Pest Control in Books

I thought I would present the results of my simple experiments with
"natural" pest control in some of my books.



I have some of my good books in an old glass fronted bookcase. Occasionally
I noticed silverfish in some of the books - not really an infestation but
certainly something to worry about. I read on the web that Bay Leaves can
repel silverfish. I bought a large packet of Bay Leaves and put them in a
sieve-like container, which I placed behind my books in the enclosed
bookcase. I have been checking my books for 3 months and have not noticed
any sign of silverfish. The only thing to note is the Bay Leaves will impart
a slight smell to the books - but I think it is quite a pleasant smell -
like an old Indian or Turkish manuscript. I have read that Cloves give a
similar result.



I recently purchased an excellent run of leather bound volumes: Proceedings
of the Royal Society of Victoria, volumes 1 - 23 (1889 - 1910) (lots of
great reports on Aboriginal physiology and ceremony). But I noticed some of
the volumes had tiny pin-prick sized bugs (booklice?) living in them. I
placed all the volumes in a number of airtight bags and stuck them in my
freezer for a week. I removed the books and let them come back up to room
temperature while still in their bags (this is important - if you remove
the book from the bag while it is cold, water will condense on the book).
The books came out perfectly dry and I haven't noticed any return of the
bugs (after 3 weeks).

I have heard of people microwaving books to kill silverfish and lice - but
this treatment seemed a little harsh to me (I have heard that microwaving
can effect colour plates).



Has anyone else had any success (or failures) with "natural" remedies?

Scott

"yipwon" wrote in message
...
I thought I would present the results of my simple experiments with
"natural" pest control in some of my books.



I have some of my good books in an old glass fronted bookcase.
Occasionally
I noticed silverfish in some of the books - not really an infestation but
certainly something to worry about. I read on the web that Bay Leaves can
repel silverfish. I bought a large packet of Bay Leaves and put them in a
sieve-like container, which I placed behind my books in the enclosed
bookcase. I have been checking my books for 3 months and have not noticed
any sign of silverfish. The only thing to note is the Bay Leaves will
impart
a slight smell to the books - but I think it is quite a pleasant smell -
like an old Indian or Turkish manuscript. I have read that Cloves give a
similar result.



I recently purchased an excellent run of leather bound volumes:
Proceedings
of the Royal Society of Victoria, volumes 1 - 23 (1889 - 1910) (lots of
great reports on Aboriginal physiology and ceremony). But I noticed some
of
the volumes had tiny pin-prick sized bugs (booklice?) living in them. I
placed all the volumes in a number of airtight bags and stuck them in my
freezer for a week. I removed the books and let them come back up to room
temperature while still in their bags (this is important - if you remove
the book from the bag while it is cold, water will condense on the book).
The books came out perfectly dry and I haven't noticed any return of the
bugs (after 3 weeks).

I have heard of people microwaving books to kill silverfish and lice - but
this treatment seemed a little harsh to me (I have heard that microwaving
can effect colour plates).



Has anyone else had any success (or failures) with "natural" remedies?

Scott


Yes!! In the kitchen, though. Earwigs just HATE bay leaves, and it sounds
as if you've found another use for them. It sounds like a great idea to
me - god knows, some of my books could use some deodorant. I'm going to try
it.

Silverfish tend to like very humid areas, like bathrooms, so I'm wondering
if you have ongoing humidity issues in your storage area? Silverfish are so
disgusting.....

Huronia