Remember last week when I mentioned that I had tossed half of my yarn and fabric stash? And then said no more? Well, I am willing to come clean, in a manner of speaking. No, it is not moths. At least not yarn moths. We do have some grain moths that we are trying to get rid of but they are not the bugs that made me trash my stash.
Promise not to cringe?
B e d b u g s. There, I said it. Ick! I am not writing it out properly because I do not want to become a part of the obsessive b.bug blogging crowd. Yup, there is one. You can really freak yourself out if you spend too much time researching this subject via google. And so I have stopped.
We found them on the morning of Rosh Hashanah and spent all of what should have been a lovely 4 day weekend preparing our home for exterminating. This involved taking EVERY piece of clothing and linen to be washed or dry cleaned and putting all other fabric based objects in the dryer for 45 minutes. This is where the yarn wipeout began. Much got tossed before the drying step, much got tossed after being ruined in the dryer. Dave, your stuff survived pretty well -- just a bit of pilling on the outside of the skeins. Two balls of angora ruined everything else that was with them. I haven't tossed that batch yet but it will probably go once I find it again. Lots of belongings got tossed as well. Think of a frentic three day fall cleaning. Frankly, it would have only taken us another 8 hours or so to be ready to move house. Yup, that is how thoroughly we went through and packed up our stuff. Much of it is still on the balcony.
We have 3 captain's beds -- with drawers and in my case cabinets, too -- built in. It is the Mama and Papa bed that got hit by the little buggers -- the squidlings seem to be o.k. for now.
Every drawer, every crack, every crevice of every bed and dresser and bookcase had to be vacuumed. And then they came and sprayed. Everything. And now we are waiting for a second visit. The drawers have been reemptied (but not rewashed) and the beds stripped. The little laundry service down the block has all of our bedding -- and the week's laundry to date while we were at it. You realized that we probably paid their rent last month.
May I repeat myself -- ICK! Oh, and I was storing much of my yarn in the bed cabinets. Double ick. The yarn will now live on the balcony in rubbermaid type boxes. I figure they will be protected from b.bugs and moths -- at least during the really cold part of the winter and the really hot part of the summer.
Nope, have no idea how we got them. No idea how long it will take to be totally rid of them. Lost lots of sleep over this and wound up getting a nasty headcold on top of it all. Hopefully the exterminator will arrive soon and we can all go for a bike ride.
There, I said it. Promise to still like me?
7 comments:
I'll still like you.
I live in Florida. My first week of substitute teaching I got head lice from a student. Shortly after that ... pinworms. There ain't NOTHIN' grosser than pinworms. We have roaches that fly and some heavy-weight horned beetles that hurt like h*ll when you are inline skating and they nail you in the forehead! UGH - BUGS!
So, I can empathize. Hope the exterminator can rid you of all the little buggies quickly and completely!
Oh, your poor family. That's so horrible, and such an inconvenience, and a royal PITA. As nasty as it may seem, it's better than moths. No, really, it is.
But, ew...
I've been told that there is a two week waiting period after the spraying to exterminate and the really, really sure they are totally gone. Because that's apparently how long it takes the young bugs (young buggers?) which might not have been killed off to grow up.
I know this because ... a friend has just gone through a similar experience. Twice.
And he is quite certain the spray did not get them all the second time (which occurred within a few months of the first time).
In an effort to save him some expense in the future ... when you talk about "putting all other fabric based objects in the dryer for 45 minutes", is this a known - alternative - method, to machine washing everything?
He has been machine washing *everything* you see.
Just using the dryer for some things would be a great saving for him - saving money, saving his energy, and saving time. He's disabled and the stress of dealing with the bedbugs (and a slack, deceitful landlord) makes him ill.
Janey
janeyknitting AT yahoo DOT ca
Ugh. We've all gone through stuff like that - lice, fleas, meal moths- ick is right. I read somewhere that bedbug infestations are on the increase in even the nicest places. Hope all your efforts have wiped them out.
I saw a report on the news not long ago about some high level hotels having those b-bug infestations. I'm so sorry you've had to go through all this.
I still love you.
What a nightmare! Thank goodness you have a balcony! The tubbies seem to work well. That's what I've been using. Of course, the ones that are airtight are better than the ones that aren't. ;^)
Good luck!
Ick. Bugs, bugs, go away - and don't come back!
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