Debugging Lego

Discussion of general LEGO topics
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Littlebrick
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Debugging Lego

Post by Littlebrick »

I hope none of you never go through what I'm going through right now. It's pretty nasty.

Recently, I've discovered what seems to be Indian Meal Moth larvae climbing up my walls. Usually, I just wrap them up in toilet paper and chuck them down the toilet. However, last night I found one on my pocket dictionary, so I figured they must be breeding somewhere in my room. Five seconds later, I found a bag of nuts, filled with the nasty things. But it didn't stop there. Fearing the worst, I checked some of my sets left over from unfinished brickfilms, and found that multiple bricks had larvae growing in them (jibblies!). Now, I've gotten rid of their source of food, so they should die out after a while, but I need advice on how to clean out my precious bricks.

If it helps, the larvae seem to prefer the underside of the bricks, but not the plates, because the bricks have more room for them to grow in.

Thanks in advance.
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timber_wolf899
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Post by timber_wolf899 »

man that is FOWL!!!!

I hate larva of any kind......well cept for ladybugs. they sorta look like mini dragons

ANYWAY......how about the trick US civil war soldiers used to purify their hart tack? <dump in water, wait for drowned larva to float to top? Well they used coffee but...

honestly if it were me, it'd just dump the legos because........EW!!!!
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Tower of Iron Will
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Post by Tower of Iron Will »

I would be more concerned that there were more in your house than anything. Once you're sure of that being solved, washing them with soap and warm water is what I would do. Man, those bugs would creep me out sliming around my LEGO.

I keep most of my nonfigure bricks in sandwich sealable baggies in plastic shoe containers. Normally bugs won't try to get in them.
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Littlebrick
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Post by Littlebrick »

Oh, I already know that there are more in the house. They've been in our kitchen/pantries for a while now. About two years, I would say.

Now, the one thing I'm wondering is if I do put the bricks in warm soapy water, will that also get rid of the webs the larva develop in, or do I have to get those out another way?
Tower of Iron Will wrote:I keep most of my nonfigure bricks in sandwich sealable baggies in plastic shoe containers. Normally bugs won't try to get in them.
Well, 99% of my bricks are in plastic bags, in a Rubbermaid bin, so I'm not worried about those. The ones that are in danger are the ones that I've left out because I've figured that I'll want to use them again some time soon.

Man, after this is over, I'm gonna take a nice, long shower, and hope that the creepy-crawly feel all over my skin goes away.
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Post by siabur »

If your sink has a sprayer, use that to get the web thingys out. If not try soaking them and running them under a faucet.
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Littlebrick
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Post by Littlebrick »

Okay, update!

While looking around the table for more cocoons, I found an electric wire from one of those kits where you can make a microphone, and radio among other things. Anyway, I took the wire, made a hook at one end, and started puncturing the cocoons with it. I think the larva are connected to the cocoon most of the time, so when most of the cocoon comes out, the larva would come too. So far I've flushed around 20-30 larva down the toilet, and one or two adults.

I think after I get all the larva, I'll probably wash the bricks in warm soapy water, and scrub the insides with a Q-Tip, just to make sure there's no leftover webbing.

I guess one of the funny things about this is I can officially say that my Lego dinosaur has had worms before.
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Post by Handar »

This just might be the most disgusting topic I've ever read, and yet I keep checking again and again to read each new post. It's like a train wreck and I just can't look away, a giant larvae infested train wreck.

I hope you get everything cleaned up!
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Peppermint Pig
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Post by Peppermint Pig »

Littlebrick de-wormed his dinosaur. Now it's safe to play with. :lol:
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Post by Username »

Littlebrick wrote:Oh, I already know that there are more in the house. They've been in our kitchen/pantries for a while now. About two years, I would say.
Um...I'd be less worried about my Lego and more worried about bugs in my house.

:lol:
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RichardAM
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Post by RichardAM »

Image
Username wrote:Um...I'd be less worried about my Lego and more worried about bugs in my house.
That's what I was thinking. :lol:
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Post by Count Blacktron »

This problem has been going on for two years+/-? Get an exterminator to inspect things before it REALLY gets worse. It is likely that they are or will be breeding and living in places you cannot easily get to. We had a termite condition when I lived in California. It was my grandmother's house, and she knew there was a small problem years back but figured it wouldn't be a problem in her lifetime. Well, fast forward a few years and it became my problem, and the size of the problem had grown to a $17,000 extermination and rennovation. Deal with it ASAP.
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Post by Jibbajaba »

We had those in my house growing up. They are a huge pain in the butt as they invade all of your dry foods. We got rid of them by buying these pest strip things that are kinda like moth balls in that they have some sort of volatile poison in them. Best thing for you to do if you want to take care of it yourself is to throw out all of the food in your pantry that isn't completely sealed (canned or jarred) and but one of those things in there. The downside of course is that you are inhaling the poison as well, so not exactly healthy. If it were me, I would call an exterminator.

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Littlebrick
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Post by Littlebrick »

Well my mom is taking care of it already, so I'm not too worried.
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Post by SlyOwl »

Get a Millennium Falcon and they'll attack it, in memory of their ancestors, leaving your collection 100% clean! Dispose of the Falcon, and you're free!
(Or you could clean it :roll: )
:lol:
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Brickzone
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Post by Brickzone »

Bleugh. Glad there aren't many things to invade homes here in Ireland - although of course we have rodents from time to time (peanut butter works a treat on traps).

I recommend soapy water. Leave to soak as long as you like (even printed pieces are OK except for silver/gold printed or stickered - don't even get those wet!). Then use fresh warm water and give each part a quick gentle wipe on all sides with a toothbrush (if you have soaked long enough, scrubbing shouldn't be needed). You don't really need to do this for the smallest parts - just rub them between your fingers.

Don't forget to rinse the parts - I use warm water again for this (dump the parts back in the basin, swoosh around and lift out onto the drainer), because the parts dry quicker then. I leave the parts just randomly heaped on the drainer to drain for a bit, but I take out any large parts and manually dry them to avoid water spots on smooth surfaces. Then I later lay out the rest of the parts on a towel to dry (helps to tap water out of the underside of bricks).
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