@#$& Borer in old toy!!!!!

[dean]

Have a small tree toy that I made 2 years ago that for some reason now has borer/woodworm dust coming from some little holes in the stem. Anybody have any ideas of something that I can squirt down the holes to exterminate them. As its a toy I don't want anything too toxic so the kids can still play with it. I have a syringe and I was thinking of trying some linseed oil or something like that. What about isapropel alcohol as in CD cleaner that would evaporate after its done some damage to the pesky little varmits.

[basilisk]

If the finish will stand it, dunk the whole thing in methylated spirits, if it doesn't kill them, then at least they will have a Merry Christmas.

Basilisk

[Lew Hodgett]

Depends on the finish, if any.

My first choice would be denatured, not isopropyl (contains water), alcohol; however, if it has shellac finish, that would be a problem.

Immer4se for a couple of days, then let air dry.

Lew

[else24]

I don't know what method would be best to kill them nor do I know how to tell if you do, but I can say with a fair amount of certainty that if you do not kill them, they will spread from that toy to the house.

Personally I would sacrifice the toy rather than take a chance on infecting the house with whatever that bug is.

Wikipedia (searched on "wood borer") says that wrapping the object in plastic and putting it in a freezer for several weeks would do the trick but again, without a way to be absolutely certain they're all dead, I'd worry.

[mac davis]

Is it small enough to put in a freezer bag full of moth balls? (That should leave it wide open for jokes)

mac

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[SonomaProducts.com]

Freezer? Oven? Microwave?

[davy]

Yep it has a shellac finish. Where do you get denatured alcohol? I could try squirting it down the holes with syringe. Thanks Dean

[davy]

Too big for the freezer thanks Dean

[davy]

Too big for the freezer thanks Dean

[davy]

Too big for all the above. thanks Dean

[Lew Hodgett]

On the same shelf with the shellac at the Home Depot; however, I wouldn't go that way.

I'd try "nailshooters" approach, he has been to the movie, or mothballs in a ZipLock bag.

Either way, you don't attack the structure or the finish.

Lew

[Ed Pawlowski]

Trash bag and mothballs? Ammonia? CO?

[ranck]

Never tried this, but I'm thinking that injecting shellac or polyurethane into the holes would coat the little buggers and kill them.

Bill Ranck Blacksburg, Va.

[mac davis]

No, just freezer bags or anything that will seal the air in.. don't need cold with the mothballs..

mac

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[Bored Borg]

On Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:09:55 +0000, dean wrote (in article ):

Place in thick plastic bag. Attach shop vac to mouth of bag with rubber bands. Evacuate all air from bag, as quickly as possible.

keep attached for 10 minutes or so.

The rapid pressure change should be enough to explode a lot of small critters (works very well for hard-bodied bugs) and long time connected _should_ work to suffocate most everything else - larvae, worms... )

[Bored Borg]

On Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:09:55 +0000, dean wrote (in article ):

Place in thick plastic bag. Attach shop vac to mouth of bag with rubber bands. Evacuate all air from bag, as quickly as possible.

keep attached for 10 minutes or so.

The rapid pressure change should be enough to explode a lot of small critters (works very well for hard-bodied bugs) and long time connected _should_ work to suffocate most everything else - larvae, worms... )

(supersede addendum)

Remember that bore holes indicate a completed hatching cycle - the holes are drilled from the inside out by escaping bugs and not by the breeding egg layers. Therefore worm holes demonstrate that bugs have been and already gone.. Treatment is therefore locking stable door _OR_ trying to prevent the _next_ hatching cycle, which may never happen, and if it is, eggs will probably not be down the same wormholes. Hope this makes sense,,,

[MikeWhy]

Yuck. That's as bad as finding half the worm in the apple.

[Stuart]

The thing to worry about is /where/ they have gone!

You build your houses out of wood don't you?

[MikeWhy]

Yes. That's the whole point. It's evidence, or at least an indication, that the bad thing has already happened.

[Bored Borg]

On Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:07:43 +0000, Stuart wrote (in article ):

Then came the Big Bad Wolf who said "I'll huff, and I'll puff..."