Mixing timbor with stain?

[eggman]

Kill two birds with one stone or a bad idea?

[Don_P]

Bad idea, borate is water soluble and travels by diffusion, soaking in and dispersing through the water from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration. That is why it works best on green wood right off the sawmill. Boracare or one of the glycol based borates is a better choice for dry wood. Glycols dry slowly and allow the wood to "wet out" and then the borate can diffuse deeper into the wood. It doesn't move until each wood cell is at or above fiber saturation point ~28% moisture content. Stains go in about 1 cell deep. Antifreeze is ethylene glycol, the glycol in Boracare. Solubor from the farm supply is chemically the same as Timbor. Solubor, water and antifreeze is chemically the same as Boracare. You can use RV antifreeze as well, propylene glycol. The glycol is nothing fancy just a slow drying carrier. Last bag of Solubor was $78 or about $1.50/lb from the new farm supply. The old farm supply charged $1/lb, I'll be buying my next bag from him again. Borates are not fancy perfume, soak it in repeatedly if possible. I kept one funky bug infested old cabin wet for a month. brush or lightly sand off any white residue before finishing.

[eggman]

Thanks, I guess I'll mix it with some rv antifreeze then.