Woman’s horrifying washing machine discovery: ‘Burn it!’
The ants go starching one-by-one, hurrah hurrah.
There’s nothing worse than trying to do laundry only to find that the washer’s already in use.
In this case, an Australian woman received the fright of her life after finding that her washing machine had been infested by thousands of ants.
She detailed the spine-tingling discovery in the Facebook group “Cleaning & Organizing Inspiration Australia.”
“Just went to do a load of washing and discovered there are ants all through it!” the unidentified woman posted in the group.
She explained that she cleaned them out with insecticide, but when she went to do a load, more appeared, leading her to deduce that the picnic pillagers were deep inside the machine where she couldn’t reach them.
“They’re even inside the LED display!!” lamented the woman, who inquired if anyone else ever had their washing machine similarly colonized.
Accompanying photos show the tiny black critters swarming over the automated clothing cleaner, crawling everywhere from the detergent drawers to the drum like a giant entomological jacuzzi.
Meanwhile, separate footage depicts the LED screen flickering as the social insects scuttle over the numbers.
The discovery sent shivers down social media’s collective spine.
“Like a horror movie,” exclaimed one disgusted viewer, while another wrote, “OMG never seen something like this before! Are you washing with sugar water or what?”
A third quipped, “Definitely gonna get ants in the pants after this one.”
Meanwhile, armchair exterminators had suggestions for how to rid one’s washing machine of ants.
“Turn off appliance,” prescribed one. “To kill heat. Use Talan ant gel.”
Another commenter suggested, “Pull it apart and kill the eggs. They are living inside the mechanics which means they most likely have babies in there. Gotta kill the home for them to move on.”
“Bi card and vinegar will kill them in the machine just hot cycle it,” advised another. “There looking for warmth to bread in. Undo the back and clean it out, they should all after that.”
“Throw out your washing machine,” suggest one social media comedian.
In a recent update in the comments, the woman explained that despite the infestation, she “did two short loads of washing because” she “really needed to.”
“I was worried they’d have ants all over them but the ants must’ve taken refuge in with the LCD screen … my skin is crawling,” she explained.
“I saw someone mention they’re seeking warmth so I put some frozen peas on top of the LCD and went back and checked and they’ve moved from there.”
The woman added, “Who knows where they went though. I’m thinking I’ll have to call pest control. I’m really hoping I don’t have to get a new machine.”
Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only one who had their machine hijacked by ants. Other FB users shared their own horror stories of the creatures infesting appliances, ranging from their irons to the motherboard of their computers.
While this behavior might seem bizarre, some species of ants are known to infest and destroy electronics.
Tawny crazy ants — a South American species that has invaded the southern US — have a penchant for commandeering electronic devices, ranging from televisions to air conditioning units, often causing them to short-circuit.
In the craziest example of this in August, a colony of ants allegedly invaded a Brazilian author’s Kindle — and started buying books off of it.