Tim-bor Professional’s active ingredient is Disodium Octaborate Tetrahydrate (DOT), a natural borate mineral salt and micronutrient. It is manufactured for use in the form of a water-soluble borate powder. Once it’s applied in a liquid form by foaming, misting or spraying onto wood or other cellulosic materials, the borate active ingredient creates a protective envelope and remains for years of protection. Often Tim-bor Professional is dusted into places like wall voids where pests like to hide as an additional protection. When the dust gets on the insects, they clean themselves and consume the boron during the cleaning process.

DOT is a natural form of elemental boron, which is essential for the healthy growth of plants and believed important in human calcium metabolism. Because animals and humans simply take what they need from their diet and rapidly excrete any excess via the kidneys, DOT has a low acute toxicity. As a result, Tim-bor Professional is about half as toxic as sodium chloride or table salt (in a laboratory setting), but very effective against insects and fungi that do not have the same excretion mechanisms.