How To Get Rid Of Maggots In A Garage?

If you have an infestation on your hands, you might be desperate to figure out how to get rid of maggots in a garage. Though they are unpleasant to deal with – and their sheer presence alone is enough to nauseate you! – there are plenty of steps you can take to rid yourself of these pests for good. 

What Are Maggots?

Although maggots look like their own species (albeit something straight out of a horror movie!) They are actually just the larvae of flies. 

Essentially, maggots are baby flies. While they aren’t cute, they play a valuable role in the ecosystem and in the life cycle of a fly. 

Because of this, you could find maggots of any fly species in your home. Usually, however, the ones you will find are house fly maggots or bluebottle fly maggots. These creatures feed on rotting or live materials, burrowing into what they eat and leaving circular holes scattered throughout. 

How Long Do Maggots Live?

Most maggots live for around five or six days before they turn into pupae and then adult flies. This isn’t very long, but it’s certainly enough time to wreak some havoc!

Although maggots are quiet and don’t live long, they present numerous problems. Not only are they absolutely nauseating to look at, but they can cause fly infestations, animal sickness, and bacterial poisoning if they get into your food. 

How to Prevent Maggots?

The first step in getting rid of maggots in the garage is understanding why they are there in the first place – and taking steps to prevent them. 

If you’re just using the garage to park the car, you probably won’t have an issue with maggots. The problem generally arises if you are storing items in the garage, like trash. Flies are attracted to items like trash, dog feces, or decaying matter (like meat or dead animal matter). 

Female flies lay their eggs in the material. When the eggs hatch, the maggots burrow in and start to eat until their next metamorphosis. 

Inspect for Maggots

If you worry about maggots invading your garage, one of the best things you can do is to be vigilant about preventing them. That starts with a thorough inspection. 

Maggots are relatively small – only about the size of a thumbnail. You’ll likely see them crawling in and out of the areas they are infesting. If you’re worried about them in your trash cans, put on some gloves and move the trash around a bit. 

Inspect all areas where you are concerned about potential infestations. Many people isolate their search just to the trash cans, and while this is where maggots are most likely to originate, remember that they feed on other types of materials, too. You might find a pile of maggots on a dead mouse behind a shelf, for example. 

Clean the Trash Cans

Cleaning your garage regularly – especially the trash cans – is the best thing you can do to prevent flies from laying their eggs (which, if you recall, turn into maggots!).

Regularly wash your trash cans and consider spraying the inside down with a fly repellent. Make sure any trash bags are sealed up tightly and empty the bins on a regular basis. 

Looking for more tips on how to keep maggots out of the garbage? This video has some helpful tips you can follow!

How Do I Get Maggots Out of My Garage?

Here are a few steps you can take to get rid of any maggots you find in your garage. 

Empty the Trash

The most effective way to get rid of maggots? Just throw them out! If they’re wiggling around inside your trash bin, taking out your trash will relocate all of the maggots inside your garage. Of course, you should make sure that you clean the trash can thoroughly to eliminate any eggs too. 

Boiling water should do the trick. 

You can even just move the trash can outside where birds can check it out. They’ll peck away at the trash can and get rid of all the maggots inside. 

Compost is another major attractant for flies, so you may want to move your compost bin somewhere else if you’ve been storing it in the garage. 

Killing Maggots With Salt

One of the easiest ways to kill maggots is to sprinkle salt over them. This dries them out and kills them almost instantly. If you notice maggots in the garbage or anywhere else in the garage, just sprinkle some salt on them and wait for them to die.

Try Boiling Water

Sometimes, a bit of boiling water is all it takes to kill maggots. You can double up on the water’s effectiveness by adding a cup and a half of hydrogen peroxide to the mix. Pour the whole thing right on the maggots and they will die instantly. 

Use Lime or Lemon Juice

You can pour a bit of lemon or lime juice on any maggots you see outside of your trash cans. These are acidic enough to kill maggots instantly. After all, they don’t have hard outer shells to protect them as many insects do.

Try DIatomaceous Earth 

Diatomaceous earth is another treatment you can use to get rid of maggots. Again, maggots don’t have a hard protective shell, so sprinkling a bit of DE around your trash bins can eliminate these pests. They’ll wiggle over the DE and die quickly since it dries them out.

Use Fly Traps

Flytraps won’t get rid of maggots right away but they will get rid of flies – the real culprit. Consider using an electric insect killer, fly stirps, or any other fly trap that works well for you.

Try a Maggot Spray

There are all kinds of sprays you can use to get rid of maggots, including those that contain pyrethrum. Many of these come with straw applicators, which are helpful for killing maggots in tight spaces. 

Will Bleach Kill Maggots?

Bleach is a great way to prevent maggots as well as to kill them. In fact, you can kill and repel maggots by pouring a bit of bleach into the bottom of your trash can and letting it sit there. Just make sure the lid stays shut. 

Clean the Drains

Checking the trash can and darkest corners of your garage are both good ideas when it comes to getting rid of maggots in the garage. However, you also should check any drains you have for maggots.

Trim Vegetation

This is another indirect method of killing maggots in the garage. If you have any vegetation growing tight to your garage make sure it’s kept trimmed back. This can reduce other potential breeding grounds for flies, which, as you know by now, lead to maggots. 

Don’t keep firewood in your garage either if you don’t need to, as this can attract flies. 

What Kills Maggots Instantly?

Most insecticides, including those that contain pyrethrin, can kill maggots instantly. They should be used as a last resort, though, since maggots can easily be eliminated in other ways that don’t rely on chemicals.

Maggots are a common sight during the hot summer months, but that doesn’t mean that you need to tolerate them. There are plenty of steps you can take to rid yourself of maggots – so get started immediately.