Other cases involve insect infestation of fabrics, crafts, animal trophies, or stored food items. In some areas of the country, especially further south, professional pest control firms commonly fumigate such infestations using lethal gases. Not so, here in Kentucky, where there simply is not enough demand to justify the cost of maintaining the necessary fumigation equipment, licenses, and insurance. Insecticide sprays typically are of little use, since the insects are often living deep within the infested item where sprays cannot penetrate. One alternative is to chill or heat the item to a temperature lethal to the pests living within.
Insects are unable to tolerate sudden, unanticipated extremes of hot and cold.
In fact, most insects, being cold-blooded, have rather narrow temperature ranges within which they can survive. Heating and chilling deinfestation methods have been used by museums, furriers, and the food processing industry for years. By following the steps outlined below, homeowners will be able to salvage that piece of furniture, picture frame, or bamboo basket riddled with powderpost beetle holes, or that delicate wool craft item or animal trophy infested with clothes moths or carpet beetles. The techniques can even be used to kill grain beetles and meal moths in those 50 pound bags of bird seed or pet food some folks cannot bear to throw out. This method is especially useful for deinfesting chairs, dressers, picture frames, and other wood items infested with powderpost or other wood-boring beetles.