Imagine you wake up after a very long and comfortable sleep-thinking to begin your routine with a strong cup of coffee. Sounds good?
While making your desired coffee, you see a tiny ant enjoying in your coffee maker. When you open the machine, the entire colony of ants welcomes you.
Are you shocked? Do you think why there are ants in my coffee maker?
Well, there is no strong cup of coffee for you now; instead, you have to clean the entire mess. What a wonderful start to the day!
Your next question must be why are ants attracted to my coffee maker?
Well, maybe you have never experienced this before having a coffee maker. They can be notorious for ants.
If you are wondering how to clean it now, then continue reading the article for the solution.
Why are There Ants in My Coffee Maker?
If you are wondering why ants are attracted to my coffee maker? than you should know coffee maker is the perfect home for ants. Ants are attracted to the water and warmth and will love to get nourishment from coffee makers. Nobody likes to start a morning by cleaning a coffee maker full of ants; it’s as abhorrent as finding your favorite sweet dish with an entire colony of ants.
If we look closely, the coffee makers have many crevices and cracks, which makes removing the entire colony even more problematic. Now, here you need to keep in mind that after eliminating them, necessary precautions should be taken in order to make sure that they don’t come back.
How Can I Clean My Coffee Maker?
Things you Will Need:
Material:
- Warm water.Dish soap (any)
- White vinegar
Equipment:
- Two clean towels or dishcloths
Here are some steps to clean your coffee maker:
1. Get Rid of Ants:
Start with removing the coffee makers from its area and then get rid of the ants’ trail. Place the coffee maker someplace away, maybe in a sink or any other area to keep it safe from ants. Use any natural spray to kill the ants. You can make a spray at home as well by mixing vinegar and water-even; you can try cinnamon, peppermint oil, lemon juice, and black pepper. Ants hate all these natural ingredients.
2. Dismantle the Coffee Maker:
Now you need to dismantle your coffee maker. Don’t worry, just do it as much as you can. Make sure to clean all its compartments with dish liquid and warm water. White vinegar or apple cider is optional.
3. Resemble it:
It’s time to resemble the coffee maker. Use the solution of vinegar and water; add apple cider vinegar or white vinegar. To have a nice maintenance check, let the coffee maker run for some time. It will also clean the leftover junk.
4. Final Wash:
To rinse the vinegar out from the machine, add more water to it and let it run again. This step will fully clean the coffee maker. Here, your clean and ant-free coffee maker is ready!
How Can I Keep My Coffee Maker Save From Ants?
After cleaning, the next step is to think about how can we keep the coffee maker safe from ants? But before that, we need to understand why ants are attracted to coffee makers? As mentioned earlier, ants are attracted to nourishment and water-so, your vision is to find a new location for the machine. It will frustrate the ant as they only know the previous one.
If ants can get to your coffee maker, it’s almost 100% confirmed that they are roaming in your kitchen as well. Start finding ants’ trails in all possible places, for example, in the pantry, under the sink, and deal with them at once.
The next step is to place boric acid into those identified places around the kitchen. It’s more suitable to go for this solution rather than spraying with insecticide because it will give you permanent relief from them.
A simple tip is to clean the coffee maker by lifting it after every use and cleaning the countertop. Use the solution of vinegar and water or go for lemon juice; it’s entirely your choice. Let the countertop dry, then lift the coffee maker and sprinkle food-grade diatomaceous earth before putting it back to place.
Always keep your food in an airtight jar. Keep garbage in a dustbin with a lid. Remove the wet trash regularly from the house.
Seal all the gaps in the cabinets from there they can enter your kitchen. Always the last tip is “Always keep your countertops and floors free of crumbs.”
How Often I Should Clean My Coffee Machine?
Clean your coffee maker after every use by removing the grounds and then cleaning the lid, carafe, and brew basket. At least after three months, you need to do deeper cleaning to remove the mineral deposits.
Monthly cleaning is needed when you use hard water with heavy mineral content for making coffee or if you fill the water reservoir from an unwashed carafe, then there is more risk that the residue may build up swiftly.
Usually, coffee makers come with a visible cleaning feature, like it can give you a signal. That signal precedes a forced downtime. To avoid downtime, you need to be proactive with machine maintenance. For cleaning, the manufacturer’s detailed instructions are very important, which you will get with the coffee maker.
Bottom Line
Your coffee maker needs attention. For it, you should take out time to clean it in detail. It will also help to keep all bugs away from the coffee maker. Little creatures also enjoy coffee as much as we humans do. It’s not just about ants; cockroaches and fruit flies love to have a smell of coffee too.
It will give you nearly a heart attack to see your coffee maker full of ants or cockroaches roaming around it. To avoid a situation like this, take out time and clean the coffee maker whenever you use it or once a day to keep it clean.
Perform routine maintenance on all your windows and doors. It’s another way to keep the ants away from your home.
