page_title: Conservation and restoration of wooden furniture
section_title: Pests
hierarchical_section_title: Conservation and restoration of wooden furniture / Preventable damage / The impact of the environment / Pests
caption_attribution_description: English: Lyctoxylon dentatum, dorsal view. Polski: Lyctoxylon dentatum – widok od strony grzbietowej.
context_page_description: The conservation and restoration of wooden furniture is an activity dedicated to the preservation and protection of wooden furniture objects of historical and personal value. When applied to cultural heritage this activity is generally undertaken by a conservator-restorer. Furniture conservation and restoration can be divided into two general areas: structure and finish. Structure generally relates to wood and can be divided into solid, joined, and veneered wood. The finish of furniture can be painted or transparent.
  Furniture has existed throughout all the years of human existence. Furniture that is very dated or is an antique can be conserved or restored so that future generations may also enjoy them for cultural, educational and personal benefit. There are many organizations and guidebooks that can be used to understand the techniques that are used to conserve and restore furniture.
context_section_description: A common furniture pest is the powderpost beetle, less than a quarter-inch long, which lays its eggs in small crevices. The insect larvae burrow into the wood, creating networks of tunnels as they eat their way along the grain. As they mature to adults, they bore out of the wood leaving an "exit" or "flight" hole and fly off to lay their eggs, completing the cycle. Photo to the right—
  The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, presented a case study of an early 19th-century bed with an infestation of woodworms:
  "To protect the bed from damage and prevent pests from spreading to other works of art, it was critical to treat the new acquisition before it entered the building. Conservators completely sealed the bed in a giant impermeable bag and placed an oxygen scavenger inside. In this case, the scavenger was made of fine iron particles. Iron reacts rapidly with oxygen, binding the gas itself and thereby removing it from the air. With the appropriate amount of scavenger in the sealed environment, the conservators brought the oxygen down from normal air levels of 20 percent to less than 0.1 percent. After about four weeks in containment, all of the bed's woodworms in all life stages suffocated. Then the object could be safely brought into the Museum. No toxic chemicals were involved in the treatment, and the conservators disposed of the spent scavenger safely."
caption: Powderpost Beetle
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