Worming conserves a book, which involves binding the pages with a cloth or paper strip. It is stuck to the edge of the page margins on the book’s spine. This serves as a reinforcement, keeping the pages from being pulled out and falling off the book.
Worming often occurs to books in poor condition or delicate and brittle pages. It can also help to restore books that worms or other insects have damaged.
Book worming is a relatively inexpensive and simple book conservation technique that can be reversed if necessary. Removing the strips from pages of books of great importance is often time-consuming; hence, it is not regarded as a suitable treatment for them.
Insect larvae, such as beetles and moths, result in wormholes. These larvae bore through the pages of the book, consuming the paper. It can damage a book to the extent of rendering them ugly.
Worming requires delicately extracting the larvae from the book and repairing the damage they have caused. That is a sensitive thing that can only be attempted by a professional.
There are numerous ways that wormholes can be prevented in advance. These include ensuring that the books are stored in a cool, dry place and away from insects. Routine checks on books may also assist in early detection of the issues.
The worming process is done by treating books with an insecticide to kill any insects found within books. The significance of this is that books can be damaged by eating the paper or the binding, and insects can cause the same. Worming also helps in keeping other books clean from insects.
