Nonbiocidal techniques for wood protection have become more and more important in the last few years. One of the possible treatments to enhance wood durability is use of water repellents. In this research, the influence of one of the possible water repellents, the montan wax emulsion, on the moisturizing and the sorption characteristics of impregnated wood was investigated. To achieve a better protection against wood decay fungi, wood was impregnated with montan wax emulsion enriched with boric acid. The equilibrium moisture content (MC) was monitored during the adsorption and the desorption processes at five levels of relative air humidity (RH(1) = 20%, RH(2) = 33%, RH(3) = 65%, RH(4) = 88%, and RH(5) = 98%). Water repellence efficiency was monitored in the chamber with high RH (87%) and during dipping in the water. Impregnated samples were also exposed outdoors in a covered position for 5 months to determine MC changes according to changes in outdoor humidity and temperature. The results showed that the sorption properties of the impregnated wood are strongly related to retention of preservative solutions after impregnation and its composition. Montan wax reduced equilibrium MC of the impregnated wood up to 25% (relatively), whereas specimens impregnated with combination of montan wax and boric acid resulted in decreased MC in some cases and in increased MC in some cases. The Guggenheim-Andersen-deBoer model of sorption isotherms was fitted to experimental data to explain the sorption mechanisms. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 120: 1337-1345, 2011