Lego and Pest Heat Treatment

[Brixit]

Unfortunately I need to have my house treated for bed bugs. I have a large Lego collection (both built and unbuilt sets and many, many plastic bins of bricks). The exterminator said that the heat the house to around 130 degrees. The way they put, don't leave anything in the house that you wouldn't leave in a hot car all day long.

I was planning to move all my bins to the basement, which won't get heated, but worry that if any bugs were in with the Lego that they could just re-infest the house later. It would be easier and safer to leave it all upstairs, but I don't want to damage anything.

Has anyone had experience with heat treatments (or extreme heat in general) and Lego? Is my collection safe to expose to the heat? If not, can anyone suggest what I can do to eliminate any possible bugs in my Lego? Thanks.

[Space Police XVIII]

What leaps to mind are the temperature warnings on my old old Classic Space boxes. Max temp 40C/110F.... so in your place, I'd move them and treat them separately. A long soak in a Simple Green solution should do it. This won't react with ABS, but it will take off stickers. Clear pieces and prints, I don't know, you're on your own there, and someone'll doubtless suggest something better anyway.

Good luck with the bugs. Those things are a bloody nightmare.

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

I had this happen to me in college. I only had a couple of bagged set parts and minifigs in Ziploc bags. I decided against risking my figures, so I set them aside. I might have left a CMF base in my room, but nothing happened to it.

Sorry, I know how much of a nightmare those things can be. Maybe ask Lego directly. They're usually very helpful.

Edited August 10, 2016 by BrickHat

[deraven]

I very much doubt 130º (F, right, not Celsius? ) will do any damage to your bricks if they're not, like, densely squashed into storage boxes (where excess pressure against each other plus the heat for a prolonged period might cause some kind of issue).

130º F is not a "hot car," at least not here in AZ. I've left Lego in my car all day when the air temp was 115º+ (and many times for a couple hours), not to mention sets that get shipped to me and then sit in the mailbox when it's that kind of temperature out, and I've not come across any ill effects. Of course, do what you feel is safest for your collection, but I personally wouldn't be worried enough about it to go to any extreme measures to protect the brick. What I probably would do is move the built sets to the basement (would be a pain to disinfect/delouse them, but hopefully they're not infested) and not worry about the bins of loose brick. That's based on anecdotal evidence from people saying that they left MOCs in a hot for for several hours and experienced a loss of clutch power, and I could see bricks in tension from being snapped together being much more likely to "set" in a less-clutchy state vs idle bricks sitting in a bit (like boxed sets in my car) that are slowly brought up to 130º and then back down to regular room temp.

Good luck - sorry you have to deal with that!

[Brixit]

Thanks for the replies. It sucks, but I'm moving all the Lego to the basement to be on the safe side.

A lot of my "loose" brick is already snapped together so I could fit more in bins, which means its more likely to deform in the heat. I display my new MOCs at conventions, and the last thing I need is for them to fall apart in transport due to lost clutch power.

[nerdsforprez]

I very much doubt 130º (F, right, not Celsius? ) will do any damage to your bricks if they're not, like, densely squashed into storage boxes (where excess pressure against each other plus the heat for a prolonged period might cause some kind of issue).

130º F is not a "hot car," at least not here in AZ. I've left Lego in my car all day when the air temp was 115º+ (and many times for a couple hours), not to mention sets that get shipped to me and then sit in the mailbox when it's that kind of temperature out, and I've not come across any ill effects. Of course, do what you feel is safest for your collection, but I personally wouldn't be worried enough about it to go to any extreme measures to protect the brick. What I probably would do is move the built sets to the basement (would be a pain to disinfect/delouse them, but hopefully they're not infested) and not worry about the bins of loose brick. That's based on anecdotal evidence from people saying that they left MOCs in a hot for for several hours and experienced a loss of clutch power, and I could see bricks in tension from being snapped together being much more likely to "set" in a less-clutchy state vs idle bricks sitting in a bit (like boxed sets in my car) that are slowly brought up to 130º and then back down to regular room temp.

Good luck - sorry you have to deal with that!

I also question the whole heat thing. I live in Texas, and, well, perhaps we don't get as hot as AZ, we get pretty darn hot. I have since moved my building area inside, but for the longest time I kept sets in my shed. Large sets that weigh a lot and tension is an issue. Yes, it is air conditioned, but I really only turn it on when I am building. When I go on vacation, trips, etc. I don't. Temperatures I am sure get 120 degrees or hotter.

I don't store packaged sets in there.... so can't speak as to packaging, etc..... but as far as the ABS, outside the package...... my sets have withstood texas summer heat just fine.

[Master_Data]

Leave a few bricks inside if you still can just to see if anything will happen.

[nerdsforprez]

Leave a few bricks inside if you still can just to see if anything will happen.

I have since moved my collection inside..... my whole building room in fact. Child (well adult now) moving out off to school. I have not noticed any differences. Even on sets like the B wing. If you see in the pic above (or know anything about the set there is quite a bit of torque on the vertical body when on the stand because the linear weight (up and down) is now somewhat horizontal. In fact, I have heavily modified the set

adding weight to the upper half and therefore to balance it a boat weight (hidden, can't be seen) at the bottom for balance. I say this because it creates more torque on the body and I was concerned that at high temps the body would bend over time. No such thing ever happened. It is perfectly fine and straight. Yes..... for those that know the set the body is several plates thick.... but still, I think it takes temps in excess of 150-160ish or even more to really warp ABS......

[tafkatb]

Seal everything up in airtight bags or bins (you'll need the type of bins with a foam rubber gasket on the lid) and keep them away from the heat. Here's the tough part - you'll have to keep everything sealed long enough for any bugs that could potentially be in there to die off so they don't reinfest. This could take several months.

[splatman]

Put a bit of Dry Ice in every bin/bag, so as it sublimes, it will fill the container with CO₂ and asphyxiate the bugs.

Dry ice can be had at Fred Meyer (a grocery/hypermarket chain in the Pac NW); don't know about anyplace else that carries it.

[JanelleSackett]

Well, you can successfully eliminate bed bugs from your Lego items by a number of methodologies. Note that bed bugs would not prefer to harbor in or on legos as, for the most part, they are basically hard, smooth plastic which is not a bedbug friendly surface. So, I would recommend you to hire a professional exterminator, and there are some companies who are specialized in heat treatment for bed bugs which will blow hot air into your home with a target range of about 140 degrees F. My brother was also dealing with the same situation so he had called up the exterminator bed bugs services, where the professionals had placed his Lego item in a suitably sized storage box and then thoroughly apply heat or steam to the Lego. I would advise you to research the company you are interested in. Make sure to go through with internet references and other customer recommendations to checked out.
 

Good Luck!