Cabot’s

Cabot’s Timber Finishes are the leading woodcare products in Australia. They manufacture a comprehensive range of stains, varnishes, clear finishes, oils, paints and polishes for the preservation and enhancement of timber surfaces. Whether oiling a deck, varnishing a cabinet, finishing a floor or painting exterior weatherboards, Cabot’s products help to achieve a professional finish.

When Samuel Cabot opened the doors to his workshop in 1877, he had one mission: top quality wood care.  Samuel Cabot Incorporated was founded in 1877 by a young American chemist who returned home from his studies in Switzerland with the idea of starting a coal tar dye industry to rival that of Germany.

When his efforts to make dyes from creosote were unsuccessful, Cabot started manufacturing wood preservatives from the large quantities of creosote distillate he had acquired at his small plant in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He later pioneered a dispersion technique called Collopaking, which combines finely ground pigments with creosote oil to provide superior penetration of the wood surface and improved protective qualities.

Cabot invented the original wood preserving shingle stain and, in the process, created a brand new industry that continues to prosper today.

Under Cabot’s inventive leadership, the company would go on to develop many other outstanding products including a coal tar-based disinfectant called Cabot’s Sylpho-Nathol and a unique building insulation made from eel grass, called Cabot Quilt.

The original Chelsea plant burnt down in the Great Chelsea Fire of 1908. It was rebuilt and continued to serve the company until Cabot moved to its present location in Newburyport, MA in 1985.

Today, Cabot manufactures the industry’s broadest line of quality interior and exterior wood stains, protective wood finishes and surface preparation products for both residential and commercial applications.