Quote:
Originally Posted by birdsong
"Moth balls" do not kill insects. Not the current formulation. It is a repellent (too late right?). In the good old days there were two types. One no longer sold contained PDB - paradichlorobenzene. At the right concentration it could kill some insect stages, but it was a bit toxic so most people had no business working with it. And you don't want to be breathing benzene rings.......
There are wood-boring insects that prefer higher temps and humidity and some that do just fine in very dry conditions. That said, I agree that for now, take the instrument out of its case.
I can't comment on fumigants and the guitar finish. Some chemistries can certainly react and as such, you'd want to work with both luthier and a certified fumigator if you go that route. It's not for the feint of heart.... e.g. We still use DDVP under very controlled conditions but it reacts with some plastics and, it is also a bit risky ("Shell No-Pest strips"; 2,2-dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate). Due to its risk and toxicity it was taken off the shelf years ago (at least one child died from over-exposure in a vehicle with the stuff).
Xray was mentioned. I am not aware of that technique. We have used a variety of things in our Museum. In one instance we contracted a firm to do Carbon Dioxide fumigation. Some folks use Ozone as well. This type of gas fumigation seems the least harmful to an object like a guitar. "seems".....
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Thank you for the informative post. Yeah, I kind of figured moth balls might not kill them as they always just seemed like a repellent. There are, however, two types I've been able to find available, one contains p-dichlorobenzene (the same as what you mentioned, no?) and the other naphthalene. Any chance that either of these might kill anything still living in the guitar if I put a solid amount of it in the sound hole and around the case and left it in the case for a while (a month, maybe??)??
I guess I will call around to some fumigation companies and see if they have any experience with this sort of thing. Maybe it's not a DYI situation...
Thanks!
Greg