Mothball smell

[ken60 0]

My wooden box full of rooster necks and saddles has been full of mothballs and flakes for years. I am all but thrown out of the house when I open it. Can the necks be washed thoroughly and put in a new box with cedar chips so I can tie flies without my whole family moving out??

 

What do I need to be careful of if I wash these?

[yellow bomber 0]

Shouldn't be a problem to wash them, use Dawn or Sunlight or something mild and you should be good to go. Friend of mine has been using fresh cloves instead of those rancid mothballs now for years and says it works just as well, he changes the cloves when the clocks change in the spring and fall.

[mvendon 0]

Hi ken60,

 

I wouldn't wash anything. This is what I would try. If you have a spare room, attic, or a closet that doesn't get much traffic: Take all of your stuff out of the box and get rid of every moth ball or crystal. Buy some Febreeze and wipe the inside of the box. Spray some Febreeze on a few paper towels and put your stuff back in the box mixing the sprayed paper towels along with your materials. I'm assuming that your capes/feathers/materials are packaged in individual bags. I wouldn't let a paper towel sprayed with Febreeze come into direct contact with your materials. Leave the box lid open and put an old sheet over the top to keep bugs out, but allow your materials to air out. I'm not sure how long this would take since I've never had to do it, and that's why you may need a space that doesn't get much traffic.

When the odor is pretty much gone, replace your mothballs with MOTH AVOID brand moth balls that have a fresh linen scent. They are made by Oxford & Hill and come in a forest green and white plastic bag. My wife bought some at a local Bed Bath and Beyond store.

That's what I would do. I only use Paradichlorobenzene moth balls since I know that it will kill any bug, and these new mothballs don't smell like the old fashioned ones since each ball is wrapped in a small paper pouch. I have a bunch of old materials that have seen bugs, and it's just a shame to see chunks and holes through fur and feathers that at one time were 100 percent usable. They even ate through the plastic envelopes to get to the material.

 

Regards,

Mark

 

 

[JSzymczyk 0]

I agree, don't wash them. It only takes a few PDB mothballs to keep pests away, it takes a bunch of them to kill existing pests.

 

All the cloves and cedar oil and all that happy hippy crap ain't gonna kill a single bug, but it might keep them away for a while. Limited chemical warfare is the only way to be sure.

[arkle 0]

If you get any freebies or untreated animal products, you can freeze it, in zip-locs for a week or so then remove it & re-freeze it, a lot quicker method is to micro-wave it in an almost sealed z/l for 20/30 secs. That will kill ALL unwanted inhabitants, then use whatever you prefer from the above or one of the numerous sprays that google will find you.

[yellow bomber 0]

Just out of curiosity, what are the reasons for not giving them a little wash?

[mvendon 0]

Just out of curiosity, what are the reasons for not giving them a little wash?

 

Hi yellow bomber,

 

The poster wrote that he had a box full of capes and saddles. If it's more than twenty or thirty, it would just be a PITA to wash, hang/set out, and dry that many. It would also remove more of the natural oil that's left in the skin making it drier and a little more brittle when you pull feathers off of it. If it were just a few, it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

 

Regards,

Mark

[ken60 0]

I washed them before I read any advice to the contrary. I had almost 40 capes and saddles and I did this by putting about 3 gallons of water in a 5 gallon plastic pail with a small amount of dishwashing detergent. I agitated them by hand and then let them soak for a while before dumping out that water.

 

Then I repeated the procedure with just plain water but let them soak overnight.

 

I took them out and towel dried them and laid them out on dry towels for a couple days and then, because the weather here in Maine was humid and cool for the weekend (not good drying weather at all) I put as many as would fit on a 20 inch box fan laid flat and blowing straight up on low. I left them for a few hours, then took them off and did the same with the other half of them. I did this twice, and they all are thoroughly dry now. The smell is almost completely gone, and believe me it was overpowering before. The wooden box was also thoroughly washed but the wood was so permeated that I won't use it---I will get a new container.

 

I have not tied with them yet, but they seem as soft as ever and not brittle. I had to be aggressive with the drying before they molded or something.

 

I am glad I did it, and will report any downside to this procedure if the feathers seem in any way damaged by this.

 

Thanks for the replies, and I will definitely check out the other moth stuff, but will avoid any real strong repellent of any sort.

[Silver Doctor 0]

To get rid of the mothball smell hang the capes in an open area. They will "air out" in a couple of weeks to be in reasonable shape. Have done this several times with capes I have bought with mothball smell. Works

[DevinKaradeema 0]

yall could just go and get a urinal cake they smell nice and keep the bugs away

[flyderaght 0]

Another way to keep an eye on things rather keep mothballs etc is to buy a pheremone trap for moths. you can buy them at a hardware store or a pest control company. basically, it'sa glueboard with a lure that tells the males there is a girl there. of course they stuck. being you remove the male from the equation, no moths to reproduce with. we use them in grocery stores to catch food based pests like the indian meal moth. it also works on clothing moths. the lures last 3 months, but should be replace every 2 months to be effective. you hang the trap no higher than 4-6 ft as the moths don't fly much higher than that.

marc

[Robert M 0]

If they are drying out a bit you could soak them in a solution of about 15-20 % glycerin to distilled water for a few hours then dry them by hand and fan to put some moisture back in them. I did this with an old brittle indian cape and it did wonders for it.

[bowfin47 0]

Another way to keep an eye on things rather keep mothballs etc is to buy a pheremone trap for moths. you can buy them at a hardware store or a pest control company. basically, it'sa glueboard with a lure that tells the males there is a girl there. of course they stuck. being you remove the male from the equation, no moths to reproduce with. we use them in grocery stores to catch food based pests like the indian meal moth. it also works on clothing moths. the lures last 3 months, but should be replace every 2 months to be effective. you hang the trap no higher than 4-6 ft as the moths don't fly much higher than that.

marc

 

Marc just gave you all some of the very best advice that you'll receive all year...

 

Bowfin47

 

P.S.

 

I have a BS and MS in entomology.