material cleaning

[spey guy 0]

Hey everyone

 

yesterday i was organizing my fly tying bench and i found a small insect crawling in one of my bucktails. i figure where there is one, there are bound to be more. i don't want to throw them away because they cost money, but i do want to resolve this problem. what should i do about it? how should i clean my hairs and feathers properly?

 

any help would be greatly appreciated

 

thanks a million,

Luke

[MowestFlyfisher 0]

well what i would do is take the bucktails that have bugs on them and freeze them for about 2 weeks, so as to kill the pests. that should stop the bugs you have now.

[flytire 0]

after you get rid of the bugs, return your materials to a ziploc bag and always keep it sealed when not in use.

[JSzymczyk 0]

do a search on this forum for keywords such as "pests" "mothballs" and "paradichlorobenzene" There have been some in depth discussions in the past.

 

My opinion, based on decades of tying as well as curating valuable insect collections (the pests which eat dead animal parts are the same) is that the bugs which eat tying materials can only be eradicated with chemical warfare. It's not difficult, only time consuming. Once the pests are dead, vigilance is the key to preventing another infestation.

[Steve P 0]

What he said..... I say get the chemicals out and nuke the SOBs back to the nasty place they came from.

 

Steve

[bowfin47 0]

Also go into your kitchen and look in EVERY box of foodstuffs and check them for bugs! The source of your problem may be there. This means check your rice, cereals, flour, breadcrumbs, yada, yada, yada... Yes even open the sealed boxes... Ya' can always tape back up!

 

Oh, and at this time of year (i.e. hot weather) also be very aware of MOTHS in your woolens - coats, sweaters, hunting socks, blankets, and etc.!! These same moths can easily migrate into your feathers/skins!!!

 

I too firmly believe in freezing, but I also thaw, wait a few days and re-freeze. Then there's the microwave and chemicals, but cleanliness and ruthlessly disposing of infested materials can not be over emphasized...

 

When ya' have $100 in materials, this is not as important (and you tend to take more chances), but when your material replacement cost reach into the thousands (and it can easily reach that point), then you need to be more vigilant...

[Guest]

Okay, before you PANIC and go CRAZY thinking your infested CALMLY check all your materials. If that's the only one you find it could have come from anywhere. I know you probably killed it but checking on line to see exactly what type of bug it is would help determine the best course of action.

 

Another check you could do is take the bucktail outside and use a comb and comb it, the best kind to use is a lice comb with long teeth, just be careful you want to check for bugs not tear all the hair out of it. If you still think it might be suspect go and wash it in warm water and Dawn dish soap, and comb it again. Rinse it really well, wrap in paper towel or an old towel, put between two boards and squeeze most of the water out. Tack it to a board and cover it completely with borax. Check it daily and any wet clumps use a spoon take them off and put fresh in that spot. After a week I knock off all the borax and check the tail. If it's completely dry zip bag and keep an eye on it for a week or so.

 

I've posted this comment before, I have a hard time believing the "Stick it in the Freezer". If bugs are surviving on deer in the wild at 0 or below, what makes you think sticking them in the freezer is going to do anything???

 

After I get swap materials or clean hunted materials and put them through cleaning and the borax and THINK they're ready, I tack them to a board, put them in a big Food Saver vacumn pack bag (I kept the old Food Saver and bought the wife a new one) and I vacumn pack it. Stays in for at least two weeks, and I still check them. After that it's in heavy duty zip lock bags with a piece of flea collar.

[MowestFlyfisher 0]

i like the flea collar idea might give that a try

[JSzymczyk 0]

 

 

I've posted this comment before, I have a hard time believing the "Stick it in the Freezer". If bugs are surviving on deer in the wild at 0 or below, what makes you think sticking them in the freezer is going to do anything???

 

 

 

 

The bugs which are on deer in the wild pretty much aren't the ones we worry about. Live-animal pests such as fleas, ticks, lice, don't cause any worry for fly tying. Granted there are probably some dermestid beetle larvae on them in the wild, and there are usually a few on turkeys and other large birds. The thing is, they stay down near the skin surface under the insulating hair on the animal. It might be 0 degrees F outside, but the the bugs easily remain above freezing. Just like if you are outside at 0 degrees, inside your jacket next to your skin, it's a lot warmer than freezing.

 

Dermestid eggs however can withstand prolonged and deep freezing. So you are 100% correct. If you are freezing to control pests, you must go through at least 3 freeze/thaw cycles of a couple weeks each.

ALL occupied houses have some insects in them which are potential "pests" for fly tying materials (and mounted, preserved insects like butterfly collections.) We commonly call them "Carpet Beetles". They're quite small and the larvae are the ones which do the damage. In our homes they subsist on food particles we drop on the floor, dead skin particles which fall off us, if you have dogs or cats they devour shed hair and skin particles. If they make it into feathers and hair we use for fly tying, and are left to reproduce unchecked, they can quickly do a lot of damage. Clothes moths are a lot less common but still a potential threat.

[bowfin47 0]

JSzymczyk,

 

Good posting, especial about multiple freeze thaws (and microwaving). However most tyers don't understand the true potential for "multiple pests" to invest their precious feathers, furs, and raw hides/skins. For instance, there is always the potential for more than a single species of dermestid beetles (larder beetle; black larder beetle; hide beetle; black carpet beetle; varied carpet beetle; fur beetles, and furniture carpet beetles) and cloths moths (i.e. Tinea and Tineola species).

 

In addition, Drugstore Beetles, House Crickets, Silverfish/Firebrats, and other insects can cause also tyers grief.

 

 

Like JSzymczyk stated these pest of stored product, not the pest of the live animals, i.e. fleas, ticks, lice, mites.

 

 

The first point in in prevention/control should always be cleanliness/sanitation. Folks keep you materials as clean and oil free as you can.

[spey guy 0]

Great replies everyone! thank you all for your help

[JSzymczyk 0]

+1 what Bowfin said. I hadn't had enough coffee to get the mental gears turning freely yet, and was running late for work when I posted.

 

 

we haven't even touched on filthy little mice making nests in chewed up saddles and capes.... Thankfully it didn't happen to me but it did happen to a buddy of mine years ago.

[bluegill576 0]

I had this problem and just popped the furs in the microwave and then washed them off and they are all good now.