Asked on Jun 24, 2015
Getting bugs out
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This is dead tree limb on a large dogwood in my yard, I'm thinking of using it as a wall hanging in my living room. How would you get any insects out?
5 answers
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Find a large sawmill company that kiln-dries slabs of wood; maybe they could accommodate a piece like this. You might have to separate it into pieces that can be re-connected with wood glue--probably wouldn't notice the seam if done correctly.
![Laurie St-Onge]()
Laurie St-Onge
on Jun 25, 2015
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Wood can be home to termites, large ants and many other insects. I don't think there is a way to eliminate them. I've seen what crawls around in dead wood and would never bring it into my home.
![Kathy]()
Kathy
on Jun 25, 2015
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You can soak any piece of wood in bleach water to sterilize it. This is from a website that advises people on how to sterilize wood for use in herp and bird cages: To properly soak wood, you should use a bleach solution. A ratio of 1/2 cup of bleach to one gallon of water will be sufficient. If you use a more concentrated solution, you will find it difficult to extinguish and leach the bleach out of the wood.Using the ratio above, soak the wood for 24 hours in the solution. The bleach will seep into the wood and kill any parasites harboring inside. Once 24 hours has elapsed, remove the wood and rinse it thoroughly. You will now need to soak the wood again. This time soak the wood in clean water, that doesn't have any bleach. This process will need to be repeated several times over a 1-2 day period. The idea is to leach the bleach out of the wood. Every few hours you should remove the water in which the branch is soaking and replace it with fresh, clean water. This process will force the bleach into the clean water, diluting it with each replacement. As you continue to replace the water, the amount of bleach that will remain will dissipate until it has been leached completely.Now you should allow the branch to air dry for several days, preferably outdoors. Hanging the branch from another item will help prevent any re-infestation from occurring.
![Teresa Watkins]()
Teresa Watkins
on Jun 25, 2015
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We brought in some branches to use inside. There were bugs inside. We took them back outside and wrapped them tightly in black trash bags and left them in the sun a few days. They were leaving little piles of sawdust. All the activity has stopped except one branch. We re wrapped it and are waiting a few more days. Hope it works for you as well.
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Nyg933947
on Jun 25, 2015
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Spray with lavender and peppermint essential oils and then wrap in plastic. This will drive all the bugs out of the wood and when left in the sun it will bake the bugs.
![Jimrusk]()
Jimrusk
on Jun 26, 2015
Laurie St-Onge
on Jun 25, 2015
Kathy
on Jun 25, 2015
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