Best alternative to cresote

It has been banned for at least 10 years actually.

There is no alternative. Make friends with a farmer because they can still buy it but it probably only comes in 50 litre drums.

Banned for sale to the general public I believe. Still available on eBay (and possibly other shopping websites).

Is it legal to make your own? Copper arsenate is an effective alternative, but I seriously don't recommend it.

It's banned for a reason - its bad for human health, unless used under professional control, much like many pesticides.

So better to find an alternative - I have used Sikkens products on wood for last 20 years ..... stopped using Creosote long before it was banned from public use.

The key part is in the description "For Professional Trade Use Only" If you are not licensed to use it - you are breaking the law. You my feel - so what.

The issue is there will be a record of anyone who buys this, at some point there could be investigation - and they have you bang to rights.

And who do you think is going to take any action if you paint your shed of fence with cresote?

A lot of people used to add their old engine oil to it :)

The total ban is this year, even for farmers

I haven't heard of anyone being prosecuted.

There are other similar alternatives that are still spirit based, such as Creotreat and Creocote.

But not for telegraph poles

Exactly. Who gives a s*it?

If I had to make a list of things that I would worry about, that would never make it to my list.

Tim

Not really. Its hazard profile is known, and in most situations it's completely fine. Users need to know the exceptions.

There are many other wood preservatives, none anywhere near as effective as creosote. Plus very effective & very toxic ones like copper arsenate, which are not suitable for any normal use.

DIYing is also an option, using a mix of whatever effective & legal chemicals you have. But it won't equal creosote. I doubt making your own creosote is legal now.

I wonder how long before they discover excess nano particles in the low orders of the food chain from all that water based wood preservative flaking off soon after it has been applied.

Does most of what is now on sale protect the wood or does it actually promote rot? As it flakes off water gets behind the bits still left on and this trapped water takes much longer to dry out.

From what I've seen, and I far from know it all, they seem to fall into 2 categories. £5 a gallon stuff is rock bottom with no preservative chemicals in, just oil. Others have some effect, but nothing impressive. Banning creosote is only serving to make us all poorer as costs rise from unnecessarily replacing wood repeatedly, but that's the way it goes here now. So many simple problems it seems HMG has no clue how to solve.

You might not, till the health problems kick in, but then it's all a bit late...

Health risks that are almost certainly massively overstated. I don’t bathe in the stuff or wear it as aftershave. Burnt toast or barbecued food is probably equally or even more risky.

Tim

And so is the burnt sugar product they stick in Cola and some parents knowing let kids drink it.

Is solvent-based cuprinol (in various colours) still legal (and available)?. I haven't seen it on sale since about 2011.

The risks are likely calculated on a worker using it 8 hours a day, 5 days a week - just as noise limits are. Someone using it once in a while, on a DIY basis is very unlikely to suffer any effect at all.

fwiw creosote is used in food in some nordic country. It's wood derived though, the preservative we see here is coal derived. But it has a fair bit in common chemically.