 EN POINTE
RAISE THE BARRE
 PAS DE DEUX
BASIC, BETTER, BEST
MG....TTYL
PAS DE DEUX
LEOTARD FOR BODY TYPE
BEYOND BASICS
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Hi Merde Girl,
Do you know what to do about the little bugs in my old pointe shoes? I have put them in the freezer and had an exterminator out, but they keep coming back, do you know what I can do to get rid of them?
K.E.
Houston, TX
Thanks for question K.E.! I had to do a little research for this one! I called Charles Allen, a faculty member of Texas A&M University Department of Entomology and the Program Director of the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation to find an answer.
He said that you are most likely dealing with sawtooth grain beetles. They think the paste in the toe boxes of your pointe shoes are a delicacy. He does not believe they are weevils as most people would assume. The beetles are drawn by odor to the food source. No matter how well you store or hide the shoes, if you have grain beetles in the building, they will find your shoes! Mr. Allen says that extermination will not help because the beetles have no interest in digesting the poison and are tiny enough to avoid it. He suggests several ways to get rid of the beetles. First, freeze your pointe shoes overnight. Freezing will kill the adult beetles, but any larva that they might have laid in your building or your shoes will not be killed. You will have new adult beetles in about a month. Second, fumigation of your entire building will also kill the adults, but not the larva. Again, you will have adult beetles in about a month when the larva hatch. One beetle can lay between 300 to 400 eggs. Mr. Allen says the best way to get rid of the beetles permanently is it to eliminate their food source. Well, I don’t think any dancer wants to get rid of their pointe shoes, so he gave me some suggestions on how to make them less tasty to the beetles. First, freeze all the pointe shoes you have on hand overnight to kill all the adults. Next, store your pointe shoes with moth balls in the container. Grain beetles hate moth balls. Continue to freeze your shoes once every three weeks to kill any hatching larva. If you can eliminate all the adults, there will be none left to lay new eggs. After 3-4 months of repeating this cycle, you will eventually dispose of all the larva. Mr. Allen also suggests setting a trap for the beetles bringing them all together to making elimination easier. They are attracted to light and the odor of your shoes. Set out a pair of your shoes under a desk lamp and leave it on for a few days. All the beetles in the building will be drawn to this location. It will make killing the adults easier. Good luck on getting rid of your saw tooth grain beetles!
Merde Girl,
I just had to take a minute to let you know I think your magazine is exactly what was missing in my dance world! I can’t wait to see what you do next!
I’ll be watching!
Christine
Cinninati, OH
Hey Christine! Make sure you read the article with Susanne Ferrell, did you know she is from Cinninati? Thanks for reading! MG
MG,
Thank you so much for your help with my pointe shoes! You were exactly right, I needed more support and the shoe you suggested with the higher wings is working perfectly! I wish I had found you years ago!
Angela,
New York, NY
Thanks Angela! We are glad we have found you as a customer! Welcome! MG
Merde Girl,
I just wanted you to know that you have helped me so much with my pointe shoes. I could not explain with words, but you suggested I email you a few pictures. I never knew the shank was suppose to follow my foot and not twist off at my heel! The shoe you suggested for me corrected the problem immediately! My teacher told me that she has never seen my foot look better! Thanks so much….I am ready for summer intensive auditions!
Amy,
Tulsa, OK
Go Amy! We are sending you Merde wishes for your auditions! MG
Hey Merde Girl,
Why do some tights have seams up the back?
Elizabeth
Seattle, WA
Hi Elizabeth, The seams that run up the back of the legs on some tights help give the look of a longer line. Who doesn’t want their legs to look longer?!?!? MG
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