages so that they do not lie in cabinets for more than 3-4 months. If you rarely use cereals, store them in the refrigerator.

Getting rid of parasitic insects is quite simple. You will be required only responsibly approach the treatment and carry out preventive measures in the future measures to prevent re-infection.

Frequently Asked Questions about food moth control:

How to get rid of food moths in the kitchen?

Remove all loose food from kitchen cabinets, as they may contain eggs.
Learn more