Taking Care of New Furniture

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 367, 30 May 1928, Page 6

Taking Care of New Furniture

BORER AND BUMPS I Some Useful Remedies IT is erroneously considered that furniture, once bought, requires no further attention than the daily removal of dust. With a car, the owner is aware that he must nurse the engine and take jeare of the accessories or, being mechanical, it will fail him. The same is true of furniture. Visitors to a man’s house judge his taste by his furniture, and neglect may make the tables and chairs the instruments that drive him down in the estimation of those who frequent his home.

There is always a certain amount of responsibility in having charge of anything which may possibly deteriorate or become damaged through wrong treatment or lack of knowledge. This is particularly true of furniture, both old and new. However assiduously it is dusted and polished, and made fair on the outside, it is subject to ills which may have lasting effects unless understood and guarded against.

Of such ills, undoubtedly the 'most common and most fatal is “woodworm.” To the uninitated “woodworm” is considered to be caused by the eating of a small insect into the wood of table legs, chairs, etc., indicating its presence by the numerous small holes it makes. This, as a matter of fact, is beginning the story at the wrong end.

What really happens is this. A small female beetle, with an affinity for wood, finds a cracks or tiny hole in a piece of wooden furniture, in which she straightway deposits her eggs. In due time the eggs hatch out into small white larvae with an enormous appetite for wood. They at once begin to eat their way right into the substance of the furniture.

They continue this woody diet for as long as 18 months, penetrating far into the table or chair and forming a network of galleries, which of course cannot be detected from the outside.

It is only after this damage is done that any indication of their destructive presence is seen, for at last the larvae reach the chrysalis stage, and later still develop into beetle grubs! All this latter time they are working their way towards the surface of the furniture, so that when finally the beetles are “born,” they have very little difficulty in working their way into the open. Each bettle leaves a “flight hole” as it flies away, and these are what is seen from the outside.

But what has happened once will happen again, for the beetles, once mature and free, start to mate, and before long a new generation of mother beetles will be seeking the same inviting quarters in which to lay their eggs, and history will repeat itself with further extensive damage to the furniture.

Thus it will be seen how necessary it is to deal drastically with such a damaging pest, and not to waste time just treating the flight holes which form such a small part of the trouble. Moreover, this is indeed one of the most obvious occasions upon which prevention is better than cure. Fortunately scientific research has been the means of producing remedies that will not only destroy the larvae and grubs, but also render the wood immune from further attack. A mixture composed of the resins of trees mixed with certain chemical preparations has been produced which, if applied according to directions,

penetrates right through the wood, killing grubs and actually strengthening the wood itself, binding together the disintegrated fibres.

Wood thus treated is rendered impervious to future attacks, and if we are wise we will see that all our cherished furniture is thus treated before it suffers damage instead of afterwards.

The wood beetles begin their campaign in the spring, so that, too, is the time for the housewife’s counter attack!

There are surface troubles too with furniture and polished woodwork, and not the least of these consists of removing hot plate marks and stains from polished surfaces.

There have always been various and many ways of dealing with these mishaps, hut it is only of late that it has been possible to obtain a preparation that will not only remove all stains and marks, but at the same time renovate, cleanse, disinfect and polish the furniture so well that it will not show finger marks or smears. There is yet another outside ill that falls to the lot of the housewife to remedy, and that is dents. It is quite impossible to make sure that at some

time or another, carelessness or a boisterous child will not cause a dent on some cherished sideboard or table. Such an accident, however, does not necessarily result in a visit to the cabinet-maker.

Wood is subject to increase and decrease in bulk according to atmospheric conditions, and by placing a pad made of several folds of brown paper well soaked in water over the dented surface, and holding a hot iron just above the pad, it is generally possible to bring about a swelling of the wood and thus fill up the dent. If necessary this process should be repeated two or three times, and afterwards a good polishing must be given.

Thus, both inside and outside, the furniture can be preserved and kept in good condition without a great deal of time and expense. To renovate shabby leather-uphol-stered chairs rub them with a mixture of equhl parts of warm boiled linseed oil and vinegar. This mixture must be thoroughly shaken before being used, as the ingredients tend to separate. Apply with flannel, and use very sparingly.