Clothing contaminated with fecal matter can be laundered in hot water with a good detergent and a small amount of bleach. This will be enough to kill any germs and bacteria present, and will also kill any maggots that may have set up housekeeping, as well as eggs that have not hatched.
Wondering how can you get rid of maggots? The process is quite simple: Throw away anything with maggots in them and remove any maggots you can see. Clean cupboards and surfaces that had maggots on them with hot water and a strong antibacterial cleaner.
Use White Vinegar
Maggots can't live in vinegar because of how acidic it is. Create a solution by adding one part vinegar to three parts water, and then pour the mixture directly over the maggots. Let the mixture sit for about an hour before getting rid of the maggots and cleaning the area.
Articles of clothing that are heavily infested with larvae, holes, or eggs should be thrown away. Dispose of any items that can't be salvaged outside immediately, do not let them sit inside a garbage bin in your home.
A simple solution of soap and water can be effective in killing maggots. Create a soapy mixture by mixing dish soap or any mild detergent with water. Pour or spray the solution directly onto the maggots, suffocating and killing them.
Pour boiling water on the maggots Boiling water is a simple way to get rid of maggots. Just pour the hot water on the creatures and they will die instantly [source: Torfaen County Borough]. Keep in mind that there may be infestations you can't see, so pour water on any area that may be infested.
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.
Health Risks of Maggots
In general, maggots are not dangerous to healthy individuals. However, maggots can infect human tissue and cause a disease called myiasis. Symptoms of myiasis vary depending on the location and severity of the infestation, and it can affect both humans and animals.
Maggots are the larvae of flies. When the weather warms up and flies breed, they will lay their eggs in any damp, warm area, including a damp towel.
Most likely the tiny worms are fly larvae, commonly called maggots. The damp clothes probably attracted tiny fruit flies who laid eggs a few days ago, which hatched and produced the tiny wormlike maggots. One that is proven to work is the use of salt. Simply sprinkle a generous amount of salt over the maggots.
Bleach to the Rescue
The most popular and possibly most effective chemical cleaner would be bleach and hot water. Combine equal parts bleach and hot water in your garbage cans and close the lid. The fumes will kill the maggots and disinfect the surface area, hopefully keeping them away.
Try using fly-spray. Pour over boiling water with a small amount of bleach. Malt vinegar is also effective at killing off maggots and their larvae. Many people also find that large quantities of salt kills maggots.
While maggots and flies can become a problem any time of the year, they are especially prevalent during spring and summer when flies are more active. Generally, maggots live for around five to six days before turning into pupae and eventually transitioning into adult flies.
Salmonella and Escherichia coli are examples of bacteria that flies and maggots may transmit to humans.
Despite their antibacterial activities, maggots themselves remain contaminated with bacteria (most probably around their mouthparts) and they are able to shed them to the environment (most probably together with their saliva).
Maggots emerge from fly eggs that are laid wherever there is a safe place and a fresh source of food for the new brood of maggots to feed on. Mature flies will lay between 75 -150 eggs at a time in places like trash, carrion, feces, or rotting food. These eggs hatch into maggots between 7 - 24 hours.
Vinegar. If you want to try a more natural method, try a solution of one part vinegar with three parts boiling water. This solution will kill the live maggots and will also remove the fly-attracting odors from your trash can, temporarily preventing them from laying eggs.
The adult fly mates, and then lays its eggs in a substance that will provide sufficient food for the immature stage, a pale, legless maggot. The breeding site is nearly always moist (damp soil, rotting vegetation and meat or animal faeces) and surrounds the soft-bodied maggots.
Flies are attracted to food and other rubbish; they lay their eggs on the rubbish; later the eggs hatch into maggots. You will only have a problem with maggots if flies can get to your waste. If flies settle on your rubbish they may lay eggs which can hatch out as maggots within 24 hours.
Hundreds of larvae may colonize a single skin area. Maggots cause extensive lesions by feeding on dead tissue. Preexisting wounds are not necessary for maggot infection.
Maggots can live in water, but there are other ways to kill them. If you find maggots inside your trash can and you decide that you will drown them; think again. Maggots don't have a problem with water. You are just providing them with a bath when you do so, as they can live in water.
Maggots abhor salt and will be killed through exposure to it, similar to slugs. You can either pour granulated salt directly onto maggots, or you can create a table salt solution that can be poured or sprayed across food waste or a garbage bin.
Homeowners can follow up by sprinkling a good amount of baking soda over the bin to eliminate any unsavoury scents. Not only does this solution effectively kill maggots but is also natural and free so there's no need to waste money on insecticides.
Most dishwashers reach a temperature of >100 degrees Celsius. This is more than enough to kill all living parasites.
Bleach will kill maggots, you'll be pleased to know. Dilute bleach with an equal amount of water in a plastic or metal bowl. Pour the mixture onto the maggot-infested area and make sure you cover every maggot. If the area is an outdoor bin, close the lid and let the fumes suffocate the maggots.