Mold inhibitor

[Buck69]

Hello everyone,  
I'm in the process of quoting a job cutting boards for a company that use them for axe throwing targets. They requested the boards be either yellow poplar, cotton wood  or bass wood.
I more than likely would be using poplar or cotton wood as I have access to them .
They require the boards be treated with a mold inhibitor. With some minimal initial research I have found some commercial products.
But was curious if anyone has a home brew that they have used that worked for several months.
I found talk of bleach or vinegar and water  concoction . Do either of these work and if so do the loose potency with time?
They are buying 100 boards every two months and they have two other companies, in two other towns that may also be interested in buying (didn't discuss quantity for them yet) so I can for see maybe cutting and storing maybe three or four hundred to stay ahead of possible demand. And would need to keep them mold and mildew free.

Thanks for any suggestions for a home brew recipe.

[Magicman]

Mold/mildew needs moisture to grow when the sugars in the wood is subjected to the oxygen in the air.  Your first order of business is to dry the lumber to remove this moisture.

In other words, treat the reason for the disease, not the symptoms.

[moodnacreek]

What size boards? My axe wood customer takes 6x6 for 12" long blocks and they try to keep them wet. It sounds like your customer wants to keep wood on hand without mold. I guess the stuff needs to be kept on sticks. That can be as much trouble as sawing it as it needs to go on sticks at the mill and again at the delivery point. The customer will understand non of this. On his end the wood will warp and crack on the unweighted top of the pile.

[Buck69]

Thanks MM for the reply but I believe he needs them to be basically green off the mill. The higher moisture level helps the axe to stick vrs bouncing back. He did ask they be treated for mold because it takes about two months before they get replaced. 

[Buck69]

Moodnacreek, he is asking for 3×10×3' also ask for 3x10x5'
They need to stay pretty much green to help the axe to stick. He ask for mold treatment as it takes about two months to need replacement. 
I was hoping to cut extra and store them till they need again. 

[doc henderson]

buck, I have seen the competitive target and they are hitting the side grain.  might research the target manufacturers.  We make them for BSA and personal use.  I like end grain.  I can have a cut up target that looks done.  lay it flat under rain or yard sprinkler where they hit the sidewalk, and the marks swell up and disappear.  in the end grain orientation they will crack and split like any cookie if they dry out.  I agree you hold off mole, a mild bleach solution should work, and if out of the rain, prob. a one time application with air movement.  I would go to his place and see them in person if you can, may throw a few hawks to seal the partnership.  I think the side grain ones must be what they are using.  Here is one that I made prob. last summer.  elm, 4 inches thick, and four feet across.



 

some of the lines you see were 1/4 inch wide before soaking.  It was heavy, but the mass also helps the hawk stick as it is solid.  the target that @firefighter ontheside was throwing at in the video that @Old Greenhorn posted was one of my targets on a tripod.

[YellowHammer]

Both Timbor and Boracare inhibit and reduce mold growth on green wood.

[doc henderson]

my targets are not treated with anything, but never dead sacked and open to air, but often wetted.



 

the above are @Cardiodoc and are flooded with pentacryl






 

[customsawyer]

Commercial mills use a product called Sta-brite. Takes about 1 gallon in a 1000 gallon dip tank. Extremely acidic so be careful where you let it drip when you take it out of the tank. 

[moodnacreek]

Commercial mills use a product called Sta-brite. Takes about 1 gallon in a 1000 gallon dip tank. Extremely acidic so be careful where you let it drip when you take it out of the tank.

Sounds like the stuff i use on pine in warm weather for blue stain. Cost several years back around $450 for 5 gal. but goes a long way. I put a table spoon in a 2 gal. sprayer. That or boron/ DOT should be the answer.

[Don P]

I would experiment with antifreeze. I think it might be toxic to mold and another name for it is "permanent water" it would help keep the target from going through so much wet/dry cycling. I doubt they want corrosives around axes.

[Buck69]

Doc, we always used large cookies for our knife and hawk targets. The end grain works well as a target. From the pictures  of his targets looks like they are throwing at face grain, which I thought was odd. I like the idea of a visit to the his place . I prefer face to face business when at all possible. 

Yellowhammer, thanks I will look into the timbor,boro care.


Customsawyer, that stuff sounds pretty powerful. If the big mills use it,I bet it works or they wouldn't use it. Something to look into. The acidity maybe a concern. 

Don, are you referring to automotive antifreeze?

Thanks to all !

[YellowHammer]

I googled and found a product called "Bora-care with Mold-care" specifically designed as an insecticide and fungicide.  

[Don P]

Yup, or clear ethylene glycol from the paint store. Look at the recipe for bora-care, its half ethylene glycol.
I think that alone would inhibit mold and help keep the wood "damp". 

I was typing, looking up YH's post, the mold care looks to be just Bora-Care at a different mix rate?
MSDS here;
bora-care-with-mold-care (nisuscorp.com)

I think the ethylene glycol is doing the mold stop.

[Don P]

Edit, reading after posting  :

Mold-Care is a specific quaternary ammonium compound called diecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (a cationic surfactant). This is negatively charged and has both a hydrophobic and hydrophilic component so that it ruptures mold and bacteria cell membranes. These compounds are actively used in hospitals as well as in the beer and food industries as sanitizers.

This sounds like a similar or the same "Quat" used in treated lumber (ACQ) and food service.

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

There are several mild fungi, including mildew, that grow on the surface of wood.  As there is no food for them inside, they do not grow inside of a piece.  Commercial fungicides do not necessarily kill all wood fungi.

Analogy is that the product for human toe nail fungus is not the same as for athletes foot and neither is for hair fungi.

[Tom King]

I have no idea if this will work, but I'll throw it out there because I have experience with it.

I use it in a mister in old houses, and in our storage units.  If you've ever been in a really old house with an odor, you probably remember it.  If you've ever smelled old books, you'll remember that odor too.

This eliminates both those odors Completely.  I care for one 1850 museum house that stays closed up for the majority of the year, including even with the shutters closed, so no sunlight gets in it.  It had a strong old house odor, and a bookcase with glass doors with strong old book odor.

After misting everything in there, you can walk in, take a deep breath, and probably not pull in as much odor free air in a new house.  It lasts almost a whole year.

The same in one shipping container storage unit we have that's too full to walk in it.  It started to get a mold odor, and I loaded it down with mist.  That was almost a whole year ago, and no mold or bad smell yet in it.

I think it would do the job on wood too, but haven't tried it yet.  It's non-staining, and has no odor of its own.

Amazon.com: RMR-141 Disinfectant and Cleaner, Kills 99% of Household Bacteria and Viruses, Fungicide Kills Mold & Mildew, EPA Registered, 1 Gallon Bottle : Health & Household

Here's the mister I use.  It works great for the first half of a battery charge, but spits with less than a strong battery.  It needs to be held level too, and not tilted up or down much.  Probably not needed for coating wood, but it's come in good here for a lot of things.
Amazon.com : RYOBI ONE+ 18V Cordless Battery Fogger/Mister (Tool Only) : Patio, Lawn & Garden

[Sod saw]

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Don, It sounds like your "Quats" is the same compound used at hatcheries in incubators between batches of eggs.

If I understand it correctly, the eggs are placed in a newly cleaned & disinfected incubator.  Then after about three weeks the easter bunny takes those eggs and leaves baby chicks for the farmers kids to drool over.

Thank goodness for those bunnies.

PS: we used formaldehyde before it was taken off the market.  It stinks.


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