How to get rid of maggots in your wheelie bin

Maggots in a wheelie bin are fly larvae, and they turn up when flies lay eggs on food waste and the warmth lets them hatch fast. They are unpleasant but harmless to deal with, and preventable once you know what feeds them.

Deal with the ones there now. A kettle of hot, not boiling, water tipped in will kill most maggots, and a wash-out clears them. Keep the lid open to let the bin dry, because damp and warmth is exactly what they want.

Cut off the food source. Flies lay on exposed food scraps, meat trays, nappies and pet waste, so wrapping or bagging that material before it goes in the bin is the single biggest thing you can do. A bin with nothing exposed to lay on rarely gets maggots.

Keep the bin sealed and shaded. A lid that closes properly stops flies getting in, and keeping the bin out of the direct summer sun slows the whole cycle down. A cracked or propped lid in the heat is an open invitation.

The lasting fix is a clean bin. Maggots keep coming back to a bin with baked-on residue for the flies to smell and lay on. A proper clean with a sanitising and deodorising treatment (from $15) strips that out, and a recurring clean (from $10) through summer keeps it from ever starting.

Cheap Bin Cleaning Near Me lets you submit one free enquiry to eligible listed operators for a maggot-prone bin. Provider response and availability are not guaranteed.