A process uses a water repellant material in order to enhance the water resistance of composite. The process begins with a saturated vegetable or animal fat triglyceride having a low iodine value. The triglyceride is melted to form a sprayable liquid. The sprayable triglyceride and a bonding agent are applied to the fibrous materials, preparatory to a press binding. Then, the sprayed fibrous material is subjected to a hot press cycle in order to form a bonded fibrous composition. The low Iodine Value triglyceride may be selected from a group including hydrogenated vegetable oil, palm oil, stearine, winterized low IV fractions, soy stearine, animal fat, hydrogenated animal fat, and fractionated fats or blends of these materials.

Waxes prepared from hydrogenated plant oils, such as palm and soybean, are used to render cellulosic materials resistant to water. Unlike cellulosic materials rendered water resistant with waxes obtained using petroleum-derived or synthetic waxes, the water resistant cellulosic materials prepared using this composition are recyclable using conventional paper recycling methods; the composition is dispersible in warm water solutions. Such water resistant materials are characterized by enhanced moisture barrier properties. The compositions have a low iodine value (between 2-5), and melting points between approximately 120-165 degrees F. (Mettler Drop Point). The wax comprises a triglyceride whose fatty acids are predominantly stearic acid (C.sub.18). The composition is used as an additive in the manufacture of wax coated boxes and adhesive compounds used in boxboard packaging and manufacturing operations.

A method of tempering composite fiber panels eliminates a need for a bake oven during the tempering step. Both the front and back surfaces of the panels are sprayed with a tempering oil including a mixture of a drying oil and a dryer or catalyst. The drying oil may include a linseed oil refined to minimize low molecular weight and a conjugated oil. Sometimes the drying oil is further mixed with either a conjugated oil, a catalyst, a low molecular weight isocyanate resin (Imw-MDI) or another additive. The sprayed panels are stacked preferably in face-to-face contact inside a curing chamber heated only by the residual heat in the hot panels. A number of additives to the tempering oil are considered. A number of different forms of commercial panels are considered, such as: hardboard, oriented strandboard, fiber board siding, wafer board, medium density fiber board, particle board, and other similar boards.

Glycerides of acids having conjugated groups of aliphatic carbon-carbon double bonds, such as tung oil, are functionalized by reaction with certain polyol compounds at mild conditions. The functionalized oils are useful in a variety of coating and adhesive applications. They can be cured with melamine-formaldehyde, urea-formaldehyde, benzoguanimine-formaldehyde and/or glycoluril-formaldehyde resins. They can be reacted with polyisocyanates to form polyurethanes, and urethane-group containing prepolymers. Of particular interest are water-dispersible prepolymers, which can be used to make anionic, cationic or nonionic polyurethane dispersions for coating, adhesive and sealant as well as composites applications.

A material and method for treating timber. The material comprises a preservative and a carrier. The carrier is selected such that it remains mobile within the wood and provides for migration of the preservative within the treated wood. By providing a carrier which is mobile within the wood, the timber has a `self healing` effect wherein the carrier/preservative migrates to any freshly cut or exposed surface of the wood to thereby redistribute and treat such a surface within the preservative and hence maintain integrity of a treatment envelope surrounding the wood.