Newbie loves being a geek...

We rescued a dog from the streets a couple days ago, and then found out it
has the type of Mange that can infect people. Wife is totally paranoid,
having grown up hearing tales of people getting scabies (which is what this
type of Mange causes in people) from public washaterias and playing hell
getting rid of it. The Vet says it's no big deal, she and everyone else
there (at the Vet's place of work) has had it, and it is easy to get rid of.
Wife is still totally paranoid (and I can't blame her.) The vet says to
just wash our hands and arms with hot water and soap, and the same with our
clothes if they come in contact with the dog. K says that you can wash your
clothes in the hottest water available, and still catch Scabies from a
public washateria. Enter Dave, the geek. Did some research on the 'net and
found out that Mange and Scabies are both caused by mites that burrow under
the skin and lay eggs. Only the mites you get from dogs with Mange are
different from the mites you get from another person who has Scabies (even
though they call both types "Scabies", they are caused by different species
of mites.) The ones that live on dogs don't do well on us, and die out
before too long. So long as you don't get reinfected by more mites from the
dog, you are clear. And those mites cannot survive for long in water that
is 125.6 degrees faranheit (sp?). But there is another complication... At
a washateria, you put your clothes in and take them out of the washer,
likely touching the rim of the basket, which never sees hot water. And in
so doing you can pick up mites, depositing them on your freshly washed
clothes. And the type of mites that live well on people are not so easy to
get rid of. They can survive longer without a host then the type that come
from dogs. Bottom line, it's a different story if you get your mites from a
public washateria. What we have is a dog with Mange, and that is all we have
to worry about.

Finding this information, I dug out my old chemistry set, and found my
handy-dandy thermometer. Then I got out my old chemistry book, and
calculated how hot in degrees celsius (which is what my thermometer
measures) 125 degrees faranheit is. Since I want to be sure, I decided to
go with 130 degree water, which is 55 degrees celsius. Out to the utility
room, I turn up the thermostat on the hot water heater. Before it had time
to heat up, I measured the temp of the water coming out of the kitchen
faucet. 50 degrees celsius, which works out to something like 120 degrees
faranheit. Okay. While I write this, the water is heating back up, to the
higher temperature I set the thermostat too. When wife wakes up (she's
taking a nap) I will explain, and show her how hot the water is in the
kitchen. The utility room and the washer are closer to the hot water
heater, which means less pipe to go through and less heat to be lost. In
the end I decided to make it 140 degrees faranheit, just for the sake of
thoroughness. This will compensate for the fact that the water will cool
some while the basket fills and agitates. All I need is ten minutes in 126
degree (faranheit) water, which should not be a problem. Plan to fill the
washer and test it after ten and fifteen minutes, just to make sure. Ha ha.
I love being a geek.

Dave


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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Newbie loves being a geek...
    ... has the type of Mange that can infect people. ... says to just wash our hands and arms with hot water and soap, ... Scabies from a public washateria. ... by mites that burrow under the skin and lay eggs. ...
    (sci.chem)
  • Re: Newbie loves being a geek...
    ... it has the type of Mange that can infect people. ... K says that you can wash your clothes in the hottest water available, ... still catch Scabies from a public washateria. ... caused by mites that burrow under the skin and lay eggs. ...
    (sci.chem)
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