Hello everyone!
Three days ago I noticed when listing through my journal that there were a few very tiny brown bugs in my journal and it scared me a bit.
Then today I investigated a bit more and every book that is in a bookshelf in the centre of my room is infested with booklice. I pulled one from the bookshelf about five days ago and did not notice anything. I put it on the table and I've putting my journal on top of that book since then, that's how it probably got infested as well.
I absolutely hate that this happened even though every site online says that they are basically harmless. I've looked online and I've found pretty detailed posts/videos by people who got rid of the booklice by putting their books in the freezer in a plastic bag but I don't have this option.
My only option seems to be to put the books in the oven but I was not able to find a more detailed description on how to do it. All I was able to find was the temperature of the oven, ranging from 150°F (65°C) to 120°F (48°C). Some say 4 hours, some 30 minutes.
What should I do? Has any of you dealt with this by using the oven? How would you put the books in there? Should I put them in a plastic bag but won't the bag melt even if the temperatures are not that high? How should I place the books in there, laying so they won't touch the hot surface of the thing I will put in the oven on which they will be laying on? I'm thinking about putting them in those zippable bags from ikea or maybe the plastic you can use for roasting a chicken.
I'm really anxious about this, I love my books and have around 450 of them in various bookshelves. I will have to check if the other shelf are okay, but the one that is absolutely affected is the one with my most rare and expensive books because why wouldn't it be.
So please, does anyone have any advice? I didn't even think this was possible and that booklice existed.
Edit: here's my booklice. I hate it. https://imgur.com/a/vD7gVLP
by Kesme63
4 Comments
Hi, it would make sense to use the bags in the freezer to protect the books from getting damp or getting odours from other frozen stuff.
Absolutely do not put plastic in the oven.
Don’t put paper in the oven you’ll cause a fire
Where are you located?
Right now in SW Ontario we’ve gone through some absolutely BRUTAL heatwaves. The kind that kill dogs and the inside of your car turns into an oven.
Would it work to stick the books into black plastic bags and leave them in the back seat of your car to bake in the hot sun?
Of course this doesn’t work in the colder seasons, so.
Can you reach out to your local library and see what they might suggest?
Turning on the oven and sticking books inside it seems so scary to me, so I’m going to follow this thread and hear what experts have to say.
Put them in the microwave