I would seal it up in a garbage bag and leave it out in the hot sun for a few days before washing. The heat will kill anything so it cannot spread to other things in your home. i do this with DH hunting clothes when he comes home jst in case a few ticks have traveled home unseen in his clothing

Are they the little red spider mites?

http://buginfo.com/article.cfm?id=37 Has information about a number of mites, some just a nuisance and some that bite.

Thinking simply washing them in soap and water is the answer. I have never heard of mites in fabric.

Like mom-6 said, mice carry mites, so do birds (chickens) and can be the source of infestation. If you just purchased the cloth, go back to the seller. If you've had it a while, check the storage area. Pest experts say you should identify the kind of pest to choose the best control. I haven't had mites but have had baby spiders hatch a la Charlotte's Web.

Thanks for all the input, I live in a very dry climate and it seems that the only time I get bitten is in the summer, when its warm in the room, been to a couple of dermatologist and biopsy showed it "looks like insect bites" another Dr. said I was allergic to cotton. I'm not happy with this situation and just wondered if anyone else had this problem, so I'll continue my search.

Thanks!

So sorry to hear about your tiny visitors. I have always washed fabric to preshrink, but someone also told me another good reason for prewashing is to remove the sizing. It is starch.....and those little critters feed on it. I hope you can get rid of them quickly!!!

Patti

I beg to disagree. From Niagra, which makes both starch and sizing products:

"Niagara spray starch is made of modified corn starch, for body,
silicone to help prevent the iron from sticking, fabric softeners, borax to
keep the starch from breaking down, preservatives to prevent microbiological
growth, and fragrance to give a pleasant smell.

Niagara sizing is an aerosol spray made of cellulose gum, for light
body, silicone to help prevent the iron from sticking, fabric softeners,
borax to keep the starch from breaking down, preservatives to prevent
microbiological growth, and fragrance to give a pleasant smell."

It's been discussed here many times (and on various quilting shows, such as Simply Quilts, which is where I first learned it) to use sizing instead of starch if you want to store your fabrics for extended periods of time. Critters don't like it as much.

Oh dear, so sorry to hear about this. Hope you can resolve the problem with all the suggestions coming your way. I'm one of those people that if a biting insect is within a mile radius, it is going to find me and bite. They make big welts and itch for days.

For katesnanna, the oil smell that you find in fabric is most like lanolin. I once worked for a company that would get in yarn with that smell and was told that they applied lonolin to the yarn to make it run better in the machines that wound it on the cones, It should come out when washed.

Any fabric can get mites or bugs in it, but especially organic fibers like cotton, linen, flax and wool. I did a summer internship at a historical museum YEARS ago and learned that to be safe, you should put fabrics or clothing that has been stored very long without being in an airtight container, into a trash bag with a "no bugs, M'lady" strip. And then clean/wash it. I don't think that these bug strips are still available for whatever reason. But I learned from a nurse that had a daughter that routinely did missionary work in India, that any time she came home, all clothing went either into a very hot dryer or into a black plastic bag that was left in the sun--then cleaned/washed in as hot of water as you think it can stand. Good luck!