Woodworms!! What to do?

The insecticide does not eliminate the eggs; we use white spirit, but drowning the soundboard in spirit (which is good for the wood and leaves no trace because it then evaporates) is not a good idea. It is done on pianos that have been stripped of their action, which then also need to rest for quite a while before resuming work.

Playing the piano continuously certainly makes the woodworms go away; they attack disused pianos, those that are stationary and where there is a little bit of humidity.

Ciao

It depends on what you play. In my opinion, if you play two or three Gigi D'Alessio songs on it, the woodworms will run away for good

joking aside, evaluate whether it is worth spending money on it; the piano could be seriously compromised. One solution could be the use of a microwave chamber, which would certainly be lethal for woodworms and eggs, but a problem could be caused by metal parts like strings, harp, etc.

Maybe I'm saying something absurd, in which case feel free to have a laugh.... to eliminate woodworm from some antique furniture, I simply closed them in a minivan for an afternoon under the sun (in summer).

Eh sì anche il sole fa la sua parte, non amano il secco non amano il rumore etc...

I am in line with giovannig ....playing produces vibrations!!!!! Even the sun, rightly, dries the air....let's say a dry environment is good. You will see that the phenomenon will stop by playing. Try it. Every day. I don't think there can be any other remedies besides the gas chamber.

Giovanni wrote:

It depends on what you play. In my opinion, if you play two or three Gigi D'Alessio songs on it, the woodworms will run away for good.

what a nightmare.... woodworms in the piano!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the carpenter who restored a desk for me treated it with a brushed-on solution (I believe petroleum-based) and then sealed it in a large bag for several days.

and speaking of this, I have doubts about the egg discussion! will it be enough, since I have to put it in the piano room? or can the eggs survive and hatch after some time??

Infinite thanks to everyone for the timely and well-formulated responses. A special thanks to Paolo Ferrarelli.

I will try to post some clear images of the situation so you can get an idea. I hope everything is resolved by playing; for now, the piano is played almost every day.

Ciaoo

The reason why there are no valid tips and the carpenter dad is never sure about eliminating woodworms is simple... Depending on the species, eggs hatch once every 2 or 3 years for the most common species. However, they can even hatch up to 7 years after the formation of the hole that we all recognize.

That said, if you arm yourself with infinite patience and buy 3 or 4 refill canisters of lighter gas, you can massacre the eggs... By applying pressure with the canister on a hole, you will notice that it almost always communicates with a second one, and from that one, sawdust and eggs will come out!! Repeat every year for 2 years and voilà—I recommend gloves, a mask, and goggles, and obviously if the hole is too eaten away, pressing it widens it, but have patience if they are on the edge of the board!

It also happened to me a few years ago on an old piano that has now reached 112 years of age!

One day I noticed some sawdust on the floor near the tail leg of the piano; I went underneath to look and noticed with horror a myriad of small holes at the height where the leg attaches to the cabinet.

Then, looking at the rest, I saw others, generally concentrated on the unvarnished areas under the piano, which is why I had never noticed anything. Who goes looking under the piano?

The unvarnished parts are the softest, easier for woodworms to burrow into; they prefer the wood of antique furniture.

Over time, they also attack the varnished parts, emerging larger and stronger from the inside of myriad galleries with their little heads.

They are born, grow, deposit dozens of eggs inside the galleries they form in the wood, and feed on the wood.

Then they grow wings and start fluttering around the house, and if you don't eliminate them, they even attack curtains, sofas, and even humans.

Over the years, they are capable of destroying any wooden or fabric object.

The problem with anti-woodworm products, besides their toxicity to humans, is that they can kill the woodworms but not the eggs, which will hatch regularly and the story will begin again.

An old carpenter's remedy is the use of boiled linseed oil.

When boiled linseed oil dries, it crystallizes quickly, blocking the holes and cutting off the oxygen supply; it forms a very hard patina, similar to varnish, and by penetrating inside the wood, it also crystallizes the eggs.

On the other hand, although the oil is a natural remedy, it has a very strong, truly unpleasant smell (to me it smells like fish), so if you have the piano in your living room, I advise against doing it. It takes several weeks before the smell disappears.

Naturally, gloves, a mask, and goggles should be used if working under the piano, and perhaps also floor covering to avoid oil stains. Furthermore, the room needs to be well-ventilated.

That is what I did: I did an initial impregnation with the oil, insisting on the small holes that had formed on the piano legs at the point of attachment to the cabinet.

A year later, I noticed sawdust again. So I gave it a general touch-up, this time spreading it abundantly over the entire surface where the holes had formed, but also around them. In short, over the entire unvarnished surface of the piano and, unfortunately, some on the varnished part of the legs as well. Looking at the underside of the piano, you can still see small droplets of crystallized oil on the wood.

After about five years, I have no longer noticed traces of sawdust or the formation of new small holes in the wood. However, every now and then I take a look; you never know.