I found a hall tree in a pile of outdoor debris and have cleaned it 5 times now. The last time I took it completely apart and have cleaned it 2 more times and this morning I found 3 more of these little black bugs. This is the best picture I could get. They are so small.
The first picture is the bug stuck to a piece of tape. The second one the bug is the bottom black dot. They are very small, looks like a piece of dirt.
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The bug infestation is inside the wood so you will have to find a way to eliminate all of the bugs as they just keep multiplying in a cycle.
You could have wood mites but these are mostly dark tan and not black (very small).
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Or these may be furniture beetles (too small for termites).
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I would suggest you capture a couple of the bugs on tape and take this along with a piece of your hall tree to your local Ace Hardware store and ask them for help. These employees always seem to have time to help with problems and usually very knowledgeable.
If this hall tree is something you really want to keep, then disassemble to as small as it will go, then place in a large tote or garbage bag. Spray heavily into the tote/bag with a good bug spray and tie it shut tightly. Leave it outside for a week without opening it. After a week, all the bugs should have come out and died. Then thoroughly clean it again and reassemble. Leave it outside for several more days to see if anymore bugs happen to come out of it. If not, it should be safe to use. But if it was me, I would give it a fresh coat(or two) of new paint to seal in any other bugs that might still be in it. If all fails to resolve the problem, toss it out...after all, it was a curbside find. Good luck.
Thank you for your advice, I have it completely apart and I brought a piece in to see if they are gone Not, I found 4,the piece is back outside. I really want to keep this piece so Im only going to put a top clear coat on it,2-3 coats. So do you think that would kill them?
You really need to spray with bug spray, seal it up and leave it at least a week. You need to basically fumigate it before anything else. If that step is successful, then I would think any bugs left sealed inside wood by several coats of clear poly would NOT be able to get out, but I could be wrong.
These bugs are very small and do not appear completely black, but rather dark brown. I think it's wood mites.
Mites are among the most common indoor insect pests - they can infest so many different items in your home that controlling them completely can be challenging.
Wood mites are tiny bugs that prefer to make their homes in damp wood. Most types of "mites" are harmless, so don't worry if you find that you have them. However, it is a good idea to get rid of them as it is possible for them to carry diseases and bacteria that can infect your home.
Although pesticide is the best way to get rid of wood mites, there are other options you can try.
Boric Acid - boric acid can kill most bugs, including wood mites.
Diatomaceous earth - this is a stronger method that works the same as boric acid. If it works, it will work fast.
Essential oils - bugs hate essential oils. Especially cinnamon.
Happy Update. So Im so happy to say that all the bugs are gone! I put Diatomaceous powder all over everything and rubbed it in to make sure I got all the cracks holes ect,wrapped it with plastic drop cloth and taped it shut for 7 days. Wow when I unwrapped it I was so surprised how many dead bugs there was. I tried to vacuum it up but with rubbing it in and the humidity It was impossible but I did get the loose part off and then hosed it down really well.
Thanks so much for sharing your result with us. I hope it will help other people in the future. :)
Your welcome! I hope it does too :)
They might be gnats. If you found this outside, it may have been put there because it was infested. I would get rid of it.
I am an avid trash picker and will follow this post closely to see if the varnish works. I have never had good outcomes from killing bugs once they were in wood or fabric pieces. I gave up trying both a long time ago and will destroy the items so that no one else gets burned trying to repick the items.
What happened to me years ago with a wood table was that it was treated and then stained (not varnished). That table did not last long after being stained. Not sure if it was terminates or what, but the leg cracked shortly after all my work. I was so mad that I smashed it into a bunch of pieces so no one else got burned, and tossed it. Then I had to bleach clean the walls and used a steam cleaner on the carpet in the room where I had it.
Now any indication of bugs, and I am out! Post back with an update.
I also belong to a chalk furniture paint group on Facebook and got some good advice,one was to use Diatomaceous Earth powder a very safe product and you put it on with a powder sprayer. So Im going to try that today and will post the outcome on that. But I feel very hopeful. A lot of people feel that it is very effective and had good results with their pieces. I feel very hopeful. Will let yall know in a couple days.
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