The above-ground soft rot resistance of substrates treated with three fully formulated light organic solvent preservatives (Cuprivac Green WR, Impresol WR 205 and Vacsol) was studied using a modified vermiculite burial method. The substrates were sapwood of Pinus elliottii and P. radiata and heartwood of Eucalyptus regnans, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Shorea sp. (a lower and a higher density source) and Thuja plicata. Following artificial weathering, replicate test blocks were exposed to either Chaetomium globosum or Lecythophora mutabilis. C. globosum caused 3% or more mass loss of the water and solvent (white spirit) impregnated controls of all three hardwoods and two of the four softwoods, whereas L. mutabilis caused similar attack in only E. regnans and P. radiata. The P. menziesii and T. plicata heartwoods were naturally durable to both soft rot fungi and, hence, no further conclusions can be drawn. None of the preservatives, at the highest retention tested, protected E. regnans from attack by C. globosum, whereas the highest retentions of both the Cuprivac Green WR and Impresol WR 205 protected all other timbers from this fungus. At the highest retention, the latter preservative was the only one to protect E. regnans from L. mutabilis.

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