John from Roopville, Georgia writes
I am air drying furniture lumber, from my property, I harvested and had sawn. It is very important to me that anything I put on the wood for powder post beetles, and other critters, not add or change any of the colors that naturally occur in the wood. It is also important to me that I am not adding additional hazards of toxicity, I always use a respirator when I machine and build things from any wood, but I don't want to add any hazard to the completed wood. I only use the natural colors in the wood, and as a final finish will use an oil or clear finish. Is Boracare the product for me? Will the salt dull cutting tools after it is dry?
You should use a wood treatment product to treat powder post beetles. Bora-Care is the best wood treatment product available. It will penetrate through the wood and kill the larvae eating the wood no matter where they are in the wood. However, it can only be applied to raw wood. It cannot be applied to wood that is painted, stained, or sealed. If your wood is painted, stained, or sealed, then you will need to drill holes and inject Bora-Care or sand the finish off of the wood, treat with Bora-Care, and then refinish the wood.
Answer last updated on: 06/29/2014
