Cockroaches in Coffee Maker? Easy Removal & Disinfection

I found roaches inside my coffee maker!

And this wasn’t the first time, either.

Today, I’m going to show you how to get rid of roaches in a coffee machine…

Cockroaches And Coffee Machines

The first time, I found a small roach, perhaps a (not very cute) baby, running across the top of my coffee maker.

Then, a day later, I saw another roach — a much larger one — sitting inside the coffee maker’s water reservoir.

This problem with roaches inside my coffee machine has to be one of the grossest pest issues I’ve ever encountered in my home!!!

Roaches and coffee are not a good combination, but roaches love coffee... and coffee makers!

I’ve had spiders in my clothes, silverfish in & around my books, and ants of all sizes inside my kitchen.

But roaches in the coffee maker? That’s a whole different level of gross!

Apparently, roaches commonly infest coffee machines — and I’m not the only one to notice this:

My grandmother once found a large cockroach stuck inside her coffee maker. Yup, and we only figured this out when the machine wasn’t draining water into the coffee carafe. The roach was clogging the drain line inside the coffee maker. Yuk!
One of my bosses found a huge cockroach stuck in his coffee maker.
My fiance’s brother spotted German cockroaches in his Keurig coffee maker.

And now it’s my turn to deal with roaches in a coffee machine. Oye veh!

Here’s how to protect your coffee maker from roaches…

Why Do Roaches Like Coffee Makers?

As it turns out, roaches actually like living in coffee machines.

I read up on this and, sadly, it’s pretty common to find roaches in coffee makers — because there are so many warm, moist, dark spots inside for them to hide out. Plus, the roaches can nourish themselves with coffee grounds and residue from the inner workings of the machine.

Most people are aware of the fact that roaches are often found in kitchen cupboards and pantries. But it wasn’t until now that I learned they’ll actually eat their way into a bag of coffee grounds!

According to one estimate, 40% of commercial coffee makers are infested with cockroaches. Ugh… that will make you think twice about ordering a cup of joe on the go!

A GOOD READ: Could Your Coffee Machine Get Infested With Roaches?

The Roaches Inside My Coffee Maker

A closeup picture of roaches in my coffee maker.

Unfortunately, it can be somewhat difficult to differentiate the appearance of a single coffee ground from a roach turd.

While roach turds are often an indication of a roach infestation, I think roach caca (yuck!) and coffee grounds (mmm!) look about the same.

And, I’m a bona fide coffee fanatic. So that makes the whole roaches-in-my-coffee-maker situation even more of a problem!

This left me asking the following questions:

How do I get rid of roaches in my coffee maker?
Should I discard my coffee maker? Or, if I keep it, how do I disinfect the coffee machine after roaches have lived in it?

Here are the answers to those questions…

#1 – How To Get Rid Of Roaches In A Coffee Maker

First, I hired a pest control technician to come to my home and help weed out the roaches.

He confirmed that roaches are attracted to coffee.

He ended up putting some roach bait on the bottom side of my coffee maker — because that’s where roaches had congregated.

But what do you do if you can’t afford a pest control service? Or what if you want to try an all-natural, organic solution to get rid of roaches in your coffee maker?

Here are some tips to roach-proof a coffee maker that I found online:

Place a roach bait trap near the coffee maker consisting of sugar, baking soda, and a bottle cap filled with water. The sugar lures the roaches and the baking soda (with the water) creates a gas inside the roaches’ stomachs — that will kill the roaches.
Run your coffee maker with brewed catnip tea — which is harmless to humans, but repels roaches.

Use boric acid — which is toxic to roaches. The problem with using boric acid to kill roaches in a coffee machine is that the white powdery substance is also dangerous to humans. So, feel free to use boric acid to kill roaches in other places of your house, but don’t use boric acid inside your coffee maker!

Here are a few other ways to get rid of roaches in a coffee machine.

#2 – How To Disinfect A Coffee Maker That’s Had Roaches In It

As I alluded earlier, this isn’t the first time I’ve found roaches inside my coffee maker.

It has happened before — and it grosses me out every time.

The first time around, I disinfected my coffee brewer the way I usually clean a coffee maker… with white vinegar and water like this:

First, fill the carafe with equal parts white vinegar and water.

Then, dump this not-so-tasty brew into the coffee machine water reservoir, place the carafe back on the appliance’s warm plate, and turn the machine on. The hot vinegar and water runs through the coffee maker’s internal piping and other parts, cleaning the machine. (Typically, I repeat this process twice.)
Then, immediately run 2 carafes’ worth of clean water through the coffee machine twice.
Finally, wash the carafe using hot, soapy water.

I don’t own a Keurig coffee maker. But if you’ve got roaches in your Keurig machine, apparently you can use a vinegar and water brew to disinfect it, too.

The Bottom Line…

Unfortunately, this latest roach infestation in my coffee maker was just too much for me to stomach again — so I, sadly, tossed the machine and bought a new one.

Now, I’ll be keeping a tighter lid on the top of my newest coffee machine — because I definitely don’t want to deal with roaches in my coffee maker again!