Woodworm

[mrcharly]

I've made a few items from whole logs, including bark. A year or two later, woodworm holes appear . . .

These items weren't finished with anything, as they were for small children to play with.

What do people do to prevent woodworm (foodsafe method)? Is there any safe way to treat bark-covered wood?

 

[stevec]

as i understand it, once the woodworm larve is in the wood, there is nothing to do, it will eat away untill its time to pop out, mate and lay more eggs/larve. you can get permithrin based stuff to kill them off/stop them laying, its what is used in skitostop, however if you'd want children playing with the finished articles?

another thought is the common furniture beatle larve only goes for sapwood, not the heartwood.

best regards
steve

 

[Muddypaws]

If the piece of wood is small enough then wrap it in a plastic bag and pop it in the freezer for two or three days. This works on dry timber, not sure how it would affect green timber though.

 

[mousey]

found this webpage - sounded like good information

http://www.askjeff.co.uk/woodworm-the-hole-in-the-argument/

 

[Toddy]

Just be blooming careful if you do go down the chemical route; I have a very old spinning wheel (dates to the 1740's) and one leg had woodworm that the previous owners treated with chemicals. As a preventative, they then did the entire wheel and clock reel with the stuff too. It might have stopped the worm, but by heavens it broke my hands out in the worst rash ever itchy, wet and weeping cracks in the skin at every line and joint.
In the end HWMBLT scrubbed the whole thing down with stuff that removed the oily sort of stuff that had seeped into the wood, and scrubbed it down twice more, before I could safely use the wheel

cheers,
Toddy

 

[bushwacker bob]

I put spoons in the microwave for 15 seconds if I suspect woodworm.

 

[mountainm]

Woodworm can't cope with modern central heating so isn't really a problem in modern houses so I've been told.

 

[robin wood]

If the piece of wood is small enough then wrap it in a plastic bag and pop it in the freezer for two or three days. This works on dry timber, not sure how it would affect green timber though.

This is good advice. In Australia where they have all manner of huge wood borers I was told the museums have a rolling program of freezing wooden artefacts. Putting it in a tight plastic bag reduces the chance of damage through the freeze drying effect. If I have something I know has woodworm I tend to give it a couple of cycles of freezing and thawing. Two other tips, if you have woodworm in the house then bringing a fresh alder, beech or elm log in and keeping it hanging around for a while then burning it is good traditional method of prevention. The other tip which explains why this works came from a woodworm guy treating roofing timbers at a National Trust property I used to work at. He said the woodworm like a bit of gravy with their wood, ie they don't like it bone dry. Given the choice they will always lay their eggs on wood with a slightly higher moisture content.

 

[mrcharly]

Thanks everyone - I'll try freezing next time.