How To Get Rid Of Those White Worms In The Garbage Bins

If it's happened to you, it's a sight you'll never forget. When you close your eyes at night, you'll forever be haunted by the memory of that time you opened the lid of your garbage, peeked inside, and saw movement within. At first, it seemed like hundreds of grains of rice. Then, it became clear that it was no rice, but the wriggling bodies of numerous tiny white worms, twisting and turning through the trash like an alien infestation.

Okay, take a deep breath. First off, those little white worms aren't actually worms at all, but maggots. Maggots are, more specifically, the larvae, or undeveloped offspring, of flies. Maggots must undergo several transformations on their way to becoming flies, but in their earliest stage they have those white, wormlike bodies that creep out humans so much. The good news is that while the thought of these creatures will always ruin your appetite, having maggots in your garbage is very common and treatable.

Long story short, maggots appear in your garbage can because flies got inside, and those flies are attracted to the smell of rotting food inside it. Once the flies are done happily feeding off that food, they drop their eggs. These eggs thrive in the warm, food-rich conditions and hatch into maggots within eight to 20 hours. So maggot multiplication happens fast, but if take action, you can just as rapidly eradicate these maggots and prevent them from returning.

The main reason maggots took up residence in the first place is because the inside of your trash can is probably gross, which means it smelled great... to them. The best way to avoid an infestation is to keep that garbage can clean and odor-free. If it's an indoor can, check for cleanliness each time you refresh the bag. If it's an outside bin, you can hose it down in between trash pick-ups. Once the can is rinsed and emptied, use a sponge, mop, or cleaning brush with hot, soapy water and get into all the hard-to-reach areas. Give it a final rinse and then leave the lid open until it's completely dry inside.

If you don't have time to do a full cleaning, you can try some other tricks to kill off live maggots. The simplest method is to pour boiling water into the can. This will kill the maggots on contact. It has to be actually boiling, though, not warm or hot. Vinegar can be added to this solution as a way to neutralize the odors that brought them there. If that's not enough for you, though, and you want a tried-and-true commercial solution, there are several products on the market designed specifically for this task. The most popular of these is the TERRO Garbage Guard, a product that attaches to your garbage lid and emits an invisible vapor that will kill off all the maggots hiding in every crevice, and keep them out for four months (at which point it needs to be replaced).

Once the maggots are wiped out, of course, it's time to take steps to avoid ever seeing these white wormlike pests infest your trash again. 

Once you've used one or more methods to solve your trash can infestation, you'll want to be sure the maggots don't return. It's not realistic to expect you to keep a squeaky clean trash can at all times, but there are some guidelines to help prevent recurrences. First, place all trash in tightly sealed bags that flies can't get into. This includes all food waste, pet waste, and especially meats. Those meat scraps you're dumping in the garbage are catnip for flies, because of the methane it produces as it decomposes. To avoid these, it's best to either avoid putting meat out until as close to pickup day as possible, or at least wrap up your meat trash (e.g., chicken bones) in a plastic bag before dumping in the big trash bag. Obviously, if you leave your trash out for weeks at a time, ants are going to try to get in.

Keeping your trash can lid sealed is also a great pest deterrent. Not only will this keep flies out in the first place, it will also reduce the amount of moisture that enters the can. If your trash can has already lived a good, long life and has an ill-fitting lid or has become battle-scarred with scratches and dents, investing in a new one will help you keep it sealed, clean, and odor-free, which should ultimately keep it free of all pests — maggots included.