Teeny tiny little crawly things on my BOOKS!

Snakey

Any ideas? They are so small I can't realistically get a picture for you. Longer than they are wide, and either beige or light grey. They are definitely not silverfish, they're much smaller than that (and I know what a silverfish looks like).

They squash easily, and they don't fly or jump (that I've seen).

I've lived in this flat for about a year, and never noticed them in any other flat I've had before. The books in question - some are textbooks and some are papers (study manuals - A4 in ringbinders) - are things that I have acquired since I moved here.

The books/papers don't appear to be the least bit damaged but then I suppose it's early days.

They are also on some books that live next to the textbooks, but not (yet? ) on any of the books in the bookcase on the other side of the room.

Why have I got them? And how do I make them a) die and b) not come back?

Head_The_Ball

Book lice probably.

Google for info and treatments.

Link.

Snakey

Yeah, I did some Googling but a lot of what I found was little square-ish things and advice varying from "you must get your entire flat professionally exterminated right away" to "leave them, they're harmless" to a rather amusing "put the books in the freezer for a few days" (clearly written by somebody who either only owns 3-4 books or has a walk-in freezer). I was hoping to find someone on here who'd actually had them and could tell me what they did and whether it worked!

Ken68

The freezer will kill bugs and such, not sure if it will harm the books.
Just for a day then repeat for the rest of your library.
When I did auctions years ago I had a dedicated large freezer for the purpose.(for small furniture, cushions etc.)

wrightk

+1 for booklice.

they start coming out this time of year. weve had several in the house.this is our first year we are actively looking for them after making some changes to the house to deter them.
check the rest of your house too as they arent just interested in books as the name suggests.skirting boards,behind cupboards,in drawers,especially timber made.its the microscopic mould they like.

give everything a good clean down and reduce the humidity in your house which will deter them

Snakey

Then I think it may be symptomatic of a wider problem. Before I bought this flat I was told that there were issues with mould/condensation on the estate generally because of something about the design/construction, but because I'm a fresh-air fiend (and don't dry clothes indoors and all those sort of "no, tenant! bad tenant!" things) I didn't think it would affect me. I have the windows open all the time!

Perhaps I should get a dehumidifier and have done with. This could just be one of a zillion humidity-related things that will show up sooner or later.

So... are they just eating microscopic bits of mould, and not the books themselves? In that case, should I leave them to it?

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

wrightk

its worth having a look into a dehumidifier,can you borrow one first? you need to establish what the humidity level is/where the source of problem lies.

weve had similar problems with our house,1920's end terrace.weve had both rising damp issues and a general air circulation/condensation problem.solution seems to be humidistat extractors in problem areas (one extract vent upstairs and one downstairs),and through wall vents in bedrooms which we did ourselves. doesnt make a huge difference in temperature of the house either considering theres 5 through wall vents in total (not including extractors).we ripped all the carpets out,laid a dpc under laminate everywhere apart from the stairs and havent seen a spot of mould yet.