Hi. My friend came back from the tropics and gave me a lacquered plaque for Christmas: http://www.artisansdangkor.com/shop/en/lacquered-painting/89-panel-of-elephant.html. I know about freezing wood items to kill wood boring insects. I think the lacquer is on wood. Should I freeze it? Could this harm the item? I found an article from Bishop Museum that recommends against freezing: http://www.bishopmuseum.org/research/pdf/cnsv-lacquer.pdf. Should I mist it with Raid or something? I’m having trouble finding a good answer online. Thanks.
Why do you think it’s infested with insects?
You’d probably see bore holes if it was infested with wood boring insects. Also, at least some Raid products are solvent based and will probably ruin the lacquer.
ETA I wouldn’t freeze it either. If you’re that concerned. My first thought would be to stick it in a ziplock bag (or a vacuum/foodsaver bag) for a few weeks to suffocate any bugs. My second thought would be to lacquer the other 5 sides and seal any bugs in.
Former Conservator here -
Go ahead and freeze it, but precautions must be taken to avoid condensation
Suggested procedure would be to wrap in clean, white paper, and then a layer of cloth (clean white towel would be fine). Seal this in a plastic bag with most of the air sucked out with a straw (don’t try and create a “hard” vacuum" just remove most of the air)
Freeze and thaw a few times without “breaking the seal”.
Allow to fully reach room temp (12 hrs +) before removing from air tight bag.
Inspect item regularly for any signs of insect activity, if found, refreeze , repeating containment procedures above and call a pest control expert.
Hope this helps -
I think it is really unnecessary. I know a lot of heavy travelers, and have never heard of anyone doing this.
Thank you.
DrDeth, I don’t know if it’s got bugs. I don’t see evidence of bugs, but it’s winter. I always freeze wood from the tropics because that is what was recommended to me as a precaution against ending up with an outbreak that infests my other things. Whole museum collections have been destroyed by insects emerging from wooden items.