Eliminate Tiny Bugs In Coffee Makers In 9 Steps That Work (Guaranteed) (2024)

Bugs in kitchen appliances are a disgusting reality.

The food deposits stuck in appliances like refrigerators, dishwashers, and microwaves draw a ton of pests.

And so does your coffee maker.

In this guide, you’ll find five tiny bugs in coffee makers that are not only a nuisance in your kitchen and home but also a risk to your health.

You’ll learn why and how these little bugs get into the coffee maker. And the hacks to eliminate them right now without any hassle.

Let’s dive in.

Why Coffee Makers Attract Bugs?

Here are the top three reasons bugs infest coffee makers –

1. Dampness in the coffee maker
2. Development of sludge and calcium inside coffee makers
3. Presence of these bugs in your kitchen and home

All the tiny bugs that infest coffee makers love dampness. And your coffee maker is moist from the inside.

Coffee ground deposits and not cleaning the coffee maker regularly lead to the development of calcium and sludge that draw these bugs.

Why?

It’s because the bugs feed on them.

On top of that, the presence of food sources and dampness inside the coffee maker makes your coffee maker a prime real estate for these bugs to hide and breed.

But the underlying reason for tiny bugs in a coffee maker is undeniable – the bugs are already there in your kitchen.

The presence of bugs in electrical appliances indicates a bug infestation inside your home. And their numbers are increasing.

That’s the reason they’ve come out from their usual hiding places and have started to infest electrical appliances.

So, what are the most common tiny bugs that infest coffee makers?

Let’s find it out.

5 Tiny Bugs In Coffee Makers That Can Make You Sick

1. Baby roaches
2. Mold mites
3. Gnats
4. Ants
5. Fruit flies

Electrical appliances, including coffee makers, are a safe haven for these bugs. Some of these bugs can even get accidentally stuck inside the coffee maker.

No matter what the reason is, drinking coffee from a bug-infested coffee maker is risky for your health.

Let’s find out why and how each of these bugs get inside coffee makers.

Baby co*ckroaches In Coffee Makers

The most common tiny bug in coffee makers is the baby roaches.

And mostly, it’s the nymphs (or babies) of German roaches that infest electrical appliances, including coffee makers.

German roaches are one of the smallest species of roaches that infest homes. These roaches infest electrical appliances more than any other species of roaches.

It’s because they prefer to hide in drier and warmer places.

Electrical appliances are not as moist as the drains underneath sinks are where other species of roaches, like the American roaches, hide.

And the heat from the electrical appliances attracts them too. Heat is one of the reasons German roaches infest cars too.

The tiny brownish baby German roaches inside coffee machines tell you one important thing. There’s a German roach infestation in your home and kitchen.

There’s a spike in co*ckroach infestation in your home, which has led to a shortage of hiding places.

That’s making the baby roaches hide in alternative places like your coffee machine.

These roaches love coffee machines. Why?

It’s because the coffee machines are about rightly moist from the inside, have coffee deposits, and are warm too.

co*ckroaches don’t like coffee as such.

They wouldn’t make the coffee deposits and coffee stains in your coffee maker their primary source of nutrition.

But roaches don’t care. If something is decaying and emitting an odor, roaches will make it as their food.

However, the coffee odor attracts roaches.

If you haven’t used the coffee maker for months and left it uncleaned, these German roaches can build their nests inside it.

And it doesn’t matter what brand of coffee maker you’ve had. Roaches can even infest high end coffee making machines like Breville, De’Longhi and Keurig machine.

Mold Mites – Tiny White Bugs In Coffee Maker

Mold mites are common in electrical appliances that use water to perform their functions.

Mold mites are moisture bugs, and they’re common in homes where there’s a high dampness problem.

The presence of dampness develops molds that attract these small clear bugs.

Mold mites are tiny, translucent, and white. And they’re tough to detect when their numbers are low.

Not cleaning the coffee maker regularly leads to the development of molds inside the coffee maker.

The molds draw these mites to the coffee maker, and they remain inside it, feeding on the molds.

However, unlike roaches, mold mites are not dangerous to humans. They don’t carry any diseases either.

But mold mites have tiny hairy bristles on their bodies that can cause an allergic reaction in certain people.

Fungus Gnats Inside Coffee Maker

Fungus gnats are small black flying bugs that invade homes during the summer months. These bugs look like fruit flies and mosquitoes.

And they’ve an erratic flight pattern.

The source of fungus gnats is generally outdoors. They nest and breed in decaying and damp organic matter like foliage, wood pieces, and also on damp soil beds.

Light from your home attract fungus gnats and many other flying bugs inside your house.

And when fungus gnats are inside your home they’ll fly straight into places where there’s high water usage.

So, bathroom, basem*nt, kitchen, and laundry room are some of the places where fungus gnats will hide in your home.

But there’s a catch.

As these bugs are drawn to light, so they’ll flock at the light bulbs in your bedroom and living room.

Also, fungus gnats have a bad habit of getting inside electrical appliances.

The electrical appliances like toasters, fridge, dishwashers, and even coffee makers have food stains and food deposits.

The decaying food substances emit a smell that draws the fungus gnats.

And they’re so determined to reach the source that they can even get inside the refrigerator and dishwasher.

Ever wondered what those tiny dead bugs and flies are inside your fridge? It’s the gnats, among other bugs.

An unclean coffee maker emits the odor of decaying coffee grinds. It attracts the fungus gnats.

Plus, sources of water also draw fungus gnats.

As the coffee maker flushes water into the drip tray, the drip tray will draw the gnats.

The gnats will get inside the coffee maker from the drip tray, where they’ll die.

The presence of these dead fungus gnats inside the coffee maker is unhealthy for you.

Later in the post, you’ll learn how to get rid of these tiny bugs in the coffee maker.

Before that, let’s get into another fly stuck inside the coffee maker, the fruit flies.

Fruit Flies In Coffee Maker

There are many tiny black flies that infest homes. And fruit flies are one of them.

Fruit flies in the coffee maker are the fallout of fruit infestation in your home.

And, like the fungus gnats, sources of moisture also draw the fruit flies.

Humidity and dampness in electrical appliances draw the fruit flies to them. That’s the reason they even buzz around water dispensers of refrigerators.

These fruit flies will hover around the coffee dispenser nozzle or near the drip tray.

Some even get inside the coffee-making machine.

And once inside, they can’t come out.

Tiny Ants Inside The Coffee Maker

Ants love coffee. Perhaps more than you do.

It’s a wrong belief that coffee grounds repel ants. They attract ants.

And there’s no way that ants will leave your coffee machine if they’re in your home.

Most species of house ants will infest coffee machines.

The tiny sugar ants are most likely to get inside your coffee machine and try to take every ounce of coffee deposits.

But ants are not likely to stay inside the coffee machine. They try to take the coffee grounds inside the coffee maker back to their nests.

In doing so, some of them may get stuck inside the coffee maker.

The nutrients in the coffee grinds are highly beneficial for the ants to survive.

Warmth from electrical appliances also play role in drawing ants inside the electronics. That’s one of the reasons for ants getting inside laptops.

How To Get Rid Of Tiny Bugs In The Coffee Maker In 9 Steps

The presence of bugs inside the coffee maker is risky for your health. Drinking coffee out of the coffee maker with bugs can make you sick.

Fearing that, many people throw away their coffee makers.

But you can eliminate bugs inside the coffee maker and save yourself from buying a brand new one.

You clean and disinfect your coffee-making machine with the help of vinegar.

White vinegar is both a disinfecting agent and a cleaner. And it comes in handy when it comes to cleaning appliances.

Here’s how to get rid of bugs in coffee maker and disinfect it –

Step#1 – Empty your coffee maker

Remove all the coffee beans and coffee grounds from the coffee maker.

Step#2 – Fill the carafe with equal amounts of warm water and white vinegar

Warm water and vinegar break down the rigid molds and calcium and magnesium deposits inside the coffee maker.

Fill the carafe with the mixture and pour it into the coffee machine water reservoir. Keep the carafe back on the coffee maker’s plate.

Step#3 – Run one cycle like you’re making a cup of coffee

Running one cycle will clean the sludge and deposits inside the coffee maker that attract bugs.

Step#4 – Refill the coffee maker with equal amounts of hot water and vinegar

Run one more cycle. You may want to repeat once more, depending on the size of the coffee maker

Step#5 – Wash the pot and basket in hot soapy water

You can use a scrubber or an old toothbrush to remove any leftover residues or deposits in the baskets, pot’s edges, and crevices.

Step#6 – Reassemble the coffee maker and run one more cycle with normal water

This step removes the vinegar and its smell from the coffee maker. You may want to do it a few times to ensure no vinegar smell in the coffee maker.

To check if there’s no vinegar left in the coffee maker, add a pinch of baking soda.

Baking soda reacts with the vinegar and produces a fizz. If there’s no fizz, then it’s sure that there’s no vinegar in the coffee maker.

Step#7 – Use a disinfectant to clean the coffee maker’s exterior

It’ll remove any food stains or oil stains on the coffee maker. These stains attract bugs.

So, clean the coffee pot, the coffee jars, and the coffee maker’s exteriors with a disinfectant.

Step#8 – Let the coffee maker dry

Some coffee makers are hard to dismantle and clean. In that case, you may contact the manufacturer to clean the coffee maker.

Step#9 – And Finally, Keep Bug Traps In Your Kitchen And Near The Coffee Maker

Sticky bug traps and baits near appliances help keep bugs from entering the devices.

They’re handy for stopping these tiny roaches from infesting your coffee maker.

Keep these sticky traps a few inches away from the coffee maker.

You can also make a DIY fly trap to catch the flies. Pour fruit juice into a jar and covering it with a perforated aluminum foil lid.

Instead of fruit juice, you can also mix a bit of water with ripe mashed banana, grapes, and papaya. And pour the mixture in a jar.

The smell of the fruit will draw the flies like gnats and fruit flies to the jar.

And they’ll get trapped inside the jar when they try to access the fruit juice by sneaking through the foil.

Should You Throw Away Your Bug-Infested Coffee Maker If You Can’t Clean It?

No, you shouldn’t. Some coffee makers are hard to open because they’ve got undetachable or immovable parts. And cleaning them from the inside is difficult.

Many people throw away their coffee makers just because they saw a few bugs inside it.

But you can give your coffee maker to the manufacturer for repair and cleaning, especially when it’s in the warranty period.

They’ve got their unique ways of thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting coffee makers.

Final Thoughts

Bugs in the coffee maker indicate that these bugs are in your home and kitchen.

So, if you’ve noticed bugs inside the coffee maker, it’ll be best to hire a pest controller to get your home inspected for these bugs.

And it would help if you clean your appliances like dishwasher, microwave, fridge, toasters, mixer grinders, and coffee makers at least once a month.

There are always food deposits in these appliances that draw bugs and pests.