# Cockroaches living in my mircowave **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 5, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313 "2011-02-05T21:40:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dggellman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@dggellman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dggellman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313/1 "2011-02-05T21:40:23Z")
Hi all, I have cockroaches living in my microwave. I’ve tried several times to get rid of them- I’ve opened it up, found the nest, and vacuumed evey last roach and egg out. Yet they still appear! I’m desperate- any suggestions on how to get rid of them and make sure they don’t come back? Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313/2 "2011-02-05T21:45:02Z")
Eww. Buy a new microwave. And I doubt the microwave is the source, so maybe you should, like, fumigate or something. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313/3 "2011-02-05T21:48:36Z")
Why would you even want to use the microwave after roaches were living in it? I’d get rid of it, too. ---
**Author:** ![automagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@automagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/automagic)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313/4 "2011-02-05T22:22:08Z")
Depending on where you live this might work. If it gets substantially below freezing for a long period of time where you live, then leave the microwave outside for a few hours. The longer you can the better. That will freeze them critters up. Ive done it before with a computer that I brought from El Salvador that had some weird bugs in it that stowed away. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313/5 "2011-02-05T22:27:17Z")
Is this a stand-alone, or an over-the-oven microwave? If the later, and it also has a vent to the outside for the oven, have you checked and cleaned the ventilation pipe? ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313/6 "2011-02-05T22:36:44Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > … I doubt the microwave is the source, so maybe you should, like, fumigate or something. This. Totally. I would think the non-microwaved areas of a microwave would be a lovely place to live if I were a cockroach – nice and warm and probably pretty humid, and well-protected from all the slings and arrows of cockroach life, like cats and poisons. If a vacancy in one opened up while I was living elsewhere in your kitchen, I’d move right in. So you need to evict the present tenants AND eliminate the rest of the tenancy market all at the same time. Good luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313/7 "2011-02-05T22:40:19Z")
The roaches are not there just to party on empty. They are there for the food. The food is the residue of grease that has built up inside the case of the device. You need to remove the outer case and carefully clean the grease. I recommend a product called Super Clean by Castrol, available at hardware and auto parts type stores. Always possible that they are only using the MW as a hiding place after lunching on other food nearby. Clean everything. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313/8 "2011-02-05T22:58:33Z")
going inside a microwave even when unplugged can be hazardous. there is high voltage inside. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313/9 "2011-02-06T00:46:00Z")
GE microwaves are in the $100 to $400 range (countertop). How much is your time and effort worth? Almost all of the above remedies are time-consuming, and you’re still left with the problem that the microwave has had roaches living in it, which would make me rather turn it into a planter than actually eat anything cooked in it going forward. Get a new one. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313/10 "2011-02-06T00:54:49Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Get a new one. My take on the OP is that his kitchen may be a great incubator for cockroaches. If so, a new microwave will become infested in .004 milliseconds after installation. I think you need to tackle the problem at its source. The microwave isn’t an attractor, just a handy hiding place. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313/11 "2011-02-06T01:02:02Z")
I agree. The microwave may or may not be infested. The house definitely is infested. You need an actual exterminator. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313/12 "2011-02-06T22:29:02Z")
Well the weather here in Calgary sucks for six months of the year, but at least there is no cockroaches. Yuck. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313/13 "2011-02-06T22:58:19Z")
Microwave them? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313/14 "2011-02-07T14:18:33Z")
Take it from me, microwaving a cockroach is entertaining but in my experience nonlethal. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313/15 "2011-02-07T14:22:02Z")
> [@emmaliminal](#): > > I would think the non-microwaved areas of a microwave would be a lovely place to live if I were a cockroach – nice and warm and probably pretty humid, and well-protected from all the slings and arrows of cockroach life, like cats and poisons. And posion cats. Don’t forget poison cats. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cockroaches-living-in-my-mircowave/570313/16 "2011-02-07T15:00:09Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > going inside a microwave even when unplugged can be hazardous. there is high voltage inside. Old CRT televisions were famous for retaining dangerously high voltages long after being unplugged, and [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven#Design) does mention a high-voltage capacitor in microwave oven design. The interwebs claim that most ovens are equipped with a bleed resistor to discharge the cap a short time after the oven is turned off. However, some ovens don’t have this, or it may be broken. [This site](http://www.microwavewizard.com/microwave-oven-capacitor.html) describes how to safely discharge the cap and ensure that it remains uncharged while you’re working inside the cabinet. I think his nomenclature is a little messed up: Where he mentions “20000 W” and “100000 W”, I think the W is supposed to be “ohms”.