Bugs in dishwasher

[fan-of-fans]

I opened the door on the dishwasher the other day to find a small german roach walking around inside. I have never seen a roach in the dishwasher or in the kitchen before. am wondering where it came from. I remember my neighbor who used to only live here part time said they had issues with roaches coming through the drains in their showers, and they would pour boiling water down the drains to flush them out.

Can roaches come into the house from the septic tank, or the gas vents on the roof? I am suspicious because the little german roaches are rarely seen alone, but I have not seen any more since then.

 

[vacerator]

In Florida,

anything to do with bugs is possible.
Now I have heard stories of roaches in a machine that has sat dirty for a long time also.
They can enter a home in a paper grocery bag, and several other ways. Older buildings are more vulnerable, of course. They follow food.
In a humid temperate climate, they all thrive. Termites, also, and the nasty fungus that causes wood to dry rot.

 

[whirlykenmore78]

I doubt bugs could live in a dishwasher

The heat and chemicals would be too much for them and they would die. This is not to say they could not live AROUND a DW.
I did hear of roaches living in the ventilation system of a large dishwasher from a chemical rep I had at a former job. Eventually the entire dish machine and vent system had to be replaced for close to $200,000.
WK78

 

[delaneymeegan]

Ummm

 

First.... EWWW.. Gross !

 

Second, When I had rental properties, one of the few times I had such a bug issue, they were apparently living under the door seal.   It was a Westinghouse dishwasher, not that brand should matter.  Anyway, I was planning to remove the dw and replace.  I pulled the machine out and put it outside in the freezing December snow.  Now I hadn't noticed any bugs on it up to this point, though I know there were bugs in the rental unit.  I came back about 10 minutes later to throw some scrap metal inside and when I opened the door, there were several roaches floating in the water at the bottom.  

HA-HA, they froze.   Ha-HAA I say.

 

I'm sure it's heavenly living in or next to a dw, especially with messy people.  Un-rinsed dishes have a plethora of food items, perfect for feeding a growing family of hungry roaches.  The door seal has voids behind it, as do refrigerator seals, and hinge covers on refrigerators(I've seen it).  The seal would seal out water but give them moisture they would love.  Not only that, but for <span style="text-decoration: underline;">healthy</span> roaches, a basin of fresh rinse water after the cycle is complete, at the bottom of the machine, gives them clean drinking water and a place to bath.

 

Excuse me while I go heave, and Thank-god I don't live in a warm climate, or a large city with vast under ground tunnels that don't freeze.

http://https//youtu.be/vxeU75vZ9QQ

 

[whirlcool]

Here is Texas we have lots of roaches out in the yard. They seem to love mulch in the garden. We'd occasionally see one in the dishwasher if the door was just pushed to rather than shut all the way.

Eventually I replaced the seal at the bottom of the rear door of our house. Since I have done that we have not seen one roach inside anywhere. Not a one. They were sneaking in under the door.

 

[askolover]

Ants

Here in middle Tn we have more ants.  My parents have ants and I have ants.  Years ago we used Terro and it worked like a charm.  Now, the new Terro just has borax in it and the ants think it's a free buffet!  I hate using sprays or other poisons around my 4 cats.  I've opened mother's and my own dishwasher many times to find ants feasting inside.  I just hit rinse-hold and eliminate a few that way.  Any suggestions for ant elimination?

 

[washer111]

A few occasionally found their way to the dishwasher back in my previous residence from time to time. However, it seemed as though they were living elsewhere in the kitchen.

Eventually, after a tick infestation on our dogs that various treatments failed to solve (including daily tweezing of the little bastards), it was decided to bug bomb the house.

Added benefit of this was the roach infestation (not that we could see it) died. Quite a lot of dead roaches showed up in the kitchen after the bombing. They did not return.

FWIW - if you see one or a couple, chances are they've already made up a home somewhere. Use the usual means of dealing with these critters by setting traps of whatever concoction (homemade or not) you feel like, bug-bombs, pest-removers or the like.

Our house was by no means a grubby place, always kept neat and tidy, benches wiped, dishes washed and that sort of thing. But warm, desert climates with humans inhabiting the area do strange things to bugs!

German Roaches are also the nastier type - and that's what we had.
The big "American" roaches didn't really seem to like being in the house, aside from the odd one that came in through open doors at night for the breeze. They instead choose to live in the metal cabinet encapsulating the water softener outside, and would occasionally take a suicide jump into the salt-filled brine tank - which took care of them nicely, LOL.

 

[launderess]

Roaches/water bugs

Prefer moist and warm environments to a degree. Hence you find those huge palmetto bugs all over Florida year round usually, but here in the north they remain mostly confined to warm/damp places like basements our out of doors during hot/warm times of year.

Yes, some roaches can come up from the drains. Not only just up from the sewers but there is quite a lot of gunk/organic matter in many drains that make good eating, and of course it is warm and moist down there.

Dishwasher interiors are moist and warm usually because of the water kept in the sump and the fact the thing is left closed. Then there is the food/organic matter.

If your home has been previously roach free there is a good chance any one sighting was a straggler. Clean the place up and look for any signs of more, then go about your business if nothing is found.

Here in NYC am good about not bringing paper bags into the house and or keeping them long after food is unpacked.

 

[delaneymeegan]

 

 

One way to tell if you have roaches or ants living in your unit, vs. just a visitor, is their behaviour and body language.

 

In the Spring, it's not uncommon to find an ant wandering aimlessly inside the house.  People tend to think they suddenly have an infestation.  Actually, these are just searchers, looking for food and nesting possibilities.  The best thing to do is squash it, so it can't return to the nest and communicate it's findings.

 

The same goes for roaches.  The first time I lived in California, I lived in an apartment building in the Valley.  It was fairly new.  I had 3 visitor roaches.  One  randomly crawled up the door then just stopped and sensed the environment, another went running from a shopping bag I brought in, and another went randomly running off a refrigerator that had just been delivered.  I squashed all and that was that.  

 

When they are established, they will tend to walk in established areas, usually along baseboards and counter top edges.  They will not need to stop and sense the environment.  You may see others on the same invisible track.  Ants are well known for creating their super highways of ants going in both directions. 

 

The biggest thing is training yourself so when you see such a creature, in addition to being revolted and wanting to run, doing the opposite.  Quickly reaching out and squashing it with a hand, a tissue, or something solid.  Then quickly cleaning the mess.  

 

[vacerator]

This was an old

80's TV commercial for Numark roach spray; "Girl, I was over ta their house, and them roaches was everywhere."

 

[twintubdexter]

No wonder my friends say I need therapy...

What kind of a dishwasher was it? If it was a Bosch then it's understandable, I mean a German Cockroach...

 

[delaneymeegan]

 

 

 

 

[tolivac]

Roaches in the dishwasher-----Good reason NOT to leave dirty dishes that haven't been rinsed in the machine unless you start it right away.Tried doing what some suggested of not pre rinsing dishes-I ran my machine once daily.During that FAILED experiment was adding another dish to the load-the Roaches and ants were in the machine KA 18 doing a "prewash or prelick" cycle for me.Closed the door adn started the washer -when it was done opened it and found roach legs all over the dishes-put detergent in the machine and ran it again.This time OK.The roaches adn ants in the machine looked like a scene out of the Creepshow movies!
The last few days while getting ready for work had a roach try to creep across the den floor----Kirby was waiting for him and swept him up! Stompted another one and Kirby got him,too-heard him go CLACK thru the fan!If only those things would stay OUTSIDE!!!One night the drivewway was covered with those big roaches-must have "stompted" a lot of them driving out to work in the car!

 

[whirlcool]

When we first moved to Houston we lived in an apt that turned into a roach castle. They landlord used to spray monthly. We had no roaches. Then some residents said they didn't like the spray and didn't want their units sprayed at all. A few months later the roaches came en force!

I did my own treatment. I got a large can of a product called "Roach Pruffe" (basically boric acid powder) and in each room removed each light switch and electrical outlet from each wall. Then I dumped in about 3 tablespoons of the boric acid powder into each of the the outlet holes. Then to finish it off, I put our vacuum cleaner on "blow" and stuck it in the hole. The powder went flying everywhere within the wall space. Put everything back together and for the next three years we were there, neither we nor any of our neighbors had roaches.

They recently tore that apt building down. I wanted to go and see if any of that powder was left between the walls. But I never made it.

 

[DADoES]

 
I wouldn't vacuum a roach.  Don't they have an odor?

I never rinse dishes before loading and sometimes need 3 or 4 days to accumulate a load.  Never have had roaches or ants in the dishwasher.  Don't think I've ever seen a roach in the house but always has been spiders.  Maybe the spiders keep roaches away?

There's also a good supply of fireants on the property, and I believe some of those "Caribbean Crazy Ants."  Have had fireants in the house on numerous occasions (but not in the dishwasher), when there's a rain and they come up the foundation into the brick weep holes.

 

[whirlcool]

When we first bought this house it had been vacant for about 6 months before we moved in. The first thing we noticed is that it had spiders everywhere. We'd spray and spray and still the spiders came. Big ones, little ones, yuck.

Finally we went to our county agent and he told us that we probably had a outdoor infestation in our lawn. Yes, lawns can become infested with spiders. So he gave us a chemical to use and water in. We did that and about an hour later there were spiders all over the sidewalks and driveway! They literally covered the concrete!
I washed them away using a hose. Soon, no more spiders in the house. None at all.

 

[tolivac]

I don't know how many roaches I have picked up in my vacuums-no odors.Have vacuumed up ants,too,flys,moths,other bugs.Its bug season out here!Yes,have spiders,too-too bad they don't eat the roaches adn other bugs!ANY creature that eats bugs is a freind of mine!

 

[askolover]

my 4 cats

keep the spiders at bay.  But outside in my shed, fiddle-backed brown recluses abound!  I spread Sevin granules around in it last year.

 

[maytag63]

My first apartment on the third floor had roaches in the kitchen drawers and in the dishwasher. The owner (a company) sprayed monthly but to no avail. I would open the dishwasher and you could see them run into the spray holes and motor in the dishwasher. I would open a drawer and a couple would run to the back of the drawer cabinet. After six months, I purchased a condo and moved out. Luckily none of them came with me in my moving boxes.