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Today I wash with vinegar my two brushes , a Rooney and a Vulfix , when I dry my Rooney brush I see some very small white worms , first I think was a dry soap but not, the small think was moving and for my sorprise I see more inside .
I dont understand when I use the brush I shake very hard and dry with a cloth .
Im a clean person I clean my house 3 time a week and I mean decinfecting all the house , the brush was buy new from vintage blade two years ago .
As disgusting as it may sound a fly may have laid eegs in the brush. I had a shaggy dog a number of years ago when I bent over to pet her I noticed maggots in her fur, I went nuts trying to find a wound on the animal and then took her to the vet, he told me this was not unusual, flies will lay eggs in fur. This may be what happened to your brush, soak it in some disinfectant and burn/drown the little buggers. Then thoroughly clean the brush. I hope this helps.
I don't know how large they get but it could be vinegar worms. They are a type of eelworm that feeds on fermenting vinegar.
Mmmmmmm... delicious! I live for these threads! Come for the shaving advice and newbie horror stories... stay for the brush worms! Look at it this way, if you were starving it would be free protein!
put it in the microwave,about 30 secs at a time.
Does it make me a bad person to want to see photos of the worms?
Buy a new brush! No more vinegar on brushes.
No, it might indicate it at the very worst, and it could perfectly well be coincidence.Quote:
Originally Posted by bharner
It sounds as if they may be capable of living with vinegar, which is only a very weak acid. Our gastric juices are much stronger hydrochloric, and that doesn't prevent certain things you may not want to know about. Denatured alcohol (methylated spirit, more or less, in the UK), or the strength of hydrogen peroxide available as a home antiseptic, will teach them to be worms. Only don't soak the brush too long, as it may weaken the adhesive or substances which give the hairs their springiness.
It isn't totally impossible that living organisms can live on keratin, of which horns, fingernails and hair are principally made. In the wreck of the "Mary Rose", salvaged after over 450 years from the approaches to Portsmouth harbour, yew bows were found which could be cautiously drawn by machine after careful drawing, and might have survived shooting an arrow with great force. But the horn tips had vanished, consumed by bacteria in the mud. Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose.
It is much more likely, though, that something on the hair of the brush, and of the dog, provided the little blighters with sustenance. Regular rinsing in something only mildly aggressive should put paid to that. Worms in human hair are unknown, except perhaps in some quite exceptional circles.
Heck no,whats the phrase? without pics it never happend:)Quote:
Originally Posted by bharner
Vinegar worms?! And all this time I thought those were pine nuts in my salad....
thanks guy for the repply , sorry but I dont take photos I was to worry have to go hurry to Sallys salon supplies to buy a barbicide bottle .
I let my two brush for an hour on barbicide and then I don see the worns . I dont uderstand were they come from, Im a really clean person , the only think who come to my mind was a fly who I kill yesterday ( the warms was very tinny and white ) . The warm was locate on my Rooney Brush and any on my Vulfix brush .
thanks for all the advice I really apreciate
in special the hidrogen peroxide
Never heard of anything like this so far, pretty gross but I'm sure the soak in barbicide is sufficient.
Are they big enough to hunt?
I myself would first soak for 30 minutes in baby bottle sterolising fluid, remove shake dry, then I would seal he brush in a thin palstic bag and place in my deep freeze for one day then use medicated shampoo rinse and then conditioner, and another few rinses, done.
Jamie
As a fly tier I have been astounded how aggressive some bugs are.Quote:
Originally Posted by ramon
Soap water and dry it well. And sure moth balls if you want.
Agree. Gotta draw the line somewhere.Quote:
Originally Posted by AFDavis11
I don't doubt that there are plenty of substances which will put them out of the worm business on a permanent basis, the only surprise is vinegar, apparently, not being among them. It seems hard, for they didn't ask to be worms, but it's nothing personal.
We once had a cairn terrier which had to have warm hydrogen peroxide of a slightly stronger grade poured into her ear, due to an infection. She had a rather more violent temperament than Toto in "the Wizard of Oz", but it was mostly just show and fantasy under normal circumstances. The peroxide treatment was different, though, and although it took place, she ended up with one side of her head bleached almost white.
Borax is a great brush cleaner, dilute it in some water, swish around, rinse, and your good to go. There was a video on the net...
Anyway, I was just about to suggest Barbacide...Good stuff....You may want to go through your brush with a fine tooth comb....Literally....
Not sure if Barbacide will kill unhatched eggs, so, be on the lookout for the next week or so....
P.S. Hope they weren't hook worms !!!!!
Seriously though, If you shaved with that brush, you may want to be checked out, and if you can, bring one of the worms with you...some can literally get under your skin and cause serious health issues.....Better safe than sorry.....
Yup, I just looked through my brushes too......
P.S.S. Guys, Make sure you have a brush hanger, and hang your brush upside down, not bristles up....
Great! I am looking at my brush now, under magnification. Something else to worry about!Quote:
Originally Posted by Hirlau
"Kill em before they multiply!" :roflmao
Like it's been suggested by a couple of the guys here, toss the thing.
I have to go check my brushes...
You'll never know if you get all the eggs out. Many things will kill them (the worms) dead but not the eggs. Just think you can be the guy who gets the eggs into your skin and then they hatch and grow and start munching on your innards-Har har.
I would toss the brush-seriously.
When I read the OP, I then noticed that he lives in Miami. I thought Holy Sh** I live in Ft. Lauderdale, they could be headed this way; only 10 miles to cover. :dropjaw:Quote:
Originally Posted by sharptonn
I immediately ran to the "Shave Den" (small cramped bathroom) and cleaned my brush for over a 1/2 hour.:idea:
Re-located the fly swatter next to my strop. Today I went to Home Depot and hung one of those fly paper stickies next to the point of entry. :tu
I didn't sleep well last night.
If the worms live off of Keritan which hair is made of, the maybe they're eating your stubble. Seriously, I lean towards ditching the brush.
this is a wild issue. i am truly paranoid now... i doubt that brush up or down will stop whatever from laying eggs in your brush though..
I think we're missing the bright side again here. These worms are unlikely to be harmful. If they are in the lather when it is applied, the little buggers' movement will churn up the lather into a kind of worm uberlather. Of course, shaving them off the face with the lather will be a little tough on them, and you might be able to hear their little cries for help. Try earplugs.
That is definitely glass half full thinkingQuote:
Originally Posted by ace
I'd go have a look at your vinegar it might take some looking (they will look mostly translucent) you will probably find little worms. Vinegar worms are nematodes that are harmless and live in vinegar although some of the other suggestions are far more amusing and panic inspiring.
Not only brushes but worms work on the horn of razor scales.Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnnyCakeDC
Brushes are fur, fly tiers use all sorts of fur and feathers so check
the local sporting goods shop for stuff and hints. Moth balls
are used to protect wool and fur. If you store a brush in
a tube store it with some moth balls.
An old time machinist one time B25 WW2 pilot I knew kept moth balls
in his oak tool chest to displace air and minimize rust.
They work well in a shoe box or a cigar box where the
enclosed space is small and concentrates the fumes.
International folk might look at " 1,4-dichlorobenzene"
Cedar repels but mostly does not kill bugs.
There are other products intended to kill or repel bugs
from the pantry where food safety is apropos.
EDIT:
Freezing is also apropos. First dry the brush
then seal it into a plastic bag and place in the
freezer to kill worms and eggs. A descant inside
the bag has value while the contents defrost.
If you can, take good, close up pictures of the critters, or better yet, bring a few of the worms to a local university entomology department, someone there could tell you what it is, if it's harmful to humans, and how to kill them. Otherwise, everything else is conjecture.
Could be creatures from another world. keep them away from your ears. They could enter and wrap themselves around your cerebral cortex which would make you very open to suggestions and eventually drive you mad and then kill you.
At last...a plausible explanation.;)Quote:
Originally Posted by thebigspendur
I think that must be what happened to me, although they haven't killed me yet.
All I can add here is...Eeewww.
Thanks,
Mike
My first thought was "OMG I live in Miami too and I'm gonna check my brush!" Then a scarier thought followed: "waaaaait a minute, I'm gonna check my vinegar, eeew!" Of course, I quickly straightened out my priorities. That's why I slapped myself and went to the brush first.
I try not to comment unless I have something helpful to say but I just couldn't help it :-D
No doubt this is what causes RAD, HAD, etc... Here we were all thinking it was a psychological problem; turns out it's worms in the brain...Quote:
Originally Posted by thebigspendur