Washing felted woolen blankets

[geordief]

I have lots of these and they date back some 30-60 years.(so no washing instructions  on them)

Now I think I may have bed bugs or similar in my bed and so I want to clean the bedding.

Easy enough with sheets but I am not sure about the woolen blankets as the (=my) rule with wool is to wash at a cold water temperature-and this may not be very effective for  killing these bed bugs

 

My suspicion is that it may be possible to go to a warmish temperature  without damaging them but not the 90%that I am using on the sheets.

I doubt this is a problem many here  will have faced  but I can't seem to find another  discussion  forum dealing with washing clothes or similar. 

 

Maybe ,I can use one as a Guinea pig  first  to see if they take very hot water without shrinking. 

 

I don't suppose  just airing  them  (for a few days) would do the job.

 

 

[exchemist]

17 minutes ago, geordief said:

I have lots of these and they date back some 30-60 years.(so no washing instructions  on them)

Now I think I may have bed bugs or similar in my bed and so I want to clean the bedding.

Easy enough with sheets but I am not sure about the woolen blankets as the (=my) rule with wool is to wash at a cold water temperature-and this may not be very effective for  killing these bed bugs

 

My suspicion is that it may be possible to go to a warmish temperature  without damaging them but not the 90%that I am using on the sheets.

I doubt this is a problem many here  will have faced  but I can't seem to find another  discussion  forum dealing with washing clothes or similar. 

 

Maybe ,I can use one as a Guinea pig  first  to see if they take very hot water without shrinking. 

 

I don't suppose  just airing  them  (for a few days) would do the job.

 

 

Bed bugs are bloodsucking insects.  If you’ve got those you need to fumigate the entire bedroom, paying attention to the underside of the bed and mattress as well as the top.

But I doubt this is what you mean. If you mean dust mites, then washing should help. Woollens are washed not cold but at 30C usually. That should be OK. I would not go hotter if I were you.

Edited April 21, 2023 by exchemist

[mistermack]

Bedbugs are fairly rare, but getting more common. If you have them, you will probably know about it. You will get blotchy itchy red patches on your skin, like a rash. And if you look carefully at sheets, you might see tiny flecks of blood, or small black specks of bug poo. 

They are very hard to get rid of, if you have genuine bed bugs. Just washing the blankets won't do it. They hide in tiny cracks in walls, in the seams of mattresses, basically any tiny crevice. And they can survive more than two months without a meal.

I would make an effort to identify what you have before embarking on a washing campaign, you might be wasting your time, as they will probably be hiding elsewhere if you do have them. 

I have a friend who came on a camping holiday in Ireland with us. On the first night in his tent, he was nearly eaten alive in his sleeping bag, he was covered in bites all over. We thought it might be midges, but I couldn't imaging midges getting into his sleeping bag.

I asked him where he had been keeping his sleeping bag, he said he kept it at his dad's house. Eventually we worked out that his dad's cat had been lying on it. It was cat fleas that had been eating him. I got some big strong bin-bags, and put the sleeping bag inside, and emptied a couple of tins of fly spray into it and sealed the neck closed and left it for hours. It did the trick, the next night, not one bite. 

So it's just a thought, does a cat or dog have acess to your bedroom? I would eliminate that first. 

[geordief]

4 minutes ago, mistermack said:

Bedbugs are fairly rare, but getting more common. If you have them, you will probably know about it. You will get blotchy itchy red patches on your skin, like a rash. And if you look carefully at sheets, you might see tiny flecks of blood, or small black specks of bug poo. 

They are very hard to get rid of, if you have genuine bed bugs. Just washing the blankets won't do it. They hide in tiny cracks in walls, in the seams of mattresses, basically any tiny crevice. And they can survive more than two months without a meal.

I would make an effort to identify what you have before embarking on a washing campaign, you might be wasting your time, as they will probably be hiding elsewhere if you do have them. 

I have a friend who came on a camping holiday in Ireland with us. On the first night in his tent, he was nearly eaten alive in his sleeping bag, he was covered in bites all over. We thought it might be midges, but I couldn't imaging midges getting into his sleeping bag.

I asked him where he had been keeping his sleeping bag, he said he kept it at his dad's house. Eventually we worked out that his dad's cat had been lying on it. It was cat fleas that had been eating him. I got some big strong bin-bags, and put the sleeping bag inside, and emptied a couple of tins of fly spray into it and sealed the neck closed and left it for hours. It did the trick, the next night, not one bite. 

So it's just a thought, does a cat or dog have acess to your bedroom? I would eliminate that first. 

That's a great story.We do have a dog  who comes into that category.

I  don't think he has fleas though  although we will double check that tomorrow. 

 

I am learning both fleas and bed bugs are actually  visible to the naked eye so dust mites  are looking more likely  now.

One of us  had shingles  a few months back and I wonder if that may have predisposed her to reacting to  them  more so whereas she may have tolerated them better in the past.