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Original poster

Something strange is happening in my bedroom and I can’t work out why!

385 replies

Wendyer · 11/12/2021 20:40

I’m sorry, it’s not very exciting but I just don’t understand it.

I have a bedside cabinet, and about 6 weeks ago I noticed that there was some gritty rubbley type stuff on it. I wiped it away but later on there was more there. I thought I mustn’t have cleared it up properly so did it again, more thoroughly.

And basically, ever since, there’s nearly always this gritty stuff there! I can’t imagine where it’s coming from - there’s nothing above the cabinet except the ceiling and a hanging light but they don’t seem to be the source. I never hear it dropping onto the cabinet, or see it dropping, it’s just there!

Where is it coming from?!

OP posts:
Thread gallery
23
Choux · 12/12/2021 19:01

@RockinHorseShit

Oops Blush
Was it you? She hasn't mentioned there was a rocking horse in the room but you sound guilty.

For those who haven't RTFT OP thinks it is the lamp but further tests are ongoing as we think that is puffin improbable.

More edible birds:

Something strange is happening in my bedroom and I can’t work out why!
PigletJohn · 12/12/2021 19:10

how old is the house?

please post a photo of the junction between wall(s) and ceiling above

Are there any holes in the wall for shelves, light switches, wall lamps, bedheads, iron rings?

FiddlefigOnTheRoof · 12/12/2021 19:11

I had this. The heat of the bulb was disintegrating the plastic collar of the lamp that sits around the bulb, and it crumbled around the desk on a daily basis.

Interested in this thread?

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General health
PigletJohn · 12/12/2021 19:12

sorry

didn't notice 14 pages

myfaceismyown · 12/12/2021 19:18

I have read this whole thread - so hoping it was a nightly visit from the Sandman... Glad you have solved it OP.

Justonemoretouch · 12/12/2021 19:18

I would remove everything from the surface, wipe it down, place a sheet of white paper on the surface and wait for the rubbly stuff to appear. If I still couldn't tell what it was, I would look at it through a magnifying glass to see if I could identify it. Good luck!

Catmummyof2 · 12/12/2021 19:24

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

PopUpShop · 12/12/2021 19:26

Did you make a wish when the dried bits of dead mouse fur floated away/got inhaled

😀 No, but I did start googling ‘effects of inhaling dead mouse’ and suchlike like mad... there is surprisingly little on the Internet about this!

Original poster
Wendyer · 12/12/2021 19:26

@PigletJohn

how old is the house?

please post a photo of the junction between wall(s) and ceiling above

Are there any holes in the wall for shelves, light switches, wall lamps, bedheads, iron rings?

Iron rings?! Nothing nearly as interesting!

I’ve moved the lamp and I will monitor the situation overnight. I do think the lamp is the guilty party though sadly.

OP posts:
maybloss2 · 12/12/2021 19:31

A camera is def the way to go.

MrsTidyHouse · 12/12/2021 19:48

Don't know if this has already been suggested, but put the base in a freezer bag and tie it tightly so that nothing can get in or out. Move it about as per normal, and see if grit appears.

Zzzsotired · 12/12/2021 19:49

I’d hedge my bets on the weight in the lamp base

Juelz · 12/12/2021 20:26

I wonder if it coming up out of the wood of the bedside cabinet ...does it have any cracks in it?

SoupDragon · 12/12/2021 20:41

@Juelz

I wonder if it coming up out of the wood of the bedside cabinet ...does it have any cracks in it?
It would also have to travel through the sheets of paper placed there as a test.
GlomOfNit · 12/12/2021 20:54

Disintegrating plastic bulb collar from the lamp sounds really plausible but I was going to suggest that there's some plaster grit coming out of a crack between the ceiling coving and the ceiling? That's why I've got sandy grit on my floor anyway. (I agitated the coving a bit while dusting, prior to painting - the coving has sort of separated from the wall a bit because of an old leak and I dislodged some crumbly bits.)

NFLwidow · 12/12/2021 20:55

I had a similar thing on my bedside table and it was the base of my free standing mirror. It was like a grainy pebble stuff that kept appearing and it transpired it was the stuff in it to weigh it down. Perhaps the base of your lamp has been damaged. Hope it’s that otter than bug infestation!

Evan456 · 12/12/2021 20:56

Wood lice

IlCommissarioMontalbano · 12/12/2021 21:02

It's like those really heavy sellotape dispensers full of sand/similar

HeronLanyon · 12/12/2021 21:07

Had a standard lamp where bottom was a lump of contrer badly wrapped. Over the years it degraded and I had to glue big felt furniture pad (it would work for your lamp or indeed carpet etc) on the bottom.

FenceSplinters · 12/12/2021 21:23

How can it be coming from the base of the lamp? It must be something more exciting!

Poptasmagorical · 12/12/2021 21:52

Maybe the bits you've shaken out of the lamp have also come from the ceiling. It doesn't seem to make sense for the bits to be on the paper without you having moved the lamp after putting the paper down? We definitely need more experiments to be carried out here.

ImprobablePuffin · 12/12/2021 22:05

@NFLwidow

I had a similar thing on my bedside table and it was the base of my free standing mirror. It was like a grainy pebble stuff that kept appearing and it transpired it was the stuff in it to weigh it down. Perhaps the base of your lamp has been damaged. Hope it’s that otter than bug infestation!
There was an otter in the base of your freestanding mirror?! How lovely. What a time to be alive!
Stars2theside · 12/12/2021 22:18

Omg I am soooo invested in this!!
Especially as we also had the same problem for ages, and then it just stopped!
However, ours was on top of our 8 block standing IKEA Kallax unit (so, up high) and in just one area.
Ours has disappeared now though, so I want to know even more what the root cause is!!
I also refuse to believe it's the lamp! It can't be!!!
I await your updates OP. Going to bed now so it'll be the morning quicker! This is legit more exciting than Xmas eve Grin

Owl55 · 12/12/2021 22:33

Woodworm?

BobbieT1999 · 12/12/2021 22:36

May I just say, nice coving!