Imagine you walk into your kitchen early in the morning and you found roaches around your used coffee cup, kitchen counter, trash can, and unexpectedly by your coffee maker. Ewww!
Your skin is crawling, right? It’s so gross!
Aside from the fact that roaches are ugly sites to behold and they give an unhygienic impression, these creepy organisms can expose you to diseases. According to a 2020 research article in the International Journal of Science and Healthcare Research, cockroaches) can contaminate food items by aiding digestive-related diseases such as dysentery, cholera, diarrhea, typhoid fever, and other viral diseases like polio, and hepatitis A virus.
Studies have shown that their feces can also cause allergic reactions such as asthma and eczema in sensitive people.
But why have they chosen your kitchen of all places to nest?
Why do they keep appearing around your coffee?
How can you get rid of them and also prevent them in the future?
The purpose of this article is to answer these questions. Ensure you follow closely till the end without missing out on a point.
First, let’s determine why you see roaches around your coffee and coffee machine.
Do coffee grounds attract roaches?
Just like you, roaches lust after the delicious aroma of coffee. Ironically, they do not enjoy feasting on coffee, because its large quantity is a death sentence for them, due to the high acidic composition of caffeine.
Despite this, you find them around your coffee grounds due to their insatiable need for food and nutrients to survive. If they can’t find anything sweeter to munch on in your pantry and cupboards, they have no other choice but to have a taste of your coffee ground.
As stated earlier, roaches are attracted to the aroma of coffee grounds. According to a 2015 report on the experiment carried out on the odor tracking performance in American roaches, these pests have a strong sense of smell and can discover odors from afar.
This explains one of the reasons why you see them on your kitchen counter, used coffee mugs, and trash cans containing coffee grounds. Other surrounding ingredients around your coffee like sugar, milk and creamer can also explain their presence around your coffee area.
Due to their inability to resist the aroma of the coffee, this organic compound is often used to lure them into the water to get rid of them.
This will be discussed extensively while recommending ways of getting rid of roaches.
Roaches and Coffee Machine
Yes, your precious daily joe maker!
One of the common places where roaches nest in your kitchen is the coffee machine. It might sound like a betrayal; your coffee machine is a strong roaches ally. It conveniently harbors them without your permission.
I know you are about to freak out. You don’t have to.
Coffee machine roaches infestation is not an extraordinary occurrence. It is a common occurrence, just that it has worsened over time.
An article by News Hub in 2009 reported that a famous coffee machine repair company in New Zealand called for a new standard for coffee machines back then because most of the machines sent to them for repair were infested with roaches.
Is it still hard to believe that your machine may be accommodating roaches?
The following are some signs you should look out for to confirm if your coffee machine has roaches.
Roaches’ feces: You will often see their droppings inside your coffee maker. This sign may be tricky because their long brown droppings resemble coffee grounds. However, the odor will sell them out. While investigating, be careful not to touch these droppings with your bare hands to avoid the pathogen’s contact.
Smears: These creatures are known to leave a smear mark as signatures on their dwellings. Look out for these brown smears inside or around your coffee maker.
Foul odors: Roaches have a dry, musty, and oily smell, unlike bedbugs which produce a sweet odor (double ewww!). Try to sniff your machine for this unpleasant odor.
Roaches Skeleton: Roaches normally shed their exoskeleton. You may find this inside or around your coffee machine.
Now that you might have discovered the existence of roaches in your coffee machine, It’s time to satisfy your curiosity on why they choose to live in your precious coffee machine.
Naturally, roaches love the kitchen, because it’s a cool shelter with guaranteed food. Specifically, the coffee machine is one of their special places in the kitchen because of three things – warmth, darkness, safety, and food.
Chances are, you make coffee once or twice daily. It means you abandon the machine for long hours. This long uninterrupted stay coupled with the darkness and sweet food crumbs around the coffee machine makes it a perfect abode for roaches. If you are such that you frequently load your machine with coffee grounds and water, you are their best host!
I know by now, you may be thinking of tossing out your machine. To be honest, it’s a terrible sight to behold. The thought of roaches in an appliance used to produce drinks is gross.
However, discarding it isn’t the solution. Even if you get a new one, the same situation is likely to repeat. Why waste your hard-earned money when you can easily get rid of these ugly creatures, reclaim your machine and prevent their future entry.
Do you have a change of mind?
Employ the following methods to win the battle against roaches without tossing out your coffee machine (add a colon : at the end of the sentence)
How to get rid of roaches in the kitchen and inside coffee machine
Cleaning method
If your machine is not so sophisticated, you can consider disassembling it and clean all its parts to chase out all the roaches in it.
To get rid of roaches and their remnants, you should consider using sanitizers to clean each of the parts after disassembling the machine. You can do this with warm water and bleach.
You can also use vinegar to disinfect your machine if you are not averse to the smell.
In the case of a complex coffee machine, you need to be extra careful.
Before you disassemble it, make sure you go through the manual, use it as your guide. If it feels too complex, consider employing the service of a professional, so that you won’t spoil the machine.
Exposure to cold temperatures
As stated earlier, one of the reasons roaches choose your coffee machines is warmth. You can get rid of them by exposing your coffee machine to an extremely cold temperature.
You can do this by taking out your machine if you live in a very cold environment or keep it tightly enclosed in a plastic bag and place it in your freezer. However, you must be extra careful not to spoil the machine in the process. Ensure your machine is hardy enough to withstand cold temperature, and don’t leave it in the cold for long.
To prevent the roaches from escaping into other parts of the house, ensure you keep the machine enclosed throughout the process. You can seal it in a plastic bag. Once the cold drives the roaches out, they will fall into the bag. As such, you can easily discard them, giving no room for escape.
You don’t have to worry about how to kill them, they would have suffocated inside the bag due to lack of air.
Baking Soda and Sugar Bait
This instant bait works greats if you usually see roaches move around. This means they usually come out to eat before heading back to their coffee machine abode. You can use baking soda and sugar coupled with water as bait for them.
How will these combinations work?
The smell of sugar and baking soda will certainly lure them out of their hiding place. Once a roach feasts on this mixture and drink water on it, the baking soda will react and create gas in its stomach. Its stomach will eventually burst and lead to its death. Once dead, other roaches that feast on the dead body will have their fair share of the toxin and meet the same inevitable death.
You can rest assured that this mixture isn’t poisonous to human beings and pets. It’s specifically lethal for roaches and insects.
Sounds great! How will you go about it?
First, mix the baking soda and sugar in a small container. Something tiny like a bottle lid. Put water in the same kind of tiny container. Place both at the entrance of the coffee machine where you are sure they would appear. You can also set these traps in several other parts of the kitchen where you are sure they visit and dwell.
Once you notice a dead body, don’t be quick to remove it. Leave it there for a while enough for other roaches to discover it and feast on it, as they usually do (such weird creatures!).
Coffee Ground Bait
This is my best method ever! It is a game-changer tactic.
Since they are naturally attracted to the aroma of the coffee, why not use it to lure them to their death?
You are using their weakness against them.
Here is how to go about it:
Get one or two glass jars, small part cups, and water. Fill these glass jars halfway to the brim and pour ground coffee into these small paper cups. Place the paper cup of coffee ground in the jar of water and place it in roaches’ popular hangouts.
The smell of coffee will lure them to the water. Once they fall into the water, they will be trapped there, without any route of escape. Tada! Victory at last!
This method resembles the baking soda method. It’s just that here you are luring them to a pool of water, and drown them, with the very coffee they choose to loot. What a clever way to get rid of an enemy.
Professional Exterminators
You may consider getting the help of a professional exterminator if you do not have the patience to try out these DIY methods or you tried them, yet the problem persists.
At times, roaches may prove difficult to eliminate. There are varieties of roaches and some may prove hard to eliminate. Experts have recognized five species of roaches, German, American, Australian, Oriental, and Brown Band roaches. These roaches vary in size and character. Some of them have high immunity and resistance.
According to Robert Lane, a popular pest exterminator, in an interview with 10 News, German cockroach infestation may take three to six months to eradicate. According to Lane, the main reason is their egg capsules which take time to hatch. Until these eggs hatch, you can’t get rid of them.
As such, you may consider hiring the expertise of a professional exterminator to rid not just your coffee machine of roaches, but as well as your whole house.
Beware of these two methods of terminating roaches
Use of Boric Acid
Boric acid is toxic to both humans and roaches. It should not come near your consumables or food appliances. As such you can use boric acid as roaches trap anywhere but your kitchen or around your coffee machine, regardless of how meticulous you think you are.
Use of Raid
Do not be tempted to spray your coffee machine with raid, as a form of insecticide. Raids and several other common insecticides can poison your coffee. Aside from that, they may spoil your coffee machine or cause a fire hazard.
In ridding your kitchen and coffee machine of roaches, you have to be extra careful not to poison or harm yourself in the process.
How to repel roaches.
It’s not enough to get rid of roaches in your kitchen, coffee machine, and around your house. They may re-enter if you do not take conscious steps to bar them forever.
Here are few ways to repel roaches from your coffee machine
Use Essential Oils
Some essential oils with strong odors are known to repel roaches.
You can consider the use of peppermint oil. According to 2001 research made on American and German roaches, peppermint oil repels roaches. It is also toxic to this creature and several other insects.
The good news is, peppermint oil is safe to use. It is not harmful to both humans and pets.
To take advantage of this oil, mix it with water in a spray bottle and spray it around your machine and the kitchen generally.
Some other essential oils which repel roaches according to Cockroach Facts include Lavender oil, Tea Tree Oil, and Eucalyptus Oil.
Herbs
Herbs are also one of the safest and cheapest ways to repeal roaches from your kitchen.
Catnip is a tested roach repelling herb. Studies have shown that essential oil in catnip is capable of driving away roaches.
To experience the wonder of catnip, drop the leaves around your machine and kitchen generally. You can also brew catnip with water to extract the strong scent, which repels this creepy being once it travels around the kitchen.
You can pour the brewed catnip tea into the drip tray of your coffee machine, to repel them from it. You can also pour the tea into a spray bottle and spray it around the kitchen.
Some other roaches repelling herbs include mint, bay leaves, rose mary, garlic, and cypress.
Good Hygiene
Nothing beats good hygiene. Although, roaches infestation is not always due to poor hygiene. However, utmost neatness will go a long way in keeping these scavengers away.
Ensure your machine is always clean. Clean after every use, empty the water tray, discard all used coffee grounds, mop out spilled milk and keep sugar and other attractive substance away from your coffee maker.
Do routine checks of your coffee maker from time to time to detect them very early before they reproduce.
Aside from that maintain overall good kitchen hygiene. Roaches can easily get into your coffee maker through other locations in your kitchen. Throw away your trash can on time. Clear all food crumbs and don’t keep unused dirty water.
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