What makes tack cloths tacky?

[biffvernon]

Maybe that's a use at last for all those bloody leylandii? :twisted:

Much maligned but a very useful tree.

 

[NT]

Is it true that the wood is good for exterior use due to high resin content?

NT

 

[biffvernon]

It's not so much the resin in leylandii that make it particularly durable, its a couple powerfully biocidal chemicals, carvacrol and nootkatone, that the heartwood contains. The Alaska Yellow Cedar, Cupressus nootkatensis, is one of the Leylandii hybrid's parents.

Here's an interesting article suggesting using its use as mosquito repellant and fungicide.
http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF17/1757.html

 

[Lime]

I remember that there used to be a domestic chemical called Nenetol that was once quite common in hardware shops.
It was a liquid sprinkled on dusters or a Nenetol brush which made it tacky.
My mother had a forked brush for cleaning between the bannisters back in the 60s.

http://tinyurl.com/yljcbg

 

[Penners]

Here's an interesting article suggesting using its use as mosquito repellant and fungicide.

Leyland Cypress is also quite a good neighbour repellant.

(Nootkatone? Gaarn - you made that up!)

 

[NT]

It's not so much the resin in leylandii that make it particularly durable, its a couple powerfully biocidal chemicals, carvacrol and nootkatone, that the heartwood contains. The Alaska Yellow Cedar, Cupressus nootkatensis, is one of the Leylandii hybrid's parents.

Fascinating. Presumably that would make it good for food chopping boards too.

Just out of curiosity, what sort of work is leylandii wood good for?


NT

 

[biffvernon]

I used it for the beams in a timber framed outbuilding I built. It is grown commercially in New Zealand and is used for all sorts of building construction, valued for its strength and durability and, of course, its rapid growth.

Penners, I could have called it
7-octahydro-7-keto-3 isopropenylnaphthalen
but it's all a bit complicated because some folks call it
5,6-dimethyl-8-isopropenylbicyclo[4.4.0]dec-1-en-3-one

The definative answer may be found in this paper:
The sesquiterpenoid nootkatone and the absolute configuration of a
dibromo derivative
Anne M. Sauer, Frank R. Fronczek, Betty C. R. Zhu,William E. Crowe, Gregg
Henderson and Roger A. Laine

The paper starts with:

Nootkatone, or (4R,4aS,6R)-4,4a,5,6,7,8-hexahydro-4,4a-dimethyl-
6-(1-methylethenyl)naphthalen-2(3H)-one, C15H22O,
a sesquiterpene with strong repellent properties against
Formosan subterranean termites and other insects, has the
valencene skeleton. The dibromo derivative (1S,3R,4S,4aS,-
6R,8aR)-1,3-dibromo-6-isopropyl-4,4a-dimethyl-1,2,3,4,5,6,-
7,8-octahydronaphthalen-2-one, C15H24Br2O, has two independent
molecules in the asymmetric unit, which differ in the
rotation of the isopropyl group with respect to the main
skeleton. The CÐBr distances are in the range 1.950 (4)±
1.960 (4) A Ê . Both independent molecules form zigzag chains,
with very short intermolecular carbonyl±carbonyl interactions,
having the perpendicular motif and O C distances of
2.886 (6) and 2.898 (6) A Ê . These chains are ¯anked by
intermolecular Br Br interactions of distances in the range
4.067 (1)±4.218 (1) A Ê . The absolute con®guration of the
dibromo derivative was determined, from which that of
nootkatone was inferred.

But interestingly continues:

Nootkatone, (I), the major flavorant of grapefruit, is a
valencene-class sesquiterpene ketone, which was ®rst isolated
from Alaskan yellow cedar (Erdtman & Hirose, 1962) and is a
minor component of some vetiver oils. Part of the interest in
this class of compounds is due to their termiticidic and insect
repellent activity, particularly towards the Formosan subterranean
termite (Zhu, Henderson, Chen, Fei & Laine, 2001;
Zhu, Henderson, Chen, Fei, Maistrello & Laine, 2001).
Nootkatone appears to be non-toxic to humans, and it is
currently added to juices to impart a grapefruit essence. We
have been studying nootkatone because of its potent and
seemingly receptor-speci®c activity, and also because of its potential commercial importance as a termiticide.

The significance of this is that a kitchen chopping board made of Leylandii is not toxic to humans but will not be attacked by termites.

The other chemical found in Leylandii, Carvacrol, or isopropyl-o-cresol, C6H3CH3(OH)(C3H7) [1.2.4], is the principal constituent of true oil of origanum. It is widely used as an antiseptic, fungicide and general microbicide, further supporting the wood's use for chopping boards.

The power of science.

 

[Penners]

Aaah - that nootkatone. :?

 

[Lime]

The next time I get an infestation of Formosan subterranean termites I'll bear that in mind.

 

[worms]

That's why all these termites that Penners has been releasing into his neighbour's hedge are not working!

 

[NT]

Thanks for that. Food flavouring science is a strange world.


NT

 

[Penners]

That's why all these termites that Penners has been releasing into his neighbour's hedge are not working!

Believe me, if I had a Leyland Cypress hedge between me and my neighbours, I wouldn't be trying to destroy it. I'd be feeding it top quality fertiliser.

 

[Moo]

Believe me, if I had a Leyland Cypress hedge between me and my neighbours, I wouldn't be trying to destroy it. I'd be feeding it top quality fertiliser.

You can't just leave it at that, Penners. I want the whole, horrid story....

 

[Penners]

You can't just leave it at that, Penners. I want the whole, horrid story....

Something of an over-dramatisation on my part, Moo. I just like my privacy, and our next-door properties are - shall we say - prosaic.

 

[Toby Newell]

Hi

Tack cloths cost 10p each at a good builders/ decorators supply. Mine last for ages! (Mind you I dont use them much) If u want to make your own then you will need some old fashioned scrim lint free open weave cloth, a little linseed oil a few drops of terps and glycerine. Keep in an airtight jar. I normally use a very damp scrim cloth (boiled ex lamb covering scrim is best, hard to get these days) or my bare hand (with free sweat!)

Toby

 

[Penners]

Thanks Toby. I've obviously been buying at the wrong place! At 10p each I shall save myself the bother of making them.

I'll do a bit of shopping around.