Cockroaches In My Coffee Machine – Help!

Cockroaches evoke a feeling of absolute, vitriolic disgust no matter where we might encounter them. They’re dirty, they’re creepy and what’s worst of all is how fast those critters breed! What’s worse then seeing a cockroach run, scampering out of your coffee machine? Finding one IN your coffee.

Now, I know this is a topic most coffee machine suppliers will choose to overlook, avoid and even deny, but we know that cockroaches inside of coffee machines is a reality. A disgusting reality. But how can we deal with them? Knowing that a cockroach can lay up to 200 eggs at a time, we should find a solution to our problem before it gets out of control.

Why do cockroaches love coffee machines so much? They are naturally attracted to three things: darkness, moisture and nutrients. What do coffee machines have? All three! It’s no wonder it’s a cockroach utopia! With some coffee machines being “fixed”, that is, with immovable parts, it may sometimes be impossible to remove everything, wash it down and perhaps even fumigate to eradicate the little buggers.

So what do we do? Here are some tips and tricks to rid your coffee machine once and for all from cockroaches:

Use Boric Acid: This is a great, cost effective solution, but it comes with a warning. Make sure the Boric acid comes nowhere close to being in contact with any of the consumables of the machine. Plug up and inlets to the machine; that tiny little space where your cord enters the coffee machine, you know that 0.0000001mm gap? Plug that up with some steel wool.

Cockroach babies can squeeze themselves into the seals of envelopes – don’t underestimate their ability! A great tip is to open up your coffee machine and shine a bright light into it. Wherever you can see light escaping, plug it up. This will at least stop any more roaches or roach babies from entering your coffee machine.

Clean, clean, clean. If it’s movable, take it out and wash it. That means washing with hot, soapy water that has some bleach added to it. Allow the part to be thoroughly washed and rinsed and towel-dry it. Once you’ve done that, open up your machine and allow it to air out for a bit. If you KNOW there are roaches inside, it might be a good idea to allow the machine to air out in an open area, so that the roaches don’t simply go find a new spot to invade.

Allowing it to air out for a few hours will deprive the existing roaches of the water, darkness and nutrient supply, and they will begin to wonder out of the machine in search of the new “utopia”. It’s important to know there are four main variations of cockroaches, namely the American, Oriental, German and Brown-Banded cockroach. They vary in size and difficulty to get rid of; it may be necessary to have your machine flushed by means of gassing, usually performed by a qualified exterminator.

However, first steps are always necessary. After drying out your machine and washing all movable parts, as we mentioned above, consider some natural products, like bay leaves or a mixture of sugar and baking soda.

Natural Cockroach Remedy for Coffee Machines

Vaseline trap: take an empty glass jar and line the rim with Vaseline. Add some fruit peels to the jar (like banana) and keep it open and available in the area where the roaches are.

They will be attracted to the fermenting fruit peel but when they try to escape, the Vaseline will have them stuck! If all of the above fails, don’t leave water stagnating overnight, try to keep your bean hopper empty when it’s not in use and always do a rinse before switching off your machine.

As horrible as it is, it’s a reality we have to face locally and worldwide. Here’s wishing you a great cuppa!