I am searching words for making it difficult for something to do, and found the verb "hinder", which is defined in LONGMAN dictionary as follows with some examples:
to make it difficult for something to develop or succeed
It seems that this word is usually used to describe bad things. Can this be used to describe good things, for example, as follows?
Painting a wooden door will hinder degradation of the door.
Hinder simply means to make it difficult for something to develop or succeed. In itself the word is neither negative nor positive. What is hindered can be a good, neutral, or bad thing. It is good if vaccination hinders the spread of a disease, but bad if police slowness hinders the fight against crime.
Yes you can use "hinder degradation" It is rare, but here is an example: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15046348
Similarly there are examples of "Hinder decay" http://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/matrix-changes-and-side-effects-induced-by-electrokinetic-treatment-of-porous-and-particulate-materials(e2b50eb8-325f-4c2a-ac0c-4b05aa410074).html
Transport of ions in an applied electric field holds many applications[... E.g.] for desalination of porous stone materials to hinder decay.
"Hinder" and "degradation" are already fairly rare words, and in this context is it limited to a formal context. "to prevent degradation" or "to slow degradation" are possible alternatives.
