Proper vacuming techniques are an essental part of preventing insect infestations and possible reocurrances. Household vacumes should be used on the lowest suction setting possible. Hand held "dust buster" type vacumes are especially useful and are easier to manipulate. The tip of the wand should be covered with a cotton or nylon mesh. This both reduces the suction and prevents material from being sucked into the wand. Nylon stockings are excellent for this purpose.

The vacume wand is covered with a cotton or nylon mesh. This not only traps possible insect debris for examination, but also prevents the annoying sound of a loose button rattling down the tube.

Vacume inside the pockets of jackets. Very often there are small quantities of tobacco in the bottom which can stain light coloured clothing and also attract insects.

The cleaning of an artifact after it has been frozen is important. After the artifact has been removed from the freezer it should be vacumed to remove frass, insect remains and loose hair. The small whitish mass on the wool just at the tip of the wand is the remains of a moth cocoon. If remenants of silk threads from the cocoon are embedded in the material they can be removed by brushing with a lint brush, or picked out using fine tweezers.