how to kill bugs in soakable pieces of wood

Sometimes I find small pieces of fallen wood, often quite weathered, which I'd like to use in sculptures. Since they've been out in the woods a long time, I can tell from the holes - sometimes fairly large, other times tiny - that insects have penetrated them. Some of these pieces could easily be immersed in a 5-gallon bucket of something, if I knew what 'something' would kill the insects and larvae. I guess the other option is to wait, and put a whole bunch of gathered pieces into a closed room and fog the room with a fumigator. Any suggestions?

Cathy Morgan, Morgan Sculpture iron and mixed media vessel forms

Hi Dennis here Here in the U.K we have wood preservatives which have insecticides and anti fungicide chemicals as additives a five star treatment Company name CUPRINOL Yours Dennis

What if you put them in a plastic bag or garage barrel with a lid with the same fogger?? Would that work? Marrita McMillian

You're close Cathy, only use mothballs or flakes instead of a fumigator in a sealed bag or container. You may have to leave the wood pieces sealed for a long time but it shouldn't be a problem to simply store each found piece in a bag and put aside for use later. The moth balls actually evaporate into a nerve gas sort of thing and that should do the job for you without being hazardous to you later on. Crocus Design Works - web site design

Fume with ammonia in a bag or tent like they do to darken oak.

After airing, should be safe for you, and will definitely be lethal to them.

A fool-proof, non-toxic method is to simply boil them. You may have to rig up an outdoor fire with a cauldron of some sort. there are worse ways to spend a fall afternoon. ;o)

Paul Rad

Cathy Morgan wrote ...

I use mineral spirits. Cheap, more or less safe and it works.

Mike McCombs

Hi An idea borrowed from furniture restoration is to inject small amounts of natural turpentine into the holes and cavities of the wood (with a fine needled syringe). I've had a lot of success with this, getting rid of borers etc. You only need a little bit, and it's a low toxic option, doesn't harm the wood and dries out really well.

good luck

I'm hesitant to follow this excellent idea, because the instructions on the cans of fogger usually give a minimum number of cubic feet for use. Without knowing quite why they specify this, I'm reluctant to disregard it.

McMillian Quarter Horses, INC

Thanks everyone. I've learned several relatively safe and nontoxic ways to solve my problem. Really appreciate it. Now I'll be able to sell my sculptures without selling people little pets along with them.

I recommend pouring boiling or even very hot water, on the wood since your pieces are small. You might add a drop or two of bleach, but the heat should do it. Also you can wrap your pieces in a black garbage bag, seal it well, and leave it in the sun, if the lack of air doesn't kill them, the heat will.

If the piece is small enough, microwave it for 60 seconds. Absolutely effective and non-toxic.
Larger pieces can be put in a deep freezer, zero degrees or colder, for at least overnight. 2 - 3 days is better. Again, effective and non-toxic.

Or if the piece can't fit in the microwave, you can construct an oven & bake the pieces. You would not need much heat, perhaps 150 f / 60 c for a couple hours. You can create an oven using coated insulation foam (available @ DIY stores), 2 light bulbs & a fan to circulate the air within the oven. A temp. guage would also be handy. The whole setup would not be that expensive. The up side would be that you could 'bake' large pieces.
Here is a shameless link to a photo sequence that illustrates fabricating such a hot box oven: http://www.smooth-on.com/faq_display.php?faq_id=66