08-19-2011, 09:46 AM
The standard procedure I have been using with smallish items from yard sales is to bag them in black plastic and then set the the bag in full sun for at least several days to make sure the items within are well and truly baked before removing the black plastic bag and bringing the items into the house. Seems to work well but is a relatively slow method.
Last week a couple of yard sale treasures seemed too delicate to risk breaking via this treatment -after a week in the sun inside a black bag one tends to forget what exactly is in there! So, I thought of an alternative which worked at least as well if not better. The items in question were a terra cotta oil lamp (this type: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_lamp ...I wondered how it would work with kukui nut oil) and two owl figurines. All three have cavities in which bedbugs and other pests could Trojan Horse their way into the home. Since none of them were metallic, however, they could be microwaved. Indeed, hitting them with bursts of ten seconds on a rotating platform in the microwave, thus warming them evenly and slowly, raised each of the items up to a temperature at which no insects or eggs could have survived inside. No damage to the items themselves; the microwave treatment was accomplished in a couple of minutes time.
Since microwave ovens are set to vibrate water molecules it may be this approach could be used for zapping items other than terra cotta and ceramics, since the insects and eggs will contain water. I am unsure, though, if the principle would hold for, say, eliminating silverfish or bookworm eggs from a book (without igniting the paper). Probably one would need to experiment, carefully, with low value items and safety precautions in place in order to determine just how much microwave energy a specific oven can pump into a specific type of item to pass the insect-kill threshold but not damage the item itself. Of course, if one is in no hurry to bring the book or other item into the house then a week in a black plastic bag in full sun may work as well or better.
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Mind-Boggling Scandinavian Strangeness In Space!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA5GkLM5C7M
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Last week a couple of yard sale treasures seemed too delicate to risk breaking via this treatment -after a week in the sun inside a black bag one tends to forget what exactly is in there! So, I thought of an alternative which worked at least as well if not better. The items in question were a terra cotta oil lamp (this type: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_lamp ...I wondered how it would work with kukui nut oil) and two owl figurines. All three have cavities in which bedbugs and other pests could Trojan Horse their way into the home. Since none of them were metallic, however, they could be microwaved. Indeed, hitting them with bursts of ten seconds on a rotating platform in the microwave, thus warming them evenly and slowly, raised each of the items up to a temperature at which no insects or eggs could have survived inside. No damage to the items themselves; the microwave treatment was accomplished in a couple of minutes time.
Since microwave ovens are set to vibrate water molecules it may be this approach could be used for zapping items other than terra cotta and ceramics, since the insects and eggs will contain water. I am unsure, though, if the principle would hold for, say, eliminating silverfish or bookworm eggs from a book (without igniting the paper). Probably one would need to experiment, carefully, with low value items and safety precautions in place in order to determine just how much microwave energy a specific oven can pump into a specific type of item to pass the insect-kill threshold but not damage the item itself. Of course, if one is in no hurry to bring the book or other item into the house then a week in a black plastic bag in full sun may work as well or better.
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
Mind-Boggling Scandinavian Strangeness In Space!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA5GkLM5C7M
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
Astonishing skill! This archer is a real-life Legolas and then some!
http://geekologie.com/2013/11/real-life-...rs-anc.php
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(
Astonishing skill! This archer is a real-life Legolas and then some!
http://geekologie.com/2013/11/real-life-...rs-anc.php
)'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'( )'(