Contribution to wood preservation improvements in wood processing and furniture production

Today, the competition in wood-industry is very strong. This article has been published with aim to adapt the Croatian wood-industry to the domestic and world market. The authors have tried to discover the current conditions and views about the wood preservation methods and the preservatives. The accent was on the biodeterioration of wood. At the same time the authors have given the proposals for the improvement of the standard preservation methods. Using a survey method, the authors have sent the survey to 193 firms. Only 52 of them, or 27%, answered. The most data related to the biotic causes of wood deterioration were noticed in the forests, (on the dumps) and during air drying in the wood industry depots of logs and sawn timbers. But at the same time it was noticed that biotic causes were found in the subsequent technological processes of the wood industry, even in the furniture and in the joinery. The answers it is clearly show that the main methods of preventive preservation are the removing of infected wood and spraying logs with water (particularly high quality logs for veneers). Due to the improvement of the quality of the wood products, the authors suggested fairly frequent control of the logs and sawn timber, particularly during air drying and storing wooden half products in the storehouses. Out of the current preventive preservatives which are, due to their ecological advances, very popular in the world, the authors suggested the waterborne antiseptics. For the repressive preservation, the authors suggested preservatives which are permissible in Europe or which consumption is increasing. It was also suggested not to use forbidden preservatives.