CUTEK^® Wood Preservative

Typical Uses

All exterior wood applications except for those listed below:

• Acetylated wood
• Food preparation surfaces
• Wood which comes into direct contact with the ground
• Engineered bamboo products

CUTEK® Wood Preservative is not suitable for Interior Use.

Please contact our technical support staff for further information regarding the suitability of CUTEK® Wood Preservative for your specific substrate.

• Proven protection
  CUTEK® Wood Preservative coated wood resists damage caused by fungal decay, mould, termites and moisture, improving dimensional stability and minimising warping, cupping and splitting
• Maintenance is fast and simple
  No need to sand or strip, just simply clean and recoat
• Stabilises your wood – long-term accumulative protection
  Stays active inside your timber to protect from the inside out
• No flaking or peeling
  Instead, the coating is designed to fade with time
• Simple and easy to use
  No technical experience necessary
• Cost effective – up to 2x coverage rate of most wood coatings
  Up to 2x the coverage rate of most wood coatings
• Resists damage caused by fungal decay, mould and termites
• Australian made
• Your timber is the star
  Enhances the natural colour and grain of your timber
• Sustainable choice
  Significantly extends the service life of timber
• CUTEK® Cares
  We plant one tree for every can of CUTEK® Wood Preservative sold

CUTEK® Wood Preservative offers superior penetration and difusion with a self-healing effect.

CUTEK® wood oils work differently to traditional wood stain/wood oil/acrylic/urethane/natural oils/wood coating products in that CUTEK® oils protect your timber from the inside out. CUTEK® oils penetrate and diffuse deeply into the wood core upon application, protecting it from the damaging effects of liquid and gas phase moisture, significantly increasing the service life of your timber. It does this by remaining PERMANENTLY MOBILE inside the wood, migrating to any cut or perforation with a self-healing action.

Many opposition products claim to be a penetrating oil finish; however, they often contain a mixture of solvents, polymers and cross-linking natural oils (such as linseed and tung oils) that penetrate only a few millimetres before drying to form an encapsulating type varnish. Because these coatings do not have a self-healing effect, once this varnish is exposed to the weather, water can quickly enter the core of the timber especially if it has been cut or perforated with fasteners leading to a rapid loss of dimensional stability. Additionally, the use of some natural oils in wood coatings can contribute to the development of unsightly mould and fungal growth underneath subsequently applied coatings. This situation can be difficult and costly to fix.

Note: Coatings that are not permanently mobile inside the wood and do not exhibit the self-healing effect are not the same as CUTEK® no matter what is claimed. Our first priority is always to extend and maximise the service life of timber not to steer you into the ecosystem of our other products.

Step 1: Prepare

In order for CUTEK® Wood Preservative to function properly, it is essential that it diffuses deeply into the timber. Anything that might prevent this enetration/diffusion, such as an existing coating (not CUTEK® oil), retained oisture, or insufficient time between coats, must be avoided or corrected before applying CUTEK® Wood Preservative.

CUTEK® Wood Preservative must be applied to wood that is clean, non-greasy and dry (moisture content must be less than 17%). You must appropriately prepare your timber before applying CUTEK® Wood Preservative.

If you have… new timber:
Your timber must be bare, clean and dry before applying CUTEK® Wood Preservative. If your timber presents with surface contaminants such as stains caused by water, iron or tannins, we recommend using CUTEK® Restore prior to application of CUTEK® Wood Preservative.

If you have… old, greyed, or weathered uncoated wood:
Old, dirty, stained or grey weathered timber should be prepared and restored by first applying CUTEK® Restore which will remove the grey and reinstate the original natural colour, grain and beauty of your wood prior to application of CUTEK® Wood Preservative.

If you have… wood previously coated with a non-CUTEK® coating:
CUTEK® Wood Preservative must be applied to bare, clean and dry wood. This allows the CUTEK® oil to freely penetrate/diffuse into your timber. New pre-coated wood (pre-coated with products other than CUTEK® oils) or wood previously coated with a film forming product such as stains, linseed oil, cross-linking vegetable oils, paint, polyurethane, water-based oils, etc. can inhibit this penetration/diffusion and must be removed first with CUTEK® Wood Stripper and CUTEK® Restore prior to the application of CUTEK® Wood Preservative. In some circumstances complete removal of previous coatings by machine sanding/abrasion can also be a suitable preparation method.

If you have… wood previously coated in CUTEK® Extreme CD50 OR CUTEK® Wood Preservative:
Prepare for a maintenance recoat of CUTEK® Wood Preservative by using CUTEK® Quickclean to remove grease, grime and other dirt from your timber. If maintenance has been neglected for a long period of time and the timber has either greyed, become heavily stained by tannins or iron, or if there is an excessive build-up of CUTEK® Colourtone, use CUTEK® Restore to refresh your timber prior to recoating.

Important information before proceeding:

Pre-coated timber:
A significant amount of new timber is now sold with a pre-treatment or pre-coating already applied. Particular attention needs to be paid to find out whether your timber has been pre-treated or pre-coated with a non-CUTEK® oil product PRIOR to applying CUTEK® Wood Preservative. An easy way to tell if your timber has been pre-coated with another product is to flick a few drops of water onto your timber. If the water sinks in, that means there is no barrier to stop CUTEK® Wood Preservative from penetration and you will be able to start coating with CUTEK® Wood Preservative right away. However, if the water beads on the surface of your wood this is a good indication that your timber has had a prior treatment/coating applied and you will need to adequately prepare your wood as per the instructions for “If you have… wood previosly coated with a non-CUTEK® Coating” above before you start coating with CUTEK® Wood Preservative. If you have any questions about this process, please contact one of our friendly technical advisers on 1300 1 CUTEK (1300 1 28835).

Note: This warning does not apply to any timber that has been pre-coated in CUTEK® branded products (except CUTEK® Interior).

Some manufacturers of pre-coating products falsely claim that any other product, including CUTEK® oils, may be applied over the top of their existing coating. These statements are inaccurate and misleading in relation to CUTEK® oil products. If you are unsure about the correct preparation method for your CUTEK® project, please contact one of our friendly staff who are more than willing to advise you correctly.

When using timber pre-coated in something other than CUTEK® oils, another important factor to note is that some coating types (particularly those based on cross-linking vegetable oils such as linseed, tung oils etc.) may actively promote mould and biological growth which can lead to unsightly discolouration appearing on your timber as it ages over time. It is very important that you remove all traces of these types of coating PRIOR to coating with CUTEK® Wood Preservative to avoid these biological stains (mould and fungi) appearing . Unlike vegetable oil based products, CUTEK® oils do not act as an active promoter of biological growth.

Using light coloured timbers
CUTEK® Wood Preservative contains a small amount of copper salts that may impart a faint green hue on some very light or white coloured timbers. This is more likely to occur in internal applications or in areas not exposed to UV light. Some commonly used light coloured timber species used internally where this may be an issue are Hoop Pine, Hemlock, Tasmanian Oak and Victorian Ash (list not exhaustive). We have a copper-free product called CUTEK® Euro (available by special order) which is extensively used as an alternative to CUTEK® Wood Preservative in these instances . For more information regarding this option, please contact our friendly technical support team who will be able to assist you with your project.

To determine if CUTEK® Wood Preservative or CUTEK® Euro is appropriate for your timber, order your free sample here or contact us for further advice.

wood and hardwoods are much better than one or two thick coats. For best results, one coat of CUTEK® Wood Preservative should be applied to all faces of the wood prior to installing, with a second coat applied to the top surface once the first coat has completely penetrated/diffused.

Drying time:
Unlike traditional wood coatings, CUTEK® Wood Preservative needs to penetrate/diffuse deeply into your timber. After coating, CUTEK® Wood Preservative will slowly migrate into your wood to repel moisture, improve dimensional stability and lengthen the service life of your timber. This penetration/diffusion process varies in time for many reasons including differences in timber type (species, density, porosity, age of timber and residual moisture content) as well as environmental factors (temperature, humidity, weather).

Sometimes this drying process can take several days to complete. You will know when your timber is ready for a recoat of CUTEK® Wood Preservative when it is completely dry and non-greasy. Please note the second coat of CUTEK® Wood Preservative will take longer to migrate into your timber than the first coat.

Clean-up:
Equipment (including brushes) may be cleaned with turps or soap and water. If not correctly cleaned or disposed of, oily rags and other oily materials may cause combustion fires. After use you MUST immediately spread out all oily material outside to dry, by flattening them out to their full size in an airy spot at temperatures above 4 degrees Celsius, or wash them thoroughly with water and detergent and rinse. Remove all oil from all clothes, tools, rags and any other materials contacted during use or as a result of an accidental spill. Ensure wash water is disposed in accordance with local regulations.

Coverage

• New hardwoods dressed 10–15m2/litre
• Old restored timber dressed 7–9m2/litre
• New timber rough sawn 7–9m2/litre
• Old restored timber rough sawn 4–7m2/litre
• Shingles and shakes 4–5m2/litre

These figures represent typical averages for common decking and cladding timber species and are to be used as a guideline only.

With CUTEK® oils, maintenance is simple, fast, and cost effective. CUTEK® Wood Preservative will not crack, peel or split, and your wood can be easily rejuvenated or restored using our Prepare and Protect system – no need to sand or strip.

CUTEK® Wood Preservative should be reapplied when the wood is no longer beading water, or as frequently as necessary to retain the natural beauty and colour of the wood.

Typically, horizontal exterior wood surfaces exposed to full weather such as pool decks and handrails will require re-coating more frequently (initially after 6 months, then annually), while other surfaces such as vertical rough-sawn cladding will need recoating less often.