Does anyone know of a way to stop (details inside, may be a little gross)?

Question

flies from laying their eggs in my garbage can? I have a lid on it, they still do it, I clean the can out every few days. But nothing stops them from creating maggots in there. BTW-yes I do change the bag before I clean it.

Answer 1

First, make sure they don't have an easy way in.  I'd suggest a can with a good, close fitting lid in your kitchen, and anywhere else where flies would be able to find the food headed for the trash. I'd also suggest a trashcan with a close fitting lid outside.

Cleaning with bleach will definitely kill any eggs or maggots you can reach, if you throw a half cup of bleach and 5 cups of water in a bucket, you'll have a chemical strong enough to disinfect like crazy, without drying out your hands too much.  Vinegar is a little gentler, and will probably also do the trick.  Don't forget to scrub any grime off the corners of the lid and the very bottom of the can, that's where it seems to get most stubborn, and the guck there provides a friendly spot for eggs, and a little protection from your chemicals.

Composting the food scraps really isn't necessary to solve the problem, but is a neat idea.  If you'd like to try it, I'd start here.

http://kitchengardenfoods.com/2006/02/20...

Answer 2

try bleach and boiling  water=a few times

Answer 3

bleach!

Answer 4

What are you throwing away?  Is there raw meat in there or something?  Is it in the heat?  If I have raw chicken/beef I will take outside immediately or it will stink up the whole house.  If you are throwing away a lot of rotting food that could also be your problem.

Answer 5

Compost.  The only thing that will attract flies is the decomposing foodstuffs.

Answer 6

bleach

Answer 7

Spray the can with fly spray

Answer 8

Try cleaning the can with bleach and vinegar.  I live in an area where I can't compost or throw away foodstuffs otherwise I'll have bears, coyotes, raccoons, etc. into it.  I usually will ziplock bag any garbage foodstuffs or put it in a few different plastic bags from the grocery store tied tightly before I throw it away in the garbage can.

Answer 9

try bleach

Answer 10

Spray the can with a mild chemical like mosquito repellant. It will also repel or poison the adult flies before they can lay eggs.

Answer 11

Indoors or out of doors can?  Put a little ammonia in the bottom of the can before adding a fresh bag.

Answer 12

What are you cleaning it with?

Try cleaning it.  Then rinse it with Bleach - yes, chlorine bleach, it kills EVERYTHING.  Let the bleach dry for about ten minutes (or more), and then pour some inexpensive white vinegar into the can, dump, and let it air dry.  See if that helps!  Vinegar is a wonderful thing!  You know the saying...you catch more flies with honey than vinegar?   take it backwards, and figure, you can chase away the flies with the vinegar!

It should work.  You might need to do the vinegar every time you empty the garbage.  It doesn't smell so good for you, but you probably won't notice it once the can is dry.