Bora Care

Label/SDS    Bora-Care Tech Bulletin

Bora-Care is an EPA Registered, low toxicity pesticide designed to penetrate and protect all types of wood, including plywood and composites, from infestations of wood boring insects such as termites, beetles, carpenter ants and decaying fungi. BORA-CARE penetrates throughout the wood and leaves no toxic surface residue.

BORA-CARE works by depositing an active ingredient in the wood which will not decompose or vaporize like many other pesticides. This means that it will keep providing broad spectrum protection with little impact on our environment. BORA-CARE is odorless, colorless and can be directly applied to wood surfaces. One of the main components of BORA-CARE is boron, a fairly common element which happens to be toxic to many insects, decay fungi and some forms of bacteria. BORA-CARE has two distinct functions. First, it controls infestations of wood boring insects. Second, it prevents decay in those areas which may get wet. It can be applied by spraying, brushing, or injection. Since BORA-CARE has no odor or toxic fumes, it may not even be necessary to leave your home or office during application. Wood treated with BORA-CARE is non-toxic to people and animals. Wood freshly treated with BORA-CARE will appear slightly darker than untreated wood. After a day or so, the treated wood will resume its original color. The BORA-CARE treatment will not affect painting, staining or gluing of the wood.

For borates to penetrate wood, the surface must be unfinished. Therefore, joists, sills, rafters, subflooring, studs, decking and siding are all excellent candidates for treatment. Although borates will not penetrate paint or varnish, they will penetrate wood surfaces previously treated with a water-repellent stain (e.g., wood siding, decks, or log homes), provided the water-repellency is broken down by pressure washing prior to treatment. An
infested wood floor can likewise be treated with borates, but would first need to be sanded to remove the finish.

How Does Bora-Care Work?

The active ingredient in Bora-Care is a borate salt. Borate salts work by taking advantage of a unique feature in the biology of termites, ants and other insects.  If ingested by ants, beetles or termites, the insect becomes unable to extract nutrition from its food and starves to death. And because of this unique mode of action, insects cannot develop a resistance, ever. Bora-Care works differently than most other insecticides, termiticides and even other borate products on the market today. For starters, it isn’t applied to the soil but to the structure itself. Secondly, it isn’t just a repellent or a bait but a little bit of each. Bora-Care’s unique patented blend of glycols in combination with a borate salt provides results that are hard to beat. As soon as beetles and ants attempt to consume treated wood they die.  Subterranean termites won’t even try to eat treated wood and if they attempt to build a tube on treated wood, the termites start to die. This alerts the termite colony and they abandon the wood.

One gallon of Bora-Care will treat approximately 100 lineal feet of 2 x 4 stud wall. This includes sill plate and header. For other dimensional lumber, logs, or siding and plywood, see the label. Typically, one gallon of concentrate Bora-Care will treat 800 square feet of a 2×4 stud wall, and 500 square feet of a crawl space or attic.

Sold in a one gallon container.

Additional info & product demonstrations are available at the Nisus Corp Website

Youtube Demonstration Video from Nusus on Bora-Care Applications