I painted a door jamb (inner door to bathroom) a half-hour ago with
Dulux Professional Liquid Gloss (White). I've just been back to check
and there are a couple of dozen tiny flies trapped on the surface!
These flies are minute - about 1.5 mm long. Tiny little black specs.
There are one or two crawling about on the adjacent wallpaper. Where
did they suddenly come from? It's as if the paint is acting as an
attractant! This is the first coat of two, so I will wait till the
paint is touch-dry, then try to take them off with masking tape or
tweezers. But how might I stop a new batch from landing on on the
SECOND coat, due tomorrow? Anyone else had this problem?

MM

In article , Mike Mitchell
writes
I painted a door jamb (inner door to bathroom) a half-hour ago with
Dulux Professional Liquid Gloss (White). I've just been back to check
and there are a couple of dozen tiny flies trapped on the surface!
These flies are minute - about 1.5 mm long. Tiny little black specs.
There are one or two crawling about on the adjacent wallpaper. Where
did they suddenly come from? It's as if the paint is acting as an
attractant! This is the first coat of two, so I will wait till the
paint is touch-dry, then try to take them off with masking tape or
tweezers. But how might I stop a new batch from landing on on the
SECOND coat, due tomorrow? Anyone else had this problem?

It happens a lot, it's probably some close relation to Murphy's law. A
bit like birds crapping on your car just after you've washed it.

We get a lot of those little flies at this time of year, though more so
in the evening, apparently related to hot weather. My wife calls them
"thunderflies", I would call them midges but they are smaller than
normal midges. Maybe paint first thing in the morning before it gets
warm.
--
Tim Mitchell

These sound like thunderbugs or storm flies. Common at this time of year
and especially when humid. They are especially attracted to light colours
such as white & yellow. They don't live very long and if you are lucky you
may be able to brush them off once the paint is dry. I would suggest you
repaint as early as possible in the a.m or wait until after dark.

Hope this helps,

Pam
--.

"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I painted a door jamb (inner door to bathroom) a half-hour ago with
Dulux Professional Liquid Gloss (White). I've just been back to check
and there are a couple of dozen tiny flies trapped on the surface!
These flies are minute - about 1.5 mm long. Tiny little black specs.
There are one or two crawling about on the adjacent wallpaper. Where
did they suddenly come from? It's as if the paint is acting as an
attractant! This is the first coat of two, so I will wait till the
paint is touch-dry, then try to take them off with masking tape or
tweezers. But how might I stop a new batch from landing on on the
SECOND coat, due tomorrow? Anyone else had this problem?

MM

On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 16:55:45 +0100, "Pam Morris"
wrote:

These sound like thunderbugs or storm flies. Common at this time of year
and especially when humid. They are especially attracted to light colours
such as white & yellow. They don't live very long and if you are lucky you
may be able to brush them off once the paint is dry. I would suggest you
repaint as early as possible in the a.m or wait until after dark.

Hope this helps,

Pam

Cheers, Pam! Good idea to wait until it's dark. It IS humid today! So
frustrating, because I had such a nice finish, and then these little
b***ers come flying in!

MM

We call them 'Thunder Flies'... recently we have had loads of them around
here!!

I have been decorating our bathroom and just had the door to gloss when they
decided to come to calling.

I have decided to wait until they no longer seem to be about.

By the way... they seem to be more attracted to anything white!!! ;-((

Alan

"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I painted a door jamb (inner door to bathroom) a half-hour ago with
Dulux Professional Liquid Gloss (White). I've just been back to check
and there are a couple of dozen tiny flies trapped on the surface!
These flies are minute - about 1.5 mm long. Tiny little black specs.
There are one or two crawling about on the adjacent wallpaper. Where
did they suddenly come from? It's as if the paint is acting as an
attractant! This is the first coat of two, so I will wait till the
paint is touch-dry, then try to take them off with masking tape or
tweezers. But how might I stop a new batch from landing on on the
SECOND coat, due tomorrow? Anyone else had this problem?

MM

Mike Mitchell wrote:
I painted a door jamb (inner door to bathroom) a half-hour ago
with Dulux Professional Liquid Gloss (White). I've just been
back to check and there are a couple of dozen tiny flies
trapped on the surface! These flies are minute - about 1.5 mm
long. Tiny little black specs.
There are one or two crawling about on the adjacent wallpaper.
Where did they suddenly come from? It's as if the paint is
acting as an attractant! This is the first coat of two, so I
will wait till the paint is touch-dry, then try to take them
off with masking tape or tweezers. But how might I stop a new
batch from landing on on the SECOND coat, due tomorrow? Anyone
else had this problem?

Probably thunder flies, a sort of minute beetle. Just don't
paint when they are around. Nothing you can do now, but wait
until the paint is dry and brush them off with a dry cloth.
Perhaps it might be worth using fly-spray or "Vapona" before
you start work.


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Sent via the PAXemail system at paxemail.com

"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I painted a door jamb (inner door to bathroom) a half-hour ago with
Dulux Professional Liquid Gloss (White). I've just been back to check
and there are a couple of dozen tiny flies trapped on the surface!
These flies are minute - about 1.5 mm long. Tiny little black specs.
There are one or two crawling about on the adjacent wallpaper. Where
did they suddenly come from? It's as if the paint is acting as an
attractant! This is the first coat of two, so I will wait till the
paint is touch-dry, then try to take them off with masking tape or
tweezers. But how might I stop a new batch from landing on on the
SECOND coat, due tomorrow? Anyone else had this problem?

MM


I have my Hall, staircase and landing to do - What a very good reason why I
shouldn't do them at the moment! I have been trying to think of something
;-) Only problem is I might be told to paint it all black :-{




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anonNO TO SPAM wrote:



I have my Hall, staircase and landing to do - What a very good reason why I
shouldn't do them at the moment! I have been trying to think of something
;-) Only problem is I might be told to paint it all black :-{


As in the Fast Show's "Johnny"?

"It's BLACK, allllllllll BLACK!!!"

Alternatively, if they like pure brilliant white, you could always
set up a decoy, such as white sheet, or large piece of cardboard
€“ that'll fool em, paint it and they'll stick to that instead



--
Remove the obvious stuff to reply by direct email.

On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 13:44:15 -0400, "jerrybuilt "
] wrote:

Probably thunder flies, a sort of minute beetle. Just don't
paint when they are around. Nothing you can do now, but wait
until the paint is dry and brush them off with a dry cloth.
Perhaps it might be worth using fly-spray or "Vapona" before
you start work.

Hasn't Vapona been banned now? It's gone from the supermarket
shelves.
--
email: jim.hatfield.org (replace the "a" with "@")

They tend not to like drafts, try placing a desk fan blowing across the
area - if you can put up with the noise!!
Diesel Dave
"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I painted a door jamb (inner door to bathroom) a half-hour ago with
Dulux Professional Liquid Gloss (White). I've just been back to check
and there are a couple of dozen tiny flies trapped on the surface!
These flies are minute - about 1.5 mm long. Tiny little black specs.
There are one or two crawling about on the adjacent wallpaper. Where
did they suddenly come from? It's as if the paint is acting as an
attractant! This is the first coat of two, so I will wait till the
paint is touch-dry, then try to take them off with masking tape or
tweezers. But how might I stop a new batch from landing on on the
SECOND coat, due tomorrow? Anyone else had this problem?

MM

On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 18:28:23 +0000 (UTC),
(Dean Heighington) wrote:

anonNO TO SPAM wrote:



I have my Hall, staircase and landing to do - What a very good reason why I
shouldn't do them at the moment! I have been trying to think of something
;-) Only problem is I might be told to paint it all black :-{


As in the Fast Show's "Johnny"?

"It's BLACK, allllllllll BLACK!!!"

Alternatively, if they like pure brilliant white, you could always
set up a decoy, such as white sheet, or large piece of cardboard
– that'll fool em, paint it and they'll stick to that instead

I thought of exactly the same thing! But then, how would they tell the
difference between a piece of white-painted hardboard and a door jamb?
I also thought of switching on a fan, so that they would not be able
to compete with the rush of wind and would go somewhere else. But
would one have the fan directed *at* the painted area or away from it?
If the fan were facing towards the work, then the flies might get
helped on to it - the ones that didn't succumb in the vortex. If
facing away, the flies would tire themselves out, battling to get past
the almighty draught, so facing away sounds like the best idea.

Actually, the paint is touch-dry now and it's proving quite easy to
gently brush them off with the rough edge of a rag!

MM