Safe Material Storage

[Updtate]

I have been using for about 15 years now what Walt Dette used and have had no problems whatsoever. Simply whole cloves. They have a pleasant aroma and have proven to be very satisfactory!

Tom

[letumgo]

I remember seeing cloves in the fly boxes at the Dette fly shop, when I first went to Roscoe. Surprised at the time, so I asked about them. Mary told me they were used to keep bugs away.

[Johnno]

We can’t buy naphthalene products here in NZ anymore. ( Moth balls or flakes for eg) They are banned due to toxicity issues...

Solution: The cat or dog flea collars. Cut them into little portions and put in yr storage boxes.

Done that for years and they work just fine.....

[bearbutt]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. As for this:

I have been using for about 15 years now what Walt Dette used and have had no problems whatsoever. Simply whole cloves. They have a pleasant aroma and have proven to be very satisfactory!

I suppose they might be a deterrent, but with the caveat that they make the fly hop smell like a wassailing party. The thing is, I want to KILL the bugs. Not just deter them. I suppose Walt himself might have preferred to use neurotoxins over little aromatic bulbs, were they available in the convenient form of a flea collar.

I am hoping the illustrious retired Prof. Dr. Anderson will weigh in here--his is the voice of scientific reason and experience. Also, as moth balls--euuch, I am glad New Zealand is taking care of its populace and banning them.

bb

[DUBBN]

I received a wild Partridge skin in the mail yesterday. I purchased it from a fellow that runs a wet fly page on FB. I must say he did a fantastic job preserving it. The feathers are in outstanding shape. There was a little crud on the right side of the pelt. It may have been dried blood, but I do not know for sure. It was a spot the size of a quarter. It washed right out with a wet paper towel. I would consider this skin pest free after a close inspection. Still...........


Like all fur pelts, bird capes and/or saddles I receive, the Partridge was placed in a zip lock bag, sprinkled with Sevin Garden Dust, sealed up and placed in the freezer. It will be taken out of the freezer in 2 weeks, allowed to remain thawed for two days, then frozen again for two weeks.

I will not try to persuade anyone to use Sevin Dust. In todays Organic society, it has a bad reputation. Even though, for decades this product was used as a poultry delouser, and used on pets bedding to get rid of the fleas off of Fido.

After that regiment, the neck will be placed in a drawer with my other hackles and feathers, with a Hot Shot Pest Strip. Plus sprinked with Sevin Dust a couple times per year.

I learned the hard way many years ago how expensive it is to lose your fly tying material to bugs. It will not happen again.

By the way. I live in Western Colorado where the average humidity is about 20%, Very low. Critters invade your materials with just as much gusto in the desert and at high altitude (5,000 feet) as they do anywhere else.

I may try the clove trick though. Along side my pesticide regiment.

[joaniebo]

I throw a few Bounce fabric softener sheets in my Rubbermaid storage boxes. Also put them in a bunch of places in my old VW Beetle when I store it for the winter.

Bob

[wsbailey]

I have (more than) a few raw skins that I treated with borax. The bugs seem to avoid those skins while being boraxed. A light washing (leaving the skin mostly dry) afterwards gives great results. I've kept a number of these skins for years without further treatment. Nevertheless, for items that are particularly valuable (golden plover) I don't take any chances.

[bearbutt]

I will not try to persuade anyone to use Sevin Dust. In todays Organic society, it has a bad reputation. Even though, for decades this product was used as a poultry delouser, and used on pets bedding to get rid of the fleas off of Fido.

After that regiment, the neck will be placed in a drawer with my other hackles and feathers, with a Hot Shot Pest Strip. Plus sprinked with Sevin Dust a couple times per year.

I'm trying to emphasize "safe material storage" in this thread--finding a balance between insect toxicity and human (and pet) safety. Sevin has a reputation for harming humans that far exceeds "today's Organic society." The main ingredient--carbaryl --is illegal in the United Kingdom, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany. If the USA had a sensible FDA and EPA, it would be illegal here too.

Using it indoors--in a dust form, which can be inhaled--is pretty risky. There's plenty of information in the form of MDS sheets that make this clear. It's your life and your hackle, but I think there are safer and more prudent solutions for protecting our tying materials.

bb

[DUBBN]

I will not try to persuade anyone to use Sevin Dust. In todays Organic society, it has a bad reputation. Even though, for decades this product was used as a poultry delouser, and used on pets bedding to get rid of the fleas off of Fido.

After that regiment, the neck will be placed in a drawer with my other hackles and feathers, with a Hot Shot Pest Strip. Plus sprinked with Sevin Dust a couple times per year.

I'm trying to emphasize "safe material storage" in this thread--finding a balance between insect toxicity and human (and pet) safety. Sevin has a reputation for harming humans that far exceeds "today's Organic society." The main ingredient--carbaryl --is illegal in the United Kingdom, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany. If the USA had a sensible FDA and EPA, it would be illegal here too.

Using it indoors--in a dust form, which can be inhaled--is pretty risky. There's plenty of information in the form of MDS sheets that make this clear. It's your life and your hackle, but I think there are safer and more prudent solutions for protecting our tying materials.

bb

Thats your opinion, and you are entitled to it.

I can not force you to be correct.

Organic is raising food for tens, on ground that can feed thousands.

[wsbailey]

While a household product works for me; this is what pros use:

https://www.bioquip.com/search/DispProduct.asp?pid=1196