The Unsuspecting Place Roaches May Be Hiding In Your Home (& What To Do About It)

Finding out you have a pest problem is annoying, but discovering you have cockroaches is a nightmare. Not only do they make you feel like your house is unclean, but they also carry a lot of health risks. According to Reynolds Pest Management, these pests can worsen asthma symptoms, cause skin rashes, and spread pathogens and bacteria. To keep your home safe, it's imperative you get rid of them as quickly as possible. While you might be setting traps and looking for signs of them in obvious places like underneath sinks or in damp basements, there is one unsuspecting spot you need to check if you're committed to getting rid of your problem: your coffee maker. You may shudder at the idea of a roach crawling around inside your Keurig or coffee pot, but it's a common hiding place for them — they're attracted to the damp and dark conditions of the small appliance.

If you have roaches in your coffee machine, chances are high that you also have them somewhere else in your kitchen. That's why this needs your immediate attention: The faster you act to remove them, the less of a chance you have for your pest problem to develop into an infestation. When you understand why these stubborn bugs are inside your coffee maker, you're better equipped to get rid of them forever and keep your coffee (and home) roach-free.

Whether you have a Keurig, Nespresso, or a good old-fashioned coffee maker, a roach can easily end up inside it. It might seem random for a pest to make its way into such a small appliance, but when you understand the living conditions that roaches prefer, it makes sense. They love warm, dim, and wet environments, and a coffee machine ticks all three boxes. (It's the same reason they also love to get into pipes.) As a bonus, your coffee maker is located in an area that provides them plenty of food: the kitchen. If it's on your counter, it's near any errant crumbs or left-out food, making it a convenient and easy place for the bugs to find sustenance. 

In addition, there can also be leftover water in the coffee machine's reservoir. Cockroaches are attracted to water like moths are to a flame, and that's because they can't go very long without it. While they can easily survive a few days without a snack, they need plenty of consistent hydration. This makes your coffee maker an ideal place to hunker down — and depending where in the machinery they lodge themselves and how often you deep clean, they might do so undetected for a long time.

To remove roaches from your coffee machine, the first thing you should do is make your kitchen a little less pest-friendly. Make sure you wipe down the counters every time you prepare food so crumbs aren't left behind. It can also be beneficial to sweep or vacuum the kitchen floor before going to bed each night for the same reasons; a lightweight, cordless vacuum or robotic vacuum can make the daily task more convenient. You can also make sure that your coffee machine's water reservoir is emptied after each use and that the coffee pot is washed to minimize food residue. 

Once that's done, you'll need to break down your coffee maker to remove any trapped or dead roaches. When you're sure it's pest-free, sterilize the inside by running a cycle using a 1:1 ratio of vinegar and water to disinfect the inner components. (Follow that up with at least one more cycle using hot water to flush out any lingering vinegar residue.)

To ensure new roaches don't get inside the machine, place glue traps on the counter and near the appliance. Also, look for holes, cracks, or gaps in the kitchen that the bugs might use to gain access inside; if you find some, seal them closed with caulk. If the problem persists, you might have an infestation — at that point, it's best to call a professional pest management company.