How to combat maggots in the kitchen!

I am nowhere near a dirty person AT ALL. I am a clean freak! I am enjoying my new apartment but there is an issue in the kitchen. It all started when I left dishes unattended for a few days. I thought nothing of it because in other places that I lived I would sometimes leave dishes in the sink for about 3 days and maggots never came on them. When I got around to cleaning dishes, I was shocked to see tiny maggots on the dishes and a few small flies! I immediately boiled water and put a little bleach in the water. I Dumped the water over the dishes and let the dishes soak in bleach and water for about an hour. I then bleached the surfaces and took out trash even when the bag wasn't full. I was in shock. This happened last month and did not see any other signs of maggots until yesterday when I forgot I had a pan soaking in the oven that I put in there last week! I took the pan out and saw dead maggots floating in it! Once again, I bleached and clean surfaces. As of now, there are no signs of maggots anywhere so I am assuming 2 things:
That the previous person in this apartment was dirty or the area is more prone to flies. This is a pet friendly complex and a large majority have dogs. Perhaps, being that this is an area with dogs, flies are in the area more than any other complex I lived. I also have a food disposal and made sure no foods were left in there rotting. I never experienced anything like this. I concluded that I will never soak pots no more than a day or 5 hours and to immediately wash dishes after cooking.
There is also a hole in my washroom where the washer should be hooked into and I also assume that flies come through it and smell the dishes soaking or something.

Sorry for the typos or grammatical errors lol

 

What do you mean??

 

Leaving dirty dishes in the sink for three days in the summer is not the trait of a clean freak. Sorry to burst that bubble. You hatched house flies, and they are prolific and quick to multiply. Since you are not in an area that freezes, you must be much more vigilant. Clean up, wash up, and don't leave things sitting. Flies will find it almost immediately. Not the fault of pets, just the product of providing the food the flies needed to multiply.

 

Someone told me this! lol. How come this never happened in other places?? why this place

 

Hotter, humid, maybe you have been a little less clean? If your screens have holes, patch them. If there are open holes in the wall, close them up. It is Florida - insect haven state.

 

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Good point. There is a hole in the wash area where the hook up is. I guess that's where the water drainage from the washer go because it leads to the outside. Until then I will wash and clean dishes soon after cooking. pest man will be coming to make sure nothing hasn't died in the kitchen

 

I kind of think you would smell something like a dead mouse, but have at it!

 

Why would you assume something died in the kitchen?

 

This is exactly the kind of thread title I'm looking to see as I sit down and eat my lunch. MMmmmmmm.

 

I don't think nothing died because I do not smell an odor. The property manager said it is protocol just to make sure.

 

sorry

 

The other poster should have been more careful about the thread he opened. After all, the title is self explanatory!

 

LOL!

 

Notice I said thread title.I didn't venture inside until after lunch, but the title was enough.

 

No. Not until then.... always clean your dishes right after you have eat. Always. Always. Always.

 

Do you teach science, by any chance? Those of us who do usually can't be scared off by the mention of fly larvae in mass numbers.

 

Flies don't take a holiday in the south.

 

Nor do palmetto bugs.

 

Being from NJ, not a bug I have had much contact with, but I trust that they are just as prevalent.

 

I was informed by a lovely southern woman that it was a nicer name for cockroaches. I'm not sure if they really are the same, but the term is used in place of cockroach in Florida and other southern states.

 

Well, fortunately, I don't have any more experience with those critters, but I have been grossed out when I see them elsewhere. My mom was terrified of them, so we kept no paper grocery bags or boxes, because she believed that was how you "brought them home." Should I mention that she worked as a grocery checker at one point, so I don't know what she saw that I didn't?

 

Yes they are. We also have tree roaches down here in the south too. They are really big and fly in the house during the summer but they die fast once inside because they are outdoor bugs

 

@vickilyn I wasn't as disgusted with maggots because of the science I recently learned about them. They actually are waste eaters and is also used for cleaning wounds. I think they call them medicine maggots. I think they are more of a nuisance. They are also easy to get rid of than roaches. I had a guy friend whose apartment was full of roaches due to the next door neighbors moving and somehow the roaches traveled to other units and that building. He had to eventually bomb his apartment

 

I'm sticking to hydrogen peroxide.

 

Lol! There is a video I saw on facebook where maggots were placed on a guy's wound to clean it. They called it maggot therapy

 

Well, nothing dead is in the kitchen so I guess it's me. I will start being ultra clean for now on

 

I should point out that those particular debris eaters are raised in a germ free environment. They are used to debride wounds. The specific company that provides these for medical use is Monarch Labs, Living Medicine. The larvae are contained so that a wild population of these guys can't get started and go rouge.

 

Yeah I'm going to have to call OP out on his cleanliness as well. 3 days!? That makes me anxious just thinking about it. And I'm not nearly as bad as discussed my husband. 3 minutes and he gets ansty. Also yeah the science teachers aren't phased with the bugs bit. I'm eating my afternoon snack as i type.

 

I don't consider washing your dishes in a timely fashion "ultra clean". I just call it the right thing to do.

 

Being a self-described "clean freak" and leaving dishes in the sink & oven for multiple days is an oxymoron!

 

Don't leave your dishes unattended for a few days and then maggots will not appear.

My house has an ant problem. I leave dishes for an hour in the sink and ants come marching in. We have ant traps but still a problem.

 

Ants seemingly come from thin air, and most don't go in the ant traps. Best thing I ever found for ants is a gel that you apply at the back seam on the counter top, or other surfaces not ON the counter top. I think I got it a Lowes or Home Depot, and it was worth every penny - stopped them in their tracks, we were a year ant free. It isn't that the pests aren't out there, but a matter of doing all reasonable actions that assures you aren't creating your own problem.

 

A solution of vinegar water and dish detergent sprayed will do the trick.

 

You can buy an ultrasonic device that will emit a sound that deters bugs and insects from entering your home.

 

All I can tell you about those was that my MIL had them plugged in all over her home, and they stopped nothing, especially the ants and mice.

 

Ok, I thought maggots are not same as flies...are they the same bug?

 

They are the larval stage of flies. We are teachers - we teach when we can.

 

Aha! Thanks - I probably should have known this - just didn't. I have seen an aquarium with maggots cleaning an animal skeleton. It was fascinating to watch, although it did make me shiver a bit. Not a fan of bugs, but fascinated by many. My classroom has been infiltrated by ants and the school put down that gel, but I think perhaps I will hit up the big box store and get more of it. They drive me nuts and I'm scared to put down my water bottle for fear they will march along and claim it.

 

I haven't tried the vinegar and dish soap, but do know that the get really worked.