Deck Cleaning Solutions

[Jeff May]

My wood deck needs a really good cleaning.
Is the deck cleaners Lowes and Home Depot sell worth the money?
Has anyone on here ever used a solution of their own make up?
I'd like to apply something, pressure wash it off, and then treat it with something like Thompson's Water Seal.
Any suggestions?
Thanks, Jeff in Hagerstown

 

[Jack Olsen]

What is the deck made of?

 

[Kaizen]

do NOT pressure wash it unless you want to sand it. use a hose only. I've used behr fence cleaner. worked well but had to also use a brush a little.

 

[Shadowdog500]

+1 on the pressure washer. UNLESS you get something like this surface cleaner attachment.http://m.lowes.com/pd/Greenworks-11...Cleaner-for-Electric-Pressure-Washers/4184917

I bought one like this from Home Depot several years ago and love the darn thing for cleaning surfaces. It gives a uniform clean and does not gough the wood.

Chris

 

[Paco Pena]

I use some TSP and bleach in warm water and scrub with a stiff bristle brush. Works well but does take effort.

 

[Jeff May]

Sorry, pressure treated lumber

 

[toplessHO]

I use some TSP and bleach in warm water and scrub with a stiff bristle brush. Works well but does take effort.

this^^

pressure washing will leave whiskers that turn into splinters

 

[astroracer]

I pressure washed mine after scrubbing with Bleach and TSP. I think we spent about 6 dollars on the "solution". Made it look like a new deck and it was installed in '89. It was bad...
If you go easy on the pressure washing, use a wider fan tip and don't get right down on top of the wood it works very well. Do a couple test areas first but I had no problems with mine.
Mark

 

[TAMPAGT07]

I pressure washed mine after scrubbing with Bleach and TSP. I think we spent about 6 dollars on the "solution". Made it look like a new deck and it was installed in '89. It was bad...
If you go easy on the pressure washing, use a wider fan tip and don't get right down on top of the wood it works very well. Do a couple test areas first but I had no problems with mine.
Mark

Yupp, ok to pressure wash, just keep some distance... I usually just mix up some Simple Green and Clorine and scrub with a good brush and hose it off.... I never buy any of those special purpose cleaners, only simple green and chorine....

 

[dynahoe]

bleach and water scrub

 

[pioneer1]

Restore -a- deck works well.

 

[Jack Olsen]

I just cleaned mine, and used a solution of water and oxalic acid (12 oz per gallon) and a mop. No scrubbing at all. My wood is Cumaru (one of those Brazilian hardwoods) and it had gotten very gray over the past 24 months since I built the thing.

Total cost: About $5 worth of oxalic acid and $24 worth of Penofin -- and water, which is no doubt costing me an arm and a leg during this drought.

 

[Angelfire]

When I clean my deck for applying another season or two of oil on it, it's really a 3 step process. 1. I use a pressure washer but it's not a very high powered one (just a little $75 cheapy). I sweep everything off and then wet down the deck. 2. I mix up sodium percarbonate and water (basically Oxiclean but much less expensive). I apply this to the deck and let it dwell for 10 mins or so. I also hit it with a scrub brush just to get the dirt off the wood. Then I wash it off. 3. I mix up citric acid in water and apply that. I leave that on for 5-10 mins just to neutralize any of the sodium percarbonate. I believe it helps brighten things up a bit but that just may be me. I hit it with the scrub brush then I wash it off. Let dry for a day or two, then apply my oil. I got this from a forum dedicated to cleaning/stripping/refinishing decks (the grime scene or something to that effect). Works pretty well and since I purchased the chems in bulk, it's been much cheaper than buying the pre-made stuff you find in the stores.