Boric Acid/Boracol

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LeonF

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I want to buy some Boracol to treat my teak decks but am not keen on paying the price...Boric acid is available for a fraction...is there a drawback to buying the powder and diluting it myself...I've seen it advertised on E-bay amongst other places.
 
LeonF said:
I want to buy some Boracol to treat my teak decks but am not keen on paying the price...Boric acid is available for a fraction...is there a drawback to buying the powder and diluting it myself...I've seen it advertised on E-bay amongst other places.
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Boric acid isn't the same as Boracol. The active ingredients in Boracol are disodium octaborate (a fungicide) and benzalkonium chloride (an algaecide). If you buy Boracol 10RH, you can dilute it 1:1 with water to use on your decks. It's a worthwhile investment.

Some people suggest using patio cleaner instead, but this tends to contain only one of Boracol's active ingredients.
 
from the MSDS, it looks as if Boracol has one or two other ingredients.

ETHYLENE GLYCOL C2-H6-O2 107-21-1 >60%
DISODIUM OCTABORATE TETRAHYDRATE B8-Na2-O13.4H2O 12008-41-2 10-30%
WATER H2O 7732-18-5 <30%
BENZALKONIUM CHLORIDE 8001-54-5 1-10%


This may go towards explaining the price difference, and to an extent, the functionality. Not the nicest or kindest stuff to wash overboard from the decks though.

Plain Boric Acid is fine if you are careful handling it. Mix in a bit of potassium, and it can then explode on impact. Long-term exposure can have rather nasty effects on the female reproductive system, kidneys, cardiovascular system, and central nervous system.
 
Thanks guys....I could have sworn I saw a link from Google telling me that Boracol contained boric acid, but I guess I imagined it. Incidentally, I noticed that oxalic acid is available via E-Bay in small quantities. It cleans teak well, but doesn't seem to have any long lasting properties.
 
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