Maggots in your trash can, gone in one visit
Horry County heat hatches fly eggs in under a day. We remove the maggots, kill the eggs with 200-degree water and sanitize the can at the curb.
Why it happens, and what we do about it
Why it happens
Flies find the film of food residue left on the walls and bottom of a can after pickup. A single fly can lay well over a hundred eggs in one visit, usually near the rim, the hinge or a wet corner where the smell is strongest.
From June through September, a can sitting in afternoon sun on a Carolina Forest or Socastee driveway gets very hot inside. Eggs hatch in hours, not days, and the larvae feed on whatever film is left behind. That is why the problem shows up so fast after a warm weekend.
Meat, seafood and diaper bags are the usual cause. Even bagged trash leaks if a bag tears on the way in, and a leak a spoonful wide is plenty to start a colony. Fish from a weekend trip or a forgotten bag of chicken in a warm garage is all it takes.
What we do on the visit
We lift the can onto our cleaning rig and flush the larvae into the truck’s holding tank, not onto your driveway or into the storm drain. Nothing is left to crawl away or to feed the next batch of flies.
A 200-degree wash reaches under the rim, around the hinge and into the wheel wells where eggs hide. Anything above 140 degrees kills eggs and larvae, so the heat does the work that a quick hose rinse cannot. Water at that temperature does not need a long soak, which is why each can takes about three minutes.
We finish with a biodegradable, hospital-grade sanitizer and deodorizer, set the can back where you keep it and text you a photo. If you see anything we missed, tell us within 48 hours and we come back at no charge.
Look inside
Drag the handle. This can had larvae in the rim and hinge.
How the visit works
- 1
Pick a plan and tell us your trash day
Book online or call. Takes two minutes.
- 2
Leave your cans at the curb after pickup
No need to be home. We come after the hauler.
- 3
We clean, sanitize and deodorize them on the spot
200-degree water, about three minutes per can.
- 4
You get a photo by text and your cans go back
Cans go back where you keep them.
Keep them from coming back
- Bag and tie every food item before it goes in the can.
- Rinse meat and seafood packaging before it goes in.
- Keep the lid closed and the can in shade when you can.
- Put cans out the morning of pickup, not the night before in summer.
- Clean every two weeks from June through September.
When to book a maggot clean
Book as soon as you see them. Larvae do not leave on their own, and a can left alone for another week in August can turn a few dozen into a few hundred. If your trash day is tomorrow, the best timing is to leave the can empty at the curb after the hauler has been, and we will take it from there.
Most requests come after a hot weekend, a cookout, a fishing trip or a week of vacation when the cans sat full. We typically reach a street within a few hours after your hauler empties the cans. You do not need to be home, and we do not need to touch the trash itself. If anything is left in the can, bag it and set it beside the can and we put it back after the wash.
We cover all of Horry County with the same prices everywhere, from Conway and Red Hill to Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach and North Myrtle Beach. There is no drive fee. Our truck leaves the Conway base each morning, so inland routes get the same schedule as the beach towns.
What it costs and what we do not do
A one-time deep clean is $49 (sample) for the first can and $15 (sample) for each additional can. Maggot and heavy residue removal is included, so there is no surcharge for a bad can. You can see every plan on our pricing page, and there is no contract if you decide to keep going.
We clean the can, not the house. We do not treat your yard, spray for insects around the home or handle dead animals, and we do not make promises about flies from the neighbor’s property. What we do is remove the larvae, kill the eggs and sanitize the can so it stops being the reason they are there.
Our full residential service, including monthly and quarterly options, is described on the residential trash can cleaning page. If maggots return every summer, the summer plan costs less across the season than repeat one-time cleans, because every second week the can is washed before eggs can hatch.
Why the summer plan works
Fly eggs hatch in under a day in Horry County heat, and larvae grow for several days before they leave the can. A cleaning every two weeks breaks that cycle. Eggs laid in week one are washed out before they can become the problem you find in week two.
The summer plan runs June through September, then drops to monthly from October or you cancel. It is the same 200-degree wash, the same sanitizer and the same photo by text, just more often while the heat is on. For tips on rinsing, bagging and keeping cans cool, read our guide on how to get rid of maggots in a trash can.
Stop it every summer
Summer plan
per month, first can, cleaned every two weeks from June through September.
- Two cleans a month, June through September
- 200-degree water kills eggs and larvae
- Photo by text after every clean
- Switches to monthly in October, or cancel
Questions about maggots
In Horry County summer heat, fly eggs can hatch in under a day. A can that held meat or seafood scraps over a hot weekend often has larvae by trash day.
Bleach kills some larvae it touches, but eggs hide under the rim and in the hinge. Water above 140 degrees kills eggs and larvae on contact. We use 200-degree water.
Your hauler empties it on trash day. Bag anything left inside and set it beside the can, and we handle the rest.
Not from the eggs we clean out. New flies can lay new eggs, which is why we suggest cleaning every two weeks from June through September.
For a single bad week, yes. If it happens every summer, the summer plan costs less over the season than repeat one-time cleans.
Book once. We handle every trash day after that.
No contract. Cancel anytime from a text.