Tiny tiny little mites in the kitchen | ExpatWoman.com
 

Tiny tiny little mites in the kitchen

20
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 22 June 2013 - 14:50

Hello

I have these tiny tiny little ants or mites in my kitchen found most of them in my food cupboard but have seen them outside the kitchen cupboard on the kitchen roll and on the floor by my washing machine. I have thrown out all the food as they were even crawling on tins. Cleaned the cupboard and they are still there. Do any body know what they are they are not flour beetles as these are so small u really have to look hard to spot them and they are light brown in colour or sometimes they look white please help its getting so annoying

Thanks

565
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EW GURU
Latest post on 30 June 2013 - 18:38
Are they weebles?? I got them once before a long time ago. they were in a box of oatmeal. I basically had to throw everything out and clean all the cabinets with bleach and water solution and then I used a water and lavender oil solution and then I used tea tree oil. I also read online that they don't like Bay leaves so once everything was aired out and cleaned I placed bay leaves throughout the cabinet space and then slowly purchased new products again
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 30 June 2013 - 16:26
I have had these too, for about two years now and they just keep coming back despite me being super clean, keeping every opened food in air tight containers, getting cupboards cleaned every week, using all sorts of different cleaning products, throwing baking powder (as I heard this helps) everywhere...its soooo frustrating...I noticed the first onset of these kit hen invaders when we switched our AC off and it got quite warm inside, I have the AC on since then and they have dispersed a bit but keep propping up now and then....wish there was a solution to get rid of them forever.... Do you also get reddish ants? We live in a flat and get those too! They used to come out of the smallest holes in the wall, constant maintenance and cleaning is the key to keeping those out! :-)
484
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 22 June 2013 - 18:27
Hello I have these tiny tiny little ants or mites in my kitchen found most of them in my food cupboard but have seen them outside the kitchen cupboard on the kitchen roll and on the floor by my washing machine. I have thrown out all the food as they were even crawling on tins. Cleaned the cupboard and they are still there. Do any body know what they are they are not flour beetles as these are so small u really have to look hard to spot them and they are light brown in colour or sometimes they look white please help its getting so annoying Thanks They are flour/grain mites, I hate those with a passion! If they are seen crawling outside your cupboards, that means there is a long standing infestation. They are really difficult to get rid of because they are so tiny. Their coloring is from palest beige (almost white) to brown and so microscopic in size. The dried goods you got ie flour, pasta, sugar may have been contaminated, and they will reproduced and spread like wild fires! If I remember correctly, they can go without food for ~ a week, so if you can, be sure not to store any dried goods in the cupboard for min. 1 week after cleaning them. I had them six months ago. I had to throw everything out, clean the cupboards with soap & vinegar/water solution, but that did not kill them all. I had to use the professional strength cockroach poison (in my case, I was armed with my faithful Dupont Advion cockroach gel bait). The reason your wiping down the cupboards didn't kill them is because they hide and lay eggs in those narrow gaps between the shelves and the cupboard wall. My shelves were permanently attached, so I couldn't wipe them down, so the poison gel was my best option. Now when I buy flour, rice or pasta, I will keep them in the freezer for 24 hours before storing them in the cupboards. The experts said they are not harmful (some people may be allergic to them), but I definitely do not want them living in my kitchen! I hope you will get rid of them all soon.
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 22 June 2013 - 16:57
Thanks I will try this. How long should I leave the cornflour in the cupboard for? I haven't notice a smell yet what smell is it? Difficult to describe, but it's strong.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 22 June 2013 - 16:45
They may be sugar ants (I hope for your sake they aren't) these are incredibly resilient and once you have them are very hard to shift. You will need to put all open food into Tupperware, seal up any holes in the grout etc where they may be coming in a bleach your kitchen surfaces, inside cupboards etc regularly. I have tried all sorts of solutions and this seems to be the only one that manages to keep them to a minimum I haven't managed to get rid of them entirely as apparently once you have them in the brick work they will always find places to come in.
20
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 22 June 2013 - 16:03
Thanks I will try this. How long should I leave the cornflour in the cupboard for? I haven't notice a smell yet what smell is it?
5499
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 22 June 2013 - 15:33
Ghost ants smell quite strongly when squashed (FYI).
 
 

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