Combatting snowfleas: How to dry a mop

[andymhancock]

I discovered snow fleas in my bathroom. Not a whole lot, just a few every day, and I spray them with vinegar. I try tp wipe everything down when I u se the washroom, so I was curious as to how they manage to come to roost in my place. Maybe it's the dehumidifier I got about 2 weeks ago to prevent severe condensation on the windows (it's winter here). Maybe it made the p lace so dry now that the only place they can hang out is the wet spots in t he bathroom, of which there should be very few. Perhaps I'm seeing them no w because they're concentrated there. Would that explain why I notice them now, after many years (I live in a highrise apartment, 9th floor).

From a process of elimination, I found that I seem the more when I leave a mop hanging over the edge of the bathtub to dry. It's the same mop that I use to dry up the place after a shower. The snowfleas are hardly ever on t he bathtub itself, they're usually on the floor by the corner where the mop is. I dunked the mop into a pail of water with a high concentration of cl eaner, and they seem to have dwindled since. However, I see the occassiona l snowflee out of the the crack between the porcelain sink and the counter in which it reside. The caulking over there is bad. Following the instruc tions at

I removed t he old caulking cleanly and put new caulking in. It is a lot harder than it looks to do well. It felt like I was doing it over and over endlessly u ntil I got a reasonable seal and finish (not a good one, just not very bad) . Hours. I have my fingers crossed that this is the clincher.

Now....how do I dry the mop? I'm afraid of taking it out of its pail with a high concentration of cleaner. In fact, does it even make sense to own a mop anymore, since any time I use it, I will be face with having to dry it . A mop takes days to dry out completely, and I'm sure snow fleas would be all too happy to breed in it during that time. I know that snow fleas are n't uncommon, so I can't be the first person to run into the conundrum of h ow the dry a mop without providing a pleasant place for them to breed.

[Julie Bove]

From a process of elimination, I found that I seem the more when I leave a mop hanging over the edge of the bathtub to dry. It's the same mop that I use to dry up the place after a shower. The snowfleas are hardly ever on the bathtub itself, they're usually on the floor by the corner where the mop is. I dunked the mop into a pail of water with a high concentration of cleaner, and they seem to have dwindled since. However, I see the occassional snowflee out of the the crack between the porcelain sink and the counter in which it reside. The caulking over there is bad. Following the instructions at

I removed the old caulking cleanly and put new caulking in. It is a lot harder than it looks to do well. It felt like I was doing it over and over endlessly until I got a reasonable seal and finish (not a good one, just not very bad). Hours. I have my fingers crossed that this is the clincher.

Now....how do I dry the mop? I'm afraid of taking it out of its pail with a high concentration of cleaner. In fact, does it even make sense to own a mop anymore, since any time I use it, I will be face with having to dry it. A mop takes days to dry out completely, and I'm sure snow fleas would be all too happy to breed in it during that time. I know that snow fleas aren't uncommon, so I can't be the first person to run into the conundrum of how the dry a mop without providing a pleasant place for them to breed.

[RobertMacy]

learn something everyday!

First question that came to mind: Is anybody doing research as to how this coldblooded insect's insides don't freeze solid in this winter snow?

[Dan Espen]

Yep, but you may not like this, you're going to end up eating it:

Research at Queen's University (Canada) have sequenced and synthesised the anti-freeze-like protein that allows snow fleas to operate in sub-zero environments,[2] and found its sequence to be glycine-rich, and unlike any previously known protein. There are hopes that similar proteins may be useful for storing transplant organs and for producing better ice cream.[3] By preventing the formation of ice crystals in tissues, organs could be stored at lower temperatures, increasing their lifespan outside a living body. Unlike proteins with similar functions in other species, the protein found in snow fleas breaks down easily at higher temperatures.

Actually, I'm not bothered at all. Softer Ice Cream? I'm ready.

[Robert Green]

[RobertMacy]

Now you make me wonder if the protein can be enfused into human tissues to allow severe drop in core temperature, like science fiction stasis. There's a whole new world out there!

Not sure I mind either. After all, I do enjoy bee spit on hot buttered biscuits.

[micky]

I think maybe the problem they are after is ice cream that thawed and then froze again. That gets ice crystals, and it's not as good.

Of course thawing it again, to where it's a cold, thick liquid, might currently make it as good.

[micky]

I think it would be hard to find a definitive answer on this. I wanted to see my father's medical record from 50 years ago, but I'm figuring there's a search charge.. It would be even harder and more expensive to see med records from 5000 years ago.

Not 5000? 12,000? Those are all on microslate.

[andymhancock]

Thanks Julie. I did research snowfleas before posting, and they seem to fi t the description quite well. Extremely small (smaller than actual fleas a nd ants), they congregate around wet/damp areas, and they don't seem to bit e. And they "jump" when bothered. I'm not so much interested in pescticid ing them as I am about the logistical problem of preventing them from comin g back when a mop takes several days to dry.

[Robert Green]

Actually, modern genetics can deduce fascinating things from the study of mitochondrial DNA. The trick is that you contain the inherited genes from all of your previous ancestors. Each one of us essentially is carrying around a very important set of "medical" records in our DNA. Every now and the geneticists find DNA in very old corpses. I agree the concept might be hard to prove, but it makes a lot of sense since other animals use glucose-like materials to be able to operate in very cold weather.

Coupled with countries like Iceland that maintain exhaustive family records, they've been able to trace the path of many diseases. In one study I read they were able to deduce that Jewish men who as traders traveled far from home didn't screw around as much as gentiles. Really. The earliest intact red blood cells are over 5,000 years old.

< >

Still too young to prove anything about diabetes having a survival edge, but I suspect that in the future new genetic and analytic tools might change that.

[TimR]

fit the description quite well. Extremely small (smaller than actual fleas and ants), they congregate around wet/damp areas, and they don't seem to b ite. And they "jump" when bothered. I'm not so much interested in pesctic iding them as I am about the logistical problem of preventing them from com ing back when a mop takes several days to dry.

Why not throw the mophead in the clothesdryer?

[andymhancock]

It's an old-school mop, wooden handle, rope-like strands for the permanent head. I guess I could chuck the mop and get one with a remove-able head, b ut living in a high-rise apartment, I only have access to the dryer during the hours that I'm not home (except on weekends when you have to sell your first born to get at the dryer).

I'm just surprised that such a common problem isn't faced by lots of people -- who have combatted snow fleas (common) and live in high-rises (common). Puzzling. There must be an obvious solution that I'm missing.