How do you clean your wood deck??

jymbee · Jun 5, 2013

Last time our cedar deck needed cleaning I did a power wash (medium) then used 2 different commercial "cleaners". About time to clean again and getting all kinds of free advice ranging from "never power wash", to "commercial products are a waste of money", "just use regular bleach", "liquid laundry detergent's best" etc. etc.

Wondering what your tried & true method of deck cleaning might be??

/pine · Jun 5, 2013

Sounds like you have run the gamut of various options...in problematic areas I use a water and light chlorine solution and some fine sand and a long handled brush...then hose it off

Depmandog · Jun 5, 2013

Well, we are sanding ours (ugh). Not necessarily to clean it, but to remove that gosh awful TYP (?) deck sealant I used last.

Fortunately, my son had a week off between college and his summer job. (Yay!). Dad put him to work!! He did 90%, and if it will ever stop raining, I will finish up and recoat.

FWIW, I did try the pressure washer, but it wanted to eat the wood instead of removing the coating. Not good for cedar IMHO.

At work, we have used a hydrogen peroxide based cleaner (high strength peroxide) to remove mold on wood. The wood has to be dry 15% or less for it to work properly. But the wood looks "new" after the application.

Western · Jun 5, 2013

I used something like an Oxy-cleaner made for decks, wish I could remember the name. Just mixed with water and immediately scrubbed the deck with a stiff brush and it worked incredibly well. If I think of the name I will pass it along. I am almost positive it had "oxy" in the name, because I remember commenting if it was the same as the infomercial?

farm88 · Jun 5, 2013

I use a pressure washer with out any cleaners. You can add bleach if you want.

crazyal · Jun 5, 2013

Never owned Ceder but I've been told the small electric pressure washers are gentle enough to be safe. I wonder how one of the rotary brushes for a pressure washer would work? I would think the style with two nozzles spinning inside would be too powerful for wood but a brush style one might be OK. If you have a gas powered pressure washer I would start off with the engine as close to idle as you can get so the pressure is reduced. Then keep the wand away from the wood and slowly move closer (and then up the engine speed) until it looks like your cleaning the wood but not damaging the grain.

J F · Jun 5, 2013

crazyal said:
Never owned Ceder but I've been told the small electric pressure washers are gentle enough to be safe.

I wonder how one of the rotary brushes for a pressure washer would work? I would think the style with two nozzles spinning inside would be too powerful for wood but a brush style one might be OK.

If you have a gas powered pressure washer I would start off with the engine as close to idle as you can get so the pressure is reduced.

Then keep the wand away from the wood and slowly move closer (and then up the engine speed) until it looks like your cleaning the wood but not damaging the grain.

Just readin'

the old grind · Jun 6, 2013

A guy told me his dad just R&Rd his planks upside down vs replacing them. :yuck:

Cedar is soft, and my PT deck is too. (It's pro'ly 40 years old.) My $120 electric PW came with a 'turbo nozzle' that spins a tiny stream that'll put a std tip to shame at that pressure & flow. The t-nozzle at the right distance and a moderate sweep would scrub 'bout anything as good as the big boys, just slower. That said, the way it'd make literally driftwood out of some soft woods means the std tip might do. (You don't really want that much power)

There's a variety of mild oxalic acid washes (sound right?) sold all over as 'deck wash' or 'wood bleach'. They'll do pretty good with a bit of a soak & a stiff-bristled brush/broom, and are meant for bare/stripped decks, siding or whatever. Don't think you'd need to use or rinse sand, but maybe I could fill the cracks in my deck with it.

I'm familiar with OA for brightening teak on boats & removing rust stains on things, but I don't know whether it'd remove mildew as well as (dluted) laundry bleach. I'd use that first, if both.

Just look for oxalic acid on the label somewhere, like you do with the packaged foods you eat or the stuff from the drugstore. ... You guys all do that, right?

jinman · Jun 6, 2013

Buy a gallon of cheap bleach at the dollar store and mix it 1:4 with water for a total of 5 gallons. Put it on and let it sit (10-15 minutes) and rinse it off with the pressure washer set with a wide spray head. Just be sure to not splatter your lawn furniture or anything else you don't want bleached. I'd suggest trying a sample on a out-of-the-way spot first to see if it gives the desired results. It works great on pressure treated lumber, restoring it to almost original color. I'm not sure, but I'd bet cedar will respond similarly. If it doesn't work, you aren't out much money. Mix a small amount at first. If it doesn't perform, use the bleach for laundry and try something else.