Everyday Systems

At least I think they're flour mites. Very tiny crawly things that appear on/around/inside any container with a flour or flour related product in it. A couple of days ago I had to empty out my cupboards, disinfect them, and throw away any open packet of dry goods (they'd got into most of them).

Anyway, despite the cupboard disinfecting efforts, I put a new sealed tupperware container of new flour in the cupboard, and a new batch of little crawly things promptly appeared around the container within 24 hours (so I guess they came from somewhere in the cupboard rather than from inside the flour).

Anyone else dealt with these before? I'm wondering if I should start putting flour in the fridge or freezer instead? Or perhaps I need to disinfect the cupboard again?

Thanks in advance

I had these a while ago; empty the cupboard, throw away anything that was open, disinfect the cupboard and anything that was in the cupboard that you didn't throw away. Remember that pests can live on the outside of food wrappers. Make sure everything is very dry before you restock the cupboard.

I followed these steps and haven't had a problem since. It is possible that I increased Dettol's profits by about a third.

We just dealt with this same issue. In the spring, we were finding critters in our pantry items--quite disconcerting to open the cabinet and tiny flying creatures try to escape. I would just tossed items that had already been opened, etc. but my entomologist spouse took no prisoners. We literally tossed everything that was not in cans or jars. Anything in bags, plastic, boxes, etc. (opened or not) went in the trash. Eggs could have been laid on any item in the cabinet. I submerged the cans and jars in really hot soapy water to make sure there weren't any eggs attached to the outside of those. My frugal (read cheap!) nature was aghast but it was probably a good thing. Some of that stuff had been there a while. We wiped all the cabinets down with disinfecting solution and rinsed thoroughly. Also, we set off one of those "bug bombs" in the house, let it air out all day before restocking. (Yes-I know --chemicals galore -- but I did want to get rid of the bugs!)

That was several months ago and no more unwanted visitors. Despite the fact that my husband makes his living trapping, identifying and researching all sorts of six legged creepy crawlers, they are not welcome in our house!

Thanks for the tips most of them seem to have gone, but I'm still finding the odd few if I let any crumbs/flour escape, I guess I'll have to do another disinfecting attempt!