Wood, as product of nature and so much used in the past, still proves to be irreplaceable. Its usage increases constantly from day to day. Unfortunately, it is not resistant enough. Therefore, it has to be protected, especially when used in outdoor conditions. The use of non-biocidal solutions, such as oils and waxes, is increasing. To research non-biocidal solutions used to protect wood without biocidal ingredients, beech and spruce wood specimens were protected with different hydrophobic preparations: linseed, tung, rustikal oils, paraffin and protektin wax emulsions. Some samples were exposed to very high relative humidity, others just immersed in water. During the experiment, the weight and dimensions were monitored. Beech wood was more impregnable than spruce wood, reflected in higher retention values. The highest retention was obtained with protektin. Nevertheless; this solution exhibited the worst hydrophobicity. In both wood species, the tung oil proved to be the best. The results show that tung oil treated wood has the lowest humidity, regardless the method used. Tung, rustikal and linseed oil have better hydrophobic properties than paraffin emulsion and protektin.
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