The Hemp Connoisseur April/May 2013, #6 | Page 60

of the redwoods and decking I said,“ Of course. That’ s giving me a double barrel of expertise!” So I went for it.

THC: So this leads me back to your“ humble” quote, that“ Hemp Shield™ may be the best deck sealer that was ever invented.” What about this product allows you to make those claims?

Seber: After creating the product and putting it through testing, it turned out that because the hemp molecules are so much smaller than the traditional oils used in coatings and sealers that it out-tested everything on the market by 100’ s of percent. For example, Hemp Shield’ s™. protection lasted about 10 times longer than Thomson’ s Water Seal™, which is not regarded very well in the industry anyway, and it lasted over 3 times longer than Cabot’ s Penatrating Stain™, which is sort of the gold standard.

THC: Yeah... I’ d say that’ s impressive.

Seber: The small molecules allow Hemp Shield™ to penetrate into the wood and cause a synergy to happen with all the other components of the sealer so they actually work better. We realize that we had something that could revolutionize the whole paint and coatings industry.

THC: I think I can guess the answer to this but where do you get your hemp oil?

Seber: We get our material from Canada. Since Canada has been mainly focusing on producing oil for food and cosmetics they produce a very high quality oil, but hadn’ t found a market for their industrial grade oil. We don’ t need the food grade since it won’ t be consumed, so we buy their industrial grade and they love us‘ cause nobody else is using it. And it works absolutely great in Hemp Shield™!

THC: So this is pretty historical. Is Hemp Shield™ being used anywhere on a large scale?

Seber: The Federal Parks Department in Montana bought 12 gallons of Hemp Shield™ last year to be used on picnic tables, park benches and piers. She told me the Federal government was“ cracking down” on using toxic chemicals for maintenance projects, and after researching the market she had determined that Hemp Shield™ was the most environmentally friendly wood finish she could find.

THC: That’ s amazing and rather ironic- the fact that a government agency bought Hemp Shield™ when it’ s illegal to be grown here. So you have been working on Hemp Shield™ for over five years now. This is not an overnight success.

Seber: I spend 24 / 7 working on Hemp Shield now and you’ re right, these things don’ t happen overnight even when you get good help and a little bit of financing. But keep your fingers cross this year we may break the market and that would change everything, I know it will.

THC: Are there any stores that carry Hemp Shield™ yet- Lowe’ s or Home Depot?

Seber: Well, we’ re doing testing for Home Depot right now against their own products and I just hired a special consultant who introduces new building materials into the chain. He’ s got 20 guys who work for him all over the United States and they’ ve all agreed to take on Hemp Shield™ so yeah, we’ re really hoping to break the national market this year.

All tests were done in clear & shaded varieties; on Douglas Fir, Redwood, and Cedar

100 Fail 100 Pass 100 Pass 100 Pass

1000 Fail 1000 Fail 1000 Fail 1000 Pass

60 April / May