Ack! Ants in my dishwasher!

**daddys3chicks** · 04-11-2005, 11:15 AM

Ugh...we have been seeing them - it's that time of year at our house. But I opened the dishwasher to put a few last things in it and they were everywhere! I closed it and ran it, but I know from the tv commercial that ants can live up to 10 days in water!

What can I do to get rid of these doggone things??? I got some bait traps, and am hoping those work. Any ideas are appreciated.

**dhmunoz** · 04-11-2005, 12:01 PM

LOL!! I know it isn't funny, but when I read the title to this thread I just had to laugh, remembering that very same dilemma that we had when I was in high school. The ants in the dishwasher used to give my mom fits! I remember opening the dishwasher and the inside looked completely black because they were EVERYWHERE, and I mean THOUSANDS of them.

Whenever that happened, I would just run the dishwasher about 4-5 times in a row. I know, not frugal....but at the time I just wanted them washed AWAY because my mom would come unglued when she saw the dishwasher like that.

Ahhhh.....memories....LOL

Good Luck

**Missy** · 04-11-2005, 01:33 PM

they can live in the water at those high temps??

**dhmunoz** · 04-11-2005, 01:37 PM

In my experience, they *don't* live at the high dishwasher temps...but they sometimes DO "bake on" inside the dishwasher...most of them wash out, but there are generally quite a few baked on. It's pretty gross. That's why I would run the dishwasher all kinds of times. I tried to spare my mom from seeing them, as she would totally spazz out. LOL

**Tootsiebella** · 04-11-2005, 02:08 PM

Ugh! Not a nice problem- one eco friendly way that I have used is to put cayenne pepper around where they are coming in, or in the dishwasher, spread a pretty good bit around inside, and on the floor underneath the dishwasher, in case they decide to try and get out that way. If they do manage to get out, spread some Vaseline all around the perimeter of the DW- they don't like that either- I know it sounds yucky, and you might not have the DW for a couple days, but I have had success with these methods-Good luck!

**daddys3chicks** · 04-11-2005, 06:03 PM

Well, I ran the dw twice and they got sucked out when it drained. The problem is we keep seeing them, but can't find a definate entry spot. I am convinced the house was built on the largest existing ant hill in NC.

**dhmunoz** · 04-11-2005, 08:26 PM

That's what happened at our house too. They all washed away, but the next day more would be there. I just kept on boiling them (LOL!) and wondering just how many darn ants there could BE in the world!

**Mommy2five** · 04-12-2005, 03:31 AM

I hope you can get rid of them!

**pip** · 04-12-2005, 08:35 AM

Eww. I found several black ants on the kitchen counter yesterday and this morning. I think they were going after the honey, which was kind of sticky. Yuck. Now that they found it, (I removed the bottle ), I hope they don't come in mass!