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So*, in Israel, very few people have dryers. We, for example, don't have one. Like all the other Israeli citizens, we hang our laundry on lines outside the window.
However, it apparently seems to be that time of year when earwigs thrive within the folds of freshly cleaned underwear. Last time we took the laundry off the line and I folded it, two earwigs crawled out and almost scared me to death. This time, today, when I was folding the laundry, four more decided to say "hello."
How do we get rid of them? Does anyone have any ideas? There's nowhere inside the house to hang large quantities of laundry, and we can't stop DOING it (the laundry, in case that wasn't clear)... but when you're attacked four times over by earwigs, you don't particularly want to repeat the experience. They are rather revolting creatures.
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How do they get onto the laundry in the first place? When it's hanging up, or when you're folding it, or what?
Yeah, Raia, no one in this country owns dryers either - it's all hung up outside. Most laundry's dry in a couple of hours.
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Eradication by hand appears to be the preferred method. "Pick them off and discard" said one book.
Have you tried shaking the laundry first?
It seems like they "might" make holes in clothing, but really these aren't dangerous pests and don't do anything to ears. Spraying with malathion might help, but who wants that on their clothing?
Yuck!
Hire an orangutan to nibble at them for a half hour before you take the laundry in.
Chances are, they're attracted to the wet laundry as a source of water, now that I think of it. Probably nothing you can do to get rid of them.
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Quid, they climb in while it's hanging up, and climb back out when I'm folding the laundry. *shudder*
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Climb in? Do they climb across the line? Or up the legs of the laundry hanging thingy? Or fly in? Ick!
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posted
If they're attracted to water, can you give them a saucer of water on the corner of the balcony while the clothes are out (dumping it afterwards, of course)?
I have no idea if it will work, but I know my mom used to give the ants a dish of stale sugary cereal outside, and it mostly kept them out of the house. (Any who did come in were breaking the bargain and were killed.)
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posted
I don't know if they're actually after water... it's worth a try, I suppose... but you'd think, after the clothes dried, they'd leave, in that case!
Quid, I have no idea what they do. I just know that when I fold the laundry, they fall on my lap out of someone's underwear, or t-shirts. And it scares the living daylights out of me.
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posted
According to this, earwigs are attracted to tight crevices. So, try to hang your clothes out as flat as possible? But they'll still go for the arms. They are apparently a important predator of pests, so it's better not to kill them if you can; they recommend shaking. They say you can make traps of tightly rolled corrugated cardboard, but I don't guarantee they won't just attract more. Sorry.
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My mom says you can mix powdered sugar with boric acid and put it around the edges of the balcony to attract and kill most pests. She has no clue if it will work on earwigs, though. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
Wandered into thread thinking it was about songs stuck in your head . . . then realized those are called "earworms," not earwigs. Yours are real bugs. Icky. My sympathy to you. Posts: 1 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
Well, I suggest planting an apricot tree right next to the clothesline. I say that because I spent a few days several summers ago picking apricots and was throroughly freaked out at the number of earwigs that were on those things. Aparently they really like apricots.
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ewww, after looking at the picture of them from kq's link, I think I'd have to wash my clothes again after finding them, but then they'd have to be dried again...
*shudders*
*is thankful to have a drier*
Posts: 376 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
Most people complain about their ear hair... but you're looking for an ear wig?
::silence fills the thread::
ahem...but more seriously.
The borax/sugar thing won't work, I don't think, because I don't think earwigs go for sweets. Works wonderfully for ants, though - they take the soap back to the nest and kill the queen. Heh.
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posted
Hmmm. What about boric acid on something they do eat, or sprinkled in a cardboard tube, as previously described?
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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How about just leaving them be? Sure they look scary, and can deliever a bit of a pinch, but they are really quite harmless. They aren't poisonous, they don't bite, and they are quite happy to ignore you. Just flick them off the laundry when you find them, think of them as pets, give them names And you know you're likely to find them in your laundry, so I expect you'll get used to them after a while and not be so startled Posts: 3295 | Registered: Jun 2004
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quote:Earwigs Earwigs like dark, humid places. They are easy to trap. Place some short lengths of garden hose or rolled-up newspaper near your house and fill them with peanut butter, fish oil or vegetable oil. The insects will crawl inside. Earwigs can also be trapped in an inverted flowerpot stuffed with newspaper or peat moss and placed in a tree. A small can filled with bacon or hamburger fat will lure them as well. The morning after you set your traps, shake the captured earwigs into some hot water to kill them. If you find the earwigs' "nest", sprinkle diatomaceous earth or soap onto it.
I supose you need to figure out whether you've got the winged or the flightless variety before you can decide which type to use.
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posted
Um, wait. Borax and sugar, ants will take it back to the nest and kill the queen? How certain is this information?
Also, what other names might borax go under? Borax by that name does not exist in this country that I know of, but if I know other names it goes by, I might be able to track it down... I wanna kill me some ants. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
For that matter, with all the complaints I've made about ants and ant nests and ant invasions and me talking about all the dammed ants I have to continually kill, why, oh why, has no one ever brought this up before?????? Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
Borax is most effective against roaches and other beetles, but I believe it does have limited effectiveness against ants. Most of the "take back to the nest and kill the queen" baits are chemical (and often biologically active) though. Don't know how available they are where you are.
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Well, from what I've been told, and my knowledge of ants, the ants that crawl around in your house are looking for bits of food to bring back to the nest. The Queen doesn't move, so it needs food brought to it.
Borax and soap are pretty similar in size and shape, and the carrying ants don't really know the difference, so the drones carry what they can back. If the queen eats the sugar, she's fine, if she eats the borax, she dies.
Now, I don't know if this has ever been proven at all, but it's something I've been told from a bunch of sources. Could, of course, be an old wives' tale.
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
Okay then, kq, you're forgiven. And I guess the rest of you have adequate excuses. I'll have to see if I can find me some. I have no idea where to look. The hardware little hole in the wall shops? Cuz it sure hasn't been down the laundry detergents aisle - I've looked there often enough.
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Boon
unregistered
posted
drugstore..as in pharmacy?
From the above link:
quote: The major uses of the boric acids are in forming other boron compounds and in borate salts, e.g., borax. A dilute water solution of boric acid is commonly used as a mild antiseptic and eyewash. Boric acid is also used in leather manufacture, electroplating, and cosmetics. Boric acid can be crystallized from an acidified borax solution.
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Yeah, I can try there. You haven't seen the pharmacies in this country... I have no idea...
But with a lot of things, here, it's a matter of knowing where to look or who to ask. It took me over a year just to find a nail brush... In with the household cleaning brushes & sponges & brooms, no less, not with soaps & lotions & other body care products. Took me almost a year to find the desiccated coconut. Seriously. Still haven't found potting soil. Finally found an emery board two months ago.
Sigh.
But yes, thank you for the suggestion of the pharmacy. I'll give that a try. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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quid, would you like some borax with your tahini and chocolate? I could probably manage a small box. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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kq, let me ask at the pharmacy first. If I can't get it here, then that would be a resounding "Yes, please!" I'm so pathetic...
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I will. We're going grocery shopping in a couple of days, and I'll ask the pharmacist then. Oh hey, I could also resort to asking women from church. They ought to know (cuz heaven knows, Fahim ain't got a clue, being only a man and all. ) I think I don't ask them enough for help with things considering the response I got today with phoning to ask about rhubarb. The two women were tickled pink that I called them to ask them about it.
Eh. I babble too much.
Yes, kq, I will let you know. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
Maybe...take a bunch of old rags, and wet them daily, put them away from your laundry, and see if the earwigs are going to be attracted to those rather than your laundry, that's all I can think of.
Posts: 40 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
ketchupqueen, I asked for borax at the pharmacy today, and no, they didn't have any. They did, however, have those painkillers you told me about and we got me some.
However, in the ensuing conversation between Fahim and the pharmacist, it's been determined that yes, in fact, borax is readily available in sporting goods stores. It might be more commonly known as boric powder or borix powder. It's used to make some carrom game or sport or something more slippery.
It's not, apparently, used for cleaning or laundry or anything else here. Unless all the women go to the sporting goods stores for their borax. Bizarre little country.
But I think I've said it before. It's all in knowing where to look.
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Sorry.
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And you know you're likely to find them in your laundry, so I expect you'll get used to them after a while and not be so startled ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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I wanna kill me some ants. ![[Mad]](mad.gif)
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I'll have to see if I can find me some. I have no idea where to look. The hardware little hole in the wall shops? Cuz it sure hasn't been down the laundry detergents aisle - I've looked there often enough.
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