Eco-Safe Wood Guard™ Tips

The BASICS

What is Eco-Safe Wood Guard™?

Wood Guard is an effective and natural protectant and preservative. It protects wood from fungus, rot, wood-boring insects and other wood-decomposing organisms.

What is Eco-Safe Wood Guard™’s active ingredient?

Wood Guard contains boron salts. These are naturally occurring minerals that naturally protect wood from fungus, termites, carpenter ants, and other wood-boring and wood-decomposing organisms.

Is wood treated with Eco-Safe Wood Guard™ safe?

Wood treated with Eco-Safe Wood Guard™ is safe and harmless to people, pets, gardens, and groundwater. The dry powder is non-toxic to humans but can be a mild irritant. Avoid inhalation and contact with eyes. If Wood Guard is sprinkled or sprayed directly onto ornamental plants or poured onto roots it can harm or kill them in the same way that pouring a strong solution of vinegar or salt onto plants might harm them. Avoid overspray or spills by treating the wood away from the garden or by protecting ornamental plants.

What are the recommended uses for Eco-Safe Wood Guard™?

Wood Guard is recommended for all indoor and outdoor wood, including structural timber, decks, fences, steps, sheds, barns, siding.

How much coverage will a single 1 gallon package of Eco-Safe Wood Guard™ provide?

A single package of Eco-Safe Wood Guard™ will cover 150-200 square feet of wood.

PRO-TIPS

1. Eco-Safe Wood Guard™ dissolves completely into solution, however it will happen much more easily and quickly if dissolved into room-temperature or warm (but not hot) water. Save yourself some elbow grease and time.

2. This product should be used on bare, untreated, or pressure-treated wood. If wood is finished with a sealer or lacquer-type product, the old sealer will need to be removed by sanding or with a stiff bristle brush if it is flaking off.

3. Depending on your project and your preference, you can apply Eco-Safe Wood Guard™ by brush, roller, sponge, sprayer or by dipping. Cover all surfaces well, especially rough or cracked surfaces, end grains and fresh cuts. Make sure to thoroughly wet wood surfaces with the mixture.

4. For severe infestations, try a second application. In these cases we recommend two coats to ensure adequate penetration, allowing 12 hours minimum drying time in between coats.

5. If you notice a white haze or any powder or crystals on the surface after drying, this can be removed with a damp rag.

6. After the final coat, allow 24 hours before staining or finishing, unless you are staining with Eco-Safe Wood Treatment, in which case you can mix the products together (see Pro-Tip #8).

7. For a raised garden bed, your best bet is to treat the wood with Eco-Safe Wood Guard™ before building the bed. Eco-Safe Wood Guard™ is not ideal for treating all surfaces of an already built raised garden bed because it's boron rich, and if soil is directly exposed to the treatment, enough might go into the soil to affect the health of the plant, although there's no risk to humans/mammals being exposed or consuming the plant. So we recommend Eco-Safe Wood Treatment™ for all surfaces of the bed, and if you have a boring insect issue, you can apply Wood Guard™ to the exterior surfaces of the bed, where it will not be in soil contact, but will still provide a very effective shield against boring insects.

8. Eco-Safe Wood Guard™ works in a complementary and synergistic way with Eco-Safe Wood Treatment™, our signature product. Both of these products effectively treat wood to preserve and protect it naturally but in different ways. Eco-Safe Wood Guard™ treats, prevents, and controls against wood-boring insects, fungus, and rot while Eco-Safe Wood Treatment™ extends the lifetime of wood, protecting and preserving, as well as providing a natural stain. You can mix Eco-Safe Wood Guard™ and Eco-Safe Wood Treatment™ into the same solution and apply simultaneously. Visit our Eco-Safe Wood Treatment™ Tips page for more info.

9. If you have a very large area to cover, Eco-Safe Wood Guard™ can be slightly diluted and still maintain effectiveness against most wood-borers. In cases where there isn’t a pre-existing problem and you have a very large area to cover you can get away with diluting to ¾ or ½ strength at the most. For maximum effectiveness, especially where a problem already exists, definitely use the product at full-strength:1 full package of Eco-Safe Wood Guard™ can be mixed with approximately 1 gallon (4 liters) of water.

10. The dry product has an indefinite shelf-life but Wood Guard doesn’t keep well once it’s mixed into solution. For a smaller area, mix a smaller portion of the product into water. ¼ of the product into 1 liter or ¼ gallon of water. ½ of the product into 2 liters or ½ gallon of water.

11. Eco-Safe Wood Guard™ prevents, treats and controls all sorts of wood decay fungi including white, brown (poria), and wet rots.

12. Eco-Safe Wood Guard™ can be used in powder form to prevent carpenter ants. Sprinkle the powder into potential entryway areas for carpenter ants. Remember that the powder is a mild irritant so keep away from children and pets when in powder form.