Mighty mites
We bombed, we fogged, we washed, we bleached, we sprayed, we prayed. The torture has been ongoing since April. If this doesn't work, I swear I'll get rid of the sofas, at least the big one, since it seems to be the focus loci of the infestation.
After the professional pest control intervention, we had a week's respite from insect bites, I suspect mostly because during that week we were too busy to sit on the sofa. As soon as I spent a couple of hours knitting there, I got ravaged again. Here we are, in the 21st century, being beaten up by invisible bugs.
This time, we gathered the sofas and other compromised items in the dining room, sealed the room and set off a fogger. The job took almost four hours, between swapping furniture between dining room and living room and sealing the room — which has two door openings but no doors — as hermetically as possible. We had to do it that way because the logistics of closing off the living room would have been even more complicated. We'll keep everything closed until tomorrow morning, then air the room for a few hours and do another round of fogging tomorrow night. Then take the cats to get a medicated bath on Wednesday while we wash all the sofa covers, beddings and more; probably two days of non-stop laundry. We've been doing this every other weekend for the past four months. This thing has taken over our lives. Wish us luck.
Comments
Hi Francesca, saw your comments on Lene's site and came over from misty Ireland for a visit. Gosh, didn't realise LA had little pesky problems like that! Good luck with the cleansing.
LOVE the cats. What breed are they (apart from floppy mopsies?) And your UFOs in Aran are breathtaking. Quite jealous - thought I was an expert but clearly not!
Jo
celticmemoryyarns.blogspot.com
Posted by: Jo | August 29, 2006 1:03 AM
What I actually logged on to SAY (but forgot when I saw your stunning Aran UFOs) was that I was delighted to see you advocating spinning 'in the grease'. I thought I must be the only one in the world doing it!
Jo
celticmemoryyarns.blogspot.com
Posted by: Jo | August 29, 2006 1:12 AM
OMG, you poor thing! There's nothing in the world worse than bugs that you can't get rid of. OK. There ARE worse things but honestly, can't think of a one right now.
Posted by: Sachi | August 29, 2006 2:17 AM
Oh, dear, I was sure it would work after the professional came. Hmm, crossing my fingers that it works this time!
Posted by: Marina | August 29, 2006 4:19 AM
They're concentrated mostly in one sofa? You seriously may want to just get rid of it. It would be very difficult to penetrate the many layers of the sofa to get to all those pesky little bugs.
I know it's a shame to consider (and I think I know what sofa it is too... a favorite of mine), but what price does going bug-free come at? Sometimes it's just worth it.
As far as replacing it, as a temporary measure, I recommend signing up for freecycle.org: a grass roots organization where people (strangers) give things to others in an attempt to keep landfills clear. I've belonged for quite a while with a tremendous amount of success in both disbursing items that I don't want anymore and receiving things that were attractive. You'd be amazed at what is being gifted there. And there is no hint of 'charity' involved... it's just people-to-people recycling. The only requirement that the group has is that everything be free with no strings attached. And you sign up for the group in your local neighborhood(s).
Good luck with the issue...
Laura
Posted by: Laura | August 29, 2006 9:09 AM
oh Francesca, sorry to hear about your troubles. Like Laura suggested, maybe you should part with the sofa? Hope this gets solved. Good luck!
Posted by: Laurence | August 29, 2006 10:09 AM
I feel bad that the cats have to get a bath! Isn't that the ultimate humiliation for a cat? And, while I'm talking about cats, as you know I'm not a cat person, but your cats are beautiful. I even commented to my husband about how beautiful your photos of them are. He looked at me and asked, "where is my wife?"
Good luck with everything!
Posted by: frances goodman | August 29, 2006 11:38 AM
So sorry to hear of these problems. Friends of ours up in Canada use to have terrible problems with fleas because of all the pets they had, two dogs and seven cats I think, and they use to treat their house with a chemical that sounded something like Diazapan (I know that's a drug) but it sounded something like that and they swore by it. I just asked MFB and he can't remember what they used. We've lost contact so I can't check with them. It was a HAZMAT thing - special precautions and all that to use it. If it comes to me I'll send it to you. Best of luck with the pest problem.
Posted by: Barbp | August 29, 2006 6:56 PM