It’s every home owner’s nightmare. You’ve bought a gorgeous framed painting from an antique shop but within a few weeks you notice the tell-tale signs of woodworm: white dust, holes or, worse, scurrying beetles running amuck over the frame.
Can Picture Frames Get Woodworm?
While picture frames, especially older ones, can attract woodworm beetles they ARE easily treated. Here’s our quick guide to make sure your frames are beetle-free.
How Will I Know if My Picture Frame is at Risk?
To avoid the necessity of aggressive treatment or of disposing of valuable artwork, it’s best to know if your picture frame is susceptible to woodworm.
Furniture beetles like the softer sapwood so if your frame is heartwood the threat of infestation is limited. If the frame is dry and sound (try tapping with your knuckle) it’s also less likely to have come under attack.
How Do I Tell if My Picture Frame is Infected With Woodworm?
The most obvious signs of woodworm in your frame are the tiny holes that we associate with an active woodworm infestation.
Sadly, though, those holes only appear at the end of the furniture beetle’s life-cycle (they are boring out through the wood, not boring into it) and could have been present in your frame for between 3-5 years.
If you are seeing new holes in a recently purchased picture frame, the furniture beetles will not have come from your home.
There are plenty of ways to check your picture frame for furniture beetle activity. Regular checking for live or dead beetles, fresh bore-dust (frass), exit holes or tunnelling is key.
If you are unsure or the picture frame is particularly old you could attach a sticky paper trap to the area of the frame that concerns you and check regularly to see if your tape is clear.
Treating Woodworm in a Picture Frame
Treatments range from self-applied pesticides to expert treatment for notable works of art or antique frames.
If you’d like to treat your picture frame yourself, here are the main ways to go about it:
Heat
You can put smaller frames in your oven to burn furniture beetles. Some recommend 52 degrees centigrade for 8 hours, while others suggest 70 degree centigrade for 5 hours.
Either way, you have to make sure the core of the frame is brought up to the required heat to kill all of the beetles so the duration of heating is key.
Freezing
Similarly, smaller frames can be placed in your freezer and larger frames in a chest-freezer if you have one. Make sure the temperature is minus 30 degrees centigrade and you must leave the frame in the freezer for 3 days to ensure full eradication.
Insecticide
You can buy many forms of woodworm insecticide in hardware shops or online but it is highly caustic. Test first on a hidden part of the picture frame.
I recommend this insecticide:
If this is successful, treat your frame thoroughly according to the instructions, getting in every hole and crevice.
For other methods such as inert gas treatment, if you have many frames to treat, or for high-end picture frames it’s best to contact a specialist.
We’re sure that with care and attention your favourite art or photo frames can still be prized by many generations of your family.
