Fly Spit Cleansing

[sporeworld]

So, most of my aritificial plants plastic or similar material, and the muck & gunk just washes away. But one of my favorite plants is silk, and now boats the stains of a million points of... well, fly spit. :angry:

Any recomendations for cleaning fly spittle in specific, or enclosures in general...? Any no-no chemicals to be wary of...? I'm usually OK with aggressive hosing, but water alone ain't gonna handle this one. Any "Ancient Chinese Secrets" out there...? Any horor stories to share...?

 

[Rick]

Soap and warm water. Use a scrub brush if needed. Usually just washes right off with the soap and water.

 

[hibiscusmile]

I use dish soap and bleach, comes out like new!

 

[sporeworld]

So, no health probelms with bleach...?

 

[hibiscusmile]

I have always used it, I don't even have to rinse forever, it has not been a problem for me, I like to make sure all germs are cleared up before reusing containers and flowers! YOu can trust me! :tt2:

ps, Peter, could u move my favorite smiliy up to the front of the class? pretty please!

 

[Termite48]

I would try the idea of soap and a little bit of bleach, which really leaves no residue when it is well rinsed. After the soap water and bleach has been rinsed, a session drying in the sun on a strongly sunny day will oxidize any residues (if there were to be any) and you should be good to go. The way to test this is to use a small removed silk leave and try the method on it, before doing and entire section of plant. Then to make sure that there are no harmful chemicals, use a few Chinese L-1s in a small container and put the sample silk leave in with them. If you don't have the "throw away" nymphs, perhaps some Drosophyla species would be just as good.

 

[Termite48]

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[sporeworld]

Awwww.... Poor little nymphs. Maybe I'll just let the flies back on them after I clean em - see if THEY drop dead...

 

[Rick]

Bleach is fine. Make a bleach water mixture and keep the bleach to a minimum. Like a tablespoon or so per gallon of water or less. Rinse well. But like I said earlier, soap and warm water will take fly spit right out.

 

[GreenOasis]

I clean my old fruit fly culture containers for reusing with regular ol' dishsoap, warm water & bleach rinse. (Strong!) And I reuse the cups with no ill effects on the next fly culture. Don't know about bleaching a silk plant, though...might damage the dyes in it. Best to try on a leaf first to see. But, I haven't had any problems cleaning fly spit off of the fly hatching cups with just warm, soapy water!

 

[hibiscusmile]

The bleach makes the flowers like new, doesn't hurt them at all.