Yuck Yuck Yuckety Yuck!

[Littlefish]

Help! I've just opened my dishwasher as the cycle had finished, and it's crawling with ants. Nasty little buggers running all over the inside of the door, and the bottom tray.

1. How did they get in there
2. How do I get rid of them

I've put the dishwasher back on again in the hope that the buggers will be drowned!

Hopeful bump.

On the inside of the machine? Could they have been caught in something that you washed?

Yes, on the inside of the machine. There must have been about 50 of them

I don't think they were in anything that I washed - surely they would have drowned if they'd gone through a whole cycle.

Perhaps they crawled in there after it had finished. How on earth do I get rid of them? Do I need to put ant powder in the empty dishwasher overnight and then run it through a cycle in the morning with nothing in it?

Would that work do you think?

Phone the manufacturer and ask them what they think you should do. They might have a better idea of how the ants could have got in.

Good idea uberalice! I'll do it tomorrow.

I don't think it's anything to do with your dishwasher Littlefish. We had ants in our kitchen and they got everywhere - even in jars of jam with the lids screwed on tightly! One day we noticed a few crawling on the worktop , then next day the little devils were all over the place. We got someone from the council to come & exterminate them - it wasn't very expensive but we had to throw away all the food in the cupboards. I keep jam in the fridge now and at the first sign of spring, down goes the ant powder at the back door & I spray round the windows too to keep them out. Hope you get rid of them soon.

I was reading the other day that ants don't like to walk over chalk, and that if you notice ants outside you should draw a chalk line on your doorstep and across anywhere else they could get in. Don't know if it works, though. Touch wood we don't have an ant problem.

Thank you PollyEster and ninedragons.

That's interesting Polly - so they could have just chosen the dishwasher as their home-of-choice for that half hour!

I'll have a look this morning and see if they are still there, or have moved elsewhere.

Ninedragons - I'll have to raid dd's art box and see if she's got any chalk!

It sounds like they may have crawled in via the outflow pipe or at least through the hole in the wall that the pipe goes through.

borax kills ants.

Thanks Wasting and Gentleotter.

I'll check the outflow pipe. There were a couple on my kitchen worksurface this morning, but none in the dishwasher. Perhaps PollyEster was right - they just happened to be in the dishwasher when I opened it.