apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Advice: unfortunatey, no.

Praise...yes. That is a very beautiful chair reflected in the mirror! Wow, it's gorgeous!

Maybe just wipe it down super well and let it air out outside for as long as you can?

I'd never heard of powderpost beetles until this post, but did some quick research:

"Pesticidal formulations containing 'borate' are especially effective against ppb in that they penetrate and kill beetles within wood, as well as those entering or exiting the wood surface."
"The two borate formulations currently registered for residual surface treatment of wood are Bora-Care(R) and Tim-Bor(R). Both formulations are virtually nontoxic, odorless, and remain effective for as long as 40 years. Both products are available through professional pest control operators. Customers wishing to perform the application themselves can, with some effort, obtain Bora-Care and Tim-Bor through chemical distributors and lumber companies."

This info is from http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef616.asp and more info on these wood pests can be found there as well. Hope this helps.

I don't know specifically about those beetles, but for nearly all crawling insects die when they come in contact with diatomaceous earth - available at any decent garden center and chemical free.

Thanks for your help thus far. What do you think, is borate non-toxic for people and cats? Now that I know what these devilish beetles do its all to familiar. They must be everywhere.... What do you think? Should I keep the armoire, beetles included?

PS - That's a jens risom lounge chair in the picture with a junkie west elm cushion on it (from an outdoor sofa they sold last summer).

Well, I just used some borax and sugar syrup to kill ants. It is supposed to be pretty safe for cats, unless they eat a ton of it. Other than that, it might be irritating to the skin if you get a bunch on you. Honestly, if you can see the beetles (I've never heard of them either) I'd try spraying the whole thing down with a mixture of dish detergent and water in a spray bottle. The dish detergent breaks down the exoskeleton of most insects. It's often used for aphid control, and growing up we used it when we had bad summers of box elder bugs. It's worth a shot anyway, and absolutely non-toxic.

I believe the problem with these beetles is that the larvae are inside of the wood and eating it from the inside. If this is a minor infestation the suggestion from leonard would probably work but if it is a big ass problem it sounds like fumigation will be the only way to save the armoire. In any case it sounds like you have to seal all of the wood afterwards so that the bugs don't come back. I would let it air out (outside) after being treated (or treatment time is over) and then give it a good scrubbing (with gloves and mask) with an eco-friendly wood cleaner. I like the method one personally. Then you have to seal the wood. You may want to talk to some antique ppl about the finish it already has so that you don't ruin it, but there are lots of non-toxic wax finishes out there that would not change the colour of the wood
good luck!

toxify the varmits and save your lovely armoire (and everything else wood in your home).

I'm pretty sure borax is safe for people, it's what's in that Nickelodeon Gak stuff, I think (I know you can make something similar with Elmer's glue at borax, we did it in HS). It's also in Boraxo soap. Sounds like you don't need to worry about it.

I recommend taking the armoire to a furniture conservator, if you really want to make sure that the insects don't return. Ask if they have anoxic treatments for that particular insect. Anoxia is just the subsitution of an inert gas like nitrogen for the oxygen in the air.