Rehaird and Lost Within Six Months

[VicDamone]

I had my French bow rehaird by Ifinshi (spelling) in Berkeley Ca. in February and much of the hair has broken mid strand. I haven't used it much so it's been in its case most of the time. What'd I do wrong?

[Christopher]

You haven't loosened the hair after you've played? You're playing too hard?

Ifshin's is a good shop, but they might have gotten a bad shipment of hair.

[Bob Branstetter]

I haven't seen it much in bass bows, but it is fairly common in violin bows kept in old cases. There is actually a very small bug that loves to eat bow hair (or the rosin on it). Since you mentioned that the bow is kept in "it's case", this is a possiblility. Just so you don't think I'm kidding, check out this link. Bow Bug

[VicDamone]

Wow!!! I had my bow rehaird and bought the new case at the same time. I have another bow which I never use stored in a case and its fine. I'd have to say that shop is infested.

[Bob Branstetter]

Originally posted by VicDamone
Wow!!! I had my bow rehaird and bought the new case at the same time. I have another bow which I never use stored in a case and its fine. I'd have to say that shop is infested.

Not necessarily. If you read the article carefully, you saw that the bugs are common around your house too. The bugs like dark places. Bow cases are dark and I imagine that the bugs are drawn to the hair as food.

[celticagent]

Originally posted by Bob Branstetter
I haven't seen it much in bass bows, but it is fairly common in violin bows kept in old cases. There is actually a very small bug that loves to eat bow hair (or the rosin on it). Since you mentioned that the bow is kept in "it's case", this is a possiblility. Just so you don't think I'm kidding, check out this link. Bow Bug

You can protect against these bugs by keeping some mothballs in your case, or if you don't like the smell of mothballs, you can put some drops of essential oil instead, such as lavender or rosemary - you can buy that at a natural food store like Whole Foods or Wild Oats. I don't know where you live, but any good natural food store will have essential oils. Mothballs can be purchased from any good hardware store.