Cleaning out cobwebs

PrettyPaisley · #1 10/14/14, 10:07 AM

Seems getting a new pair of contact lens has reignited my OCD issues. Geez Louise I had no idea all the dirt I could not see.

The cobwebs are making me nuts. Not so much because I run into them but because they are all over the barn. I'm trying to leave them spiders alone so they can do their thing but the abandoned webs need to come down. When I use the broom to reach them they stick to the broom and render it ineffective as a floor sweeper.

What did folks used to use to clean the cob webs off the rafters of their barns? Surely this is also a fire hazard.

Harry Chickpea · #2 10/14/14, 10:33 AM

Cat on a stick?

swedishsteel · #3 10/14/14, 01:51 PM

I have used a tree branch. I cut one that is small diameter and about 8 feet long. I twirl it around the cobweb to get it to adhere to the stick much like they make cotton candy at a carnival. When done, I may store the stick alongside the barn or pitch it into a brush pile, knowing I can make a new one next year in about 60 seconds or less.

PrettyPaisley · #4 10/14/14, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry Chickpea

Cat on a stick?

Very cool ! I hadn't considered a branch. That's the new plan. Thanks !

However, we do have three new kittens and nine, yes nine, older kittens that were born this summer. I have several spare cats if anyone else needs to clean their cobwebs.

Nimrod · #5 10/14/14, 06:09 PM

I don't think most folks clean the cobwebs in their barn.

I'v had good luck cleaning them with the vacuum but you might need several extensions in the barn.

Danaus29 · #6 10/14/14, 06:15 PM

Just take the broom out and drag it on the grass after cleaning the cobwebs off the walls and ceiling. Once the cobwebs are hanging off the bottom just step on the webbing and pull the broom away. Cobwebs are now on your shoe. Burn shoe.

Just kidding about the shoe part. Cobwebs don't stick to your shoes all that well.

RichNC · #7 10/14/14, 06:31 PM

Growing up we never worried about cobwebs in the barn, but in the house my Momma used to tie an old feed sack over the broom.

mrs whodunit · #8 10/14/14, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PrettyPaisley

What did folks used to use to clean the cob webs off the rafters of their barns? Surely this is also a fire hazard.

Get a couple of bats and turn them loose.

When I was a child we had a bat get into the house..... it would have to stop every so often on those decorative plates hanging on the walls to clean off all the webs. LOL Nothing like watching a bat flying around with these dusty 'threads' following.

BlackFeather · #9 10/15/14, 08:03 PM

Just get your old contacts back, problem solved.

||Downhome|| · #10 10/16/14, 04:54 AM

If you have a compressor you can buy or rig a wand to blast them.

I got a 4' section of copper tube that was a propane line in a RV in a former life, the brass fitting screws on a twist valve which then screws on to a air coupling then attaches to the air hose.

I would prefer something like a blowgun that I could trigger on and off but it works.

Another option might be a leaf blower...

geo in mi · #11 10/16/14, 07:43 AM

Nearly every year(not this one, with the bum ankle) I wait for a good frost/freeze to kill them off, then begin the attack. I use a broom, and a vacuum with a long wand. That way I get all the egg sacs left behind after the older generation dies. Usually the barn broom gets cleaned off by a final sweeping of the sand and dead leaves that have blown in. Then a window wash with vinegar water to get rid of the fly spots. Ready for winter in the barn workshop.

geo

wy_white_wolf · #12 10/16/14, 08:00 AM

Mom put an old towel over the broom when cleaning cobwebs in the house. Towel then went to the wash.

WWW

Callieslamb · #13 10/16/14, 02:34 PM

My rafters are way up there. I have to attach a stick to a 2x4. I put an old Tshirt on the end of the stick. It's great exercize for your upper arms.

Bret · #14 10/16/14, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry Chickpea

Cat on a stick?

Cat on a stick. Cat on a hot tin roof. Why cats?

Near and far...we are the same person--with the same cobwebs. How do they find us?

||Downhome|| · #15 10/16/14, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callieslamb

My rafters are way up there. I have to attach a stick to a 2x4. I put an old Tshirt on the end of the stick. It's great exercize for your upper arms.

why not use a extension pole?

okiemom · #16 10/16/14, 05:01 PM

lambs wool on a stick w/ extension abilities

geo in mi · #17 10/16/14, 05:07 PM

Throw a Halloween party in your barn, turn out the lights.....Authentic creepy crawlers. Cobwebs go home on the costumes.........

geo

PrettyPaisley · #18 10/16/14, 07:05 PM

I got a pole and tied a piece of a feed sack to the end of it with baling twine. It worked! I didn't do the entire barn because I couldn't get over top of the goats (they always act like I'm going to knock them in the head when I walk towards them with the broom up high) but I will finish it up this weekend.

Sometimes it's the little things, you know?

Harry Chickpea · #19 10/17/14, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bret

Cat on a stick. Cat on a hot tin roof. Why cats?

Near and far...we are the same person--with the same cobwebs. How do they find us?

Glad you asked. When a cat on a stick realizes that it is affixed there, it will fight and claw to free itself from the duct tape and create a power brush. After use, you can simply cut away the duct tape and the cat is self-cleaning. A dog on a stick would simple look around and drool at you (unless it was a wire haired terrier, which happen to be great for cleaning chimneys if you can stand he barking).

Spotted Owl · #20 10/17/14, 04:40 PM

Pick a far back corner and let them grow up thick in there. If you're ever horning goats or calves and get a bleeder, grab a big handful and rub it on the stump. Don't know why, just know that it works.

For the rest if they get so bad I feel a need to clean them out, I use a leaf blower. Point the tube and squeeze your finger and they disappear. The chickens really like picking through the mess when I do this. I only clean the side and back of one stall now and then cause a rig is parked in there.

Owl