“I have thin clear/white microscopic strands on fabrics in my house and can’t figure out what they are”, states this reader in her submission. “Could they be larvae of something?”
“They seem to be the origin of fuzz balls that form on the fabrics that don’t typically have this problem”, she continues. “I have read articles on insects that damage fabrics but nothing seems to fit. The picture: I pulled this off a piece of fabric in my house. Magnification is 60x. Concerned with the tiny white strands. I think the brown thing is 3 mm long if I remember correctly.”
We are going to say right off the bat that we will not be able to identify these organisms, and we would not even be able to provide an educated guess. This is simply because the organisms are microscopic. Anything of that size is beyond our level of expertise, and on the microscopic level, anything will look strange, and you will find all sorts of things (moving or not) that you did not expect to find there.
Could they be larvae? Probably not, at least not of any known insect, and larvae are by definition the immature form of insects. They are definitely not larvae of any clothes-eating insect, which is why our reader was not able to find a match. The most common clothes-eating pests, like the clothes moth larva or the carpet beetle larva, are all visible to the naked eye.
Could they be worms? That is more possible. There are microscopic species of worms, though we would not know how to identify any of those either. The microscopic world is much bigger than the macroscopic (visible) one, so it takes an expert to be able to identify organisms on that scale.
There is a possibility that these are not even organisms, but indeed what our reader describes: “microscopic strands”. Seeing as they were found on clothing, it would not be implausible to suggest that they might just be pieces of lint.
That said, if our reader is convinced that these are organisms, then we suggest she take samples of them to her local county extension office, as someone will be able to physically examine them there and give her a second opinion.
Likewise, if any of our other readers have any ideas as to what these could be, they are more than welcome to share any suggestions in the comments section below.
To conclude, we do not know what these white strands are. Since they are microscopic, it is impossible for us to even venture a guess as to their identity (given that they are indeed organisms). We hope nonetheless that our reader found something insightful in this article, and we wish her the very best.
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I’m having also I missed you with these things that don’t move that look like black dots and then on my clothing look like white lint. and sometimes feel like they bite I do feel the crawling sensation in my arms back on my head sometimes but there’s nothing there when I look in the mirror.
No one else seems to be affected by these things it’s only me. I didn’t start taking psychiatric medication because I am thinking this is something mental. The medication only works to knock me out so I can go to sleep. I know they’re more active at night but I also feel like whenever I’m stressed I feel the sensation. the thing that bugs me is I have the handkerchiefs that I carry around and they are getting really messed up like something’s coming out of the fabric of it. same thing happened to my pillowcases they feel a lot more rough and damaged. It looks like strands of fabric and sometimes like fuzz balls of lint.
I have been told it’s Morgellons disease and it does kind of fit my situation but I’m having a hard time believing it. It’s just too damn noticeable. what it is it’s driving them nuts and with stress like that comes with hair loss and other health issues. I really wish someone could help us because I don’t know if it’s a mite or it’s a fungus or mold. I gotten so crazy that I’ve used tape on every little thing that I saw and I started identifying different bugs but they weren’t necessarily the one that was bugging me. which is kind of disturbing because my room is pretty clean and for me to even find those harmless critters kind of trip me out.
Do you feel a wetness and then a stickiness? Could it be the things that live in a hackberry tree?
& yes I am rocking a backwards mullet from these monsters. I believe they are from covid!
I am dealing with this same issue. I was constantly feeling something on my face and in my hair. I thought maybe it’s lice. I checked, had family & even friends check. They swore they seen nothing. I kept feeling it and began seeing white strands sometimes even black it didn’t stop until I got pregnant. My daughter is a year now and I’m suffering again and so confused I’ve tried everything possible and it makes me nervous because my daughter is constantly sick it seems I’m praying this isn’t the cause though ! I have some friends and family that feel it now to but they are practically ignoring it. Idk how. I’m convinced they are moth larvae that have became tolerant to moth balls etc
I have the same micro organism. They are in the air and im infested for they end up on carpet, me my skin, worse part is the hairloss.. They morph and start crawling in your hair and your hair starts to fall out sometimes in pieces. The love any kind of fabric. They are very much alive. I believe there airborne. One dog and two birds and my sister all live with me and yes we are all infested. Something that should not be here.